Those of us who have a love for learning also have a love for books. In my office I have four walls of bookshelves each loaded with my favorite titles, the titles I have selected and purchased from the many bookstores I have visited over the years. Antique books of classics to the most known nomenclatures of my interest. These are the books that now rest in my library, ready to be revisited, reread, or provide a reference to support a written thought. Like now. A new title, a new thought, a piece of my presence, now being articulated into written form.
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Today a new kind of Alexandrian library is being formed, similar and not very different from the one created by Aristotle's student Demetrius of Phalerum, over 2,300 years ago. This is the library of the future, a library that will be created by the ePub generation and cataloged by the tools generated beyond Web 3.0 social applications. The semantic Web, built on syntax rules that merge schemas together through Resource Description Framework strands that are supplied by the ePub generation. This is the near future. A future generation of social publishers who will have their content merged, remixed into a new conceptual awareness.
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The Proclaimed ProjectorIn the late 1900's classrooms began to get new focal points in delivering content through media devices called LCD projectors. Through these lenses came the long full hour video that reflected a spring day of students daydreaming about summer time. It was much like the 35 millimeter real, as it flickered off the silence of the room that brought the teachers attention back into focus. Teachers in most cases were slow to adopt this new technology as brains were faded into imagination.
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Rise of MobileEngagementBut is today any different? Video projectors, with interactive whiteboards and computers that sit in the back of the room waiting to be occupied as students text from their cell phones social events that are occurring in real time. It is these events, that of texting and mobile trends that educators must find ways to harness. This is the connect energy of the classrooms of today. A classroom where the latest in mobile devices are harnessed and used for carrying knowledge in collaborative work environments that promote continual access to media rich content.
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The e-book SlamSo what will this media rich content look and feel like in tomorrow's classrooms? Will the new trend bring about a casualty in the next technological revolution to replace a functionality in a new format? Already rumors are beginning to surface that teachers will become publishers. Creating a new generation of text materials that is supported by a ePub format. Yet arguments are still abound, "that text on paper will hold its supremacy over the monitor." Now hold that thought. Borders says it's closing about 200 of its remaining 488 superstores while stating, "Your e-book library is perfectly safe. The Borders e-book experience is powered by Kobo, an entirely separate company from Borders. Kobo is financially secure and will continue to maintain an e-book library no matter what happens." So what did happen? Borders wasn't prepared for the newest publishing innovation: e-books for digital readers led by Amazon's Kindle and followed by Barnes & Noble's Nook.
Knock, Knock Who is There?Now let's again revisit the thought of ePub? What is it and how will this new publishing format effect education in the near future? Wikipedia the fastest growing encyclopedia of our generation defines EPUB as reflowable content. Reflowable content? "This means that the text display can be optimized for the particular display device used by the reader of the EPUB-formatted book. The format is meant to function as a single format that publishers and conversion houses can use in-house, as well as for distribution and sale."
The My Book Publishing IdeaNow if this is true does that mean that anyone can publish text in a digital format that can be read on a mobile device? The answer is yes. It is a simple as a Google on the topic of "How can I create ePub files from My Books?" Notice the emphasize on "MY Books." In a series of future articles I will be addressing this idea. The idea of becoming a self publisher of creating the "New Alexandrian Libraries of the Future." Textbooks and resource material created by teachers for mobile learning in the 21st Century.
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Teacher Try It ProgramExclusive FREE Offer for Teachers Available for a limited time only! May 1 – November 1, 2011
If you’re looking to take your students to the next level of design andpublishing, Quark is making it easier for you to do so. Now you can get a FREE version of QuarkXPress 9 to: QuarkXPress® 9 Experiment with digital design so you can add digital design and publishing to your syllabus Teach your students collaboration and designer-driven automation skills that employers want to see in cost-effective publishingGive it a run with your own work and begin to design and publish to the iPad*, e-readers, smartphones |
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The Textbook InfographicEducational technology is moving full speed ahead, which makes it easy to forget that there was a time, not too long ago, when CD-ROMs were cutting edge, when overhead projectors were the definitive source for classroom presentations, or when students learned lessons on social topics by watching black and white educational videos with titles like "How to Be Well Groomed." As textbooks are being replaced by digital readers, it's important to understand the evolution of educational technology so that we might better understand where our #edtech tools came from—and where they are going. Find out more in the below infographic.
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