Create Beautiful eBooks

Drop your manuscript into Vellum and it will open as a book divided into chapters. While in Vellum, you can edit your book or start writing a new one. Books may be shared with family and friends and uploaded to online stores. There’s a free download to try the software; if you wish to purchase, the cost is $49.99 for a single book, $99.99 for three books, and $149.00 for five books. The product was developed by Pixar veterans, so one wonders if Vellum may evolve to include interactive capabilities appropriate for exciting eTexts? In the meantime, it looks like a very nice solution for students and educators who want to create good-looking eBooks.

Differences Between e-Readers and Tablets

The CNET Community, in its Tablets Forum, offers a comparison between e-readers and tablets—information that parents of your students may find helpful this holiday season. Advice is given in answer to a question from a parent of an eight-year-old who wants to know what is the best mobile device for her child. Answers include visiting an electronics store to have a salesperson demo different products, finding products that fit the interest and age level of the child, going with tablets because they have more functionality, and thinking about going to the library for traditional books if all that is needed is a book reader. Some CNET members suggest that if parents already have an iPhone, for example, that purchasing an iPad or iPod Touch is a good idea.

Parents should also keep in mind that schools are successfully putting digital devices to work in classrooms with younger children. Tablets have more flexibility for learning activities and, dressed in a sturdy case, they usually can endure time in backpacks and accidental drops. Of course, checking with school personnel about devices that children can bring to school and use in the classroom is always wise advice.

Looking for Apps for Kids & Teens?

Common Sense Media offers “starter kits” to help parents, teachers, and students find essential apps for iPhone, Android Phone, Android Tablet, and Kindle Fire. The apps are listed by device in the following age categories: 2-6, 7-12, and 13-17. You can look at the selections online, download the apps, and print the guide. Essential Apps for Kids and Teens were selected by editors at Common Sense Media, independent evaluators who have children’s best interest in mind.

Can BYOD work?

BYOD: Sometimes it seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? How can teachers possibly handle a classroom filled with different types of digital devices? In some ways it’s not much different from working with a classroom filled with students using similar devices. It’s what you want student to do with their devices that’s important, not what they are using. For success with BYOD, however, you need to consider:

• What types of devices are acceptable, since not all devices may be able to access or use the software or apps needed for your course.
• Whether you want to allow smart phones.
• If your network is ready to handle all the devices swarming into your school.
• How students with their own devices get access to software. (Who pays for it and what are the legalities?)
• What happens when a personal device won’t work? Should your IT people work on it? Does your school have devices for students to use when their devices don’t work?
• Does your school have devices for students who do not have their own or forget to bring them to school?
• How do you manage use of different devices in your classroom?

Can Reading Fiction Students Understand Each Other?

Psychologist Raymond Mar of York University in Canada completed a study that concluded that reading about social interaction and engaging in social interaction helped individuals better understand the feelings of others (Annie Murphy Paul, New York Times Sunday Review, 3/17/12).  In additional studies, Dr. Mar, together with Dr. Keith Oakley, professor emeritus, University of Toronto, and others, found that those who “frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them, and see the world from their perspective.”

It’s known that many students prefer to use their digital devices for reading.  With this in mind, promoting the use of devices such as iPads and Kindles for reading fiction may encourage those who won’t pick up a traditional book to get back on the path to reading. Not only will this practice in reading help them in their school work and standardized test-taking skills, it will, as the Canadian studies conclude, help them gain a better understanding of others and their feelings. Perhaps, a step forward in our drive to stop student bullying might be to require additional required reading of fiction and to spend more time turning students on to the joys of reading novels during their leisure time.

Free eBook Suggestions for Children and Teens

Technotes for the Texas Computer Education Association offers some great suggestions for free eBooks for children and teenagers. The books can be read on Kindles or with the Kindle App on Macs, PCs and iOS devices. Some of the titles include: Farm Girl, Jimmy the Racing Frog, The Bobbsey Twins, The Takers: One of the Oz Chronicles, Busy Bees 123, The Wicked Passage, and Flanagan Underage Detective. There are links to these and many other books for children or teens in Technotes.