#interactive ebook

For e-learning publishers, learners have always been the main focus. It has been noticed and felt that the way learners learn or consume content has been changing and one of the main reasons for that is the emergence of the millennial learners on the stage.

A millennial learner is one who is born in 1980s or 1990s, are global citizens, come from diverse background and have a limited attention span.  So it is important for content creators to align their content development strategies to meet the learning needs of this group of people.  A good way would be to incorporate mobile learning platforms in their content development strategy.  By doing this, they are not going to bind the learner to any specific device or environment. They will make the learning available anywhere and at any time. Millennials would prefer consuming content in small formats and in a fun way. So it is recommended to break the modules in smaller formats to suit diversified needs of the learners. Use of interactive e-books would be effective as this will throw some excitement and fun.  Including scenarios closer to day-to-day work and gamification factor will have a positive impact on the learners.

Change is always good; it gives you a fresh start & encourages you to focus on horizons that have never been touched. Education industry too has changed over the years. Slowly & steadily, re-inventing itself after each phase. The evolution of the traditional way of teaching got a head start when print medium came into existence. Printing text, changed the way world understood education & learning.

Decades later, digital media revolutionized the way content was created, visualized and read. This new learning methodology changed the way industry used to: create, share and access content. This revolution was backed by Technology, Technique & Talent – “The 3 T’s”.

If the print era was called as “The Golden Era for Learning”, the new revolution in education industry was termed as “The Era of Digitization”.

So what are the educational technology trends that have been making the biggest waves lately?

Technology:Virtual Reality:

VR as famously called was a step forward in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge & practical implementation. Virtual reality facilitated the creation of real-life simulations, and created an immersive experience for any user that makes him feel as if he is actually interacting with the digital environment.

VR enabled students to interact with each other as well as within a three dimensional environment.

It became the next big thing & was used not only in schools but in various other fields like aircraft training’s to enhance learning experience for real life environments by creating a simulation of reality.

Augmented Reality:

What started as something that was simply “cool” has become a way to engage students like never before. It added a new dimension to learning.

AR blended digital components into the real world in such a way that they enhance one another.

It has a great potential in education, and redefines eLearning. It not only offers an innovative learning space by merging digital learning materials into the format of media with tools or objects; it also aligns with notions of education where learners control their own learning, through the active interactions with the real and virtual environments.

As eLearners we understand the concept of learning online and offline, but now AR combine both the worlds.

Technique:

With changing times, schools & institutes have realized the influence of Technology. They also understand that technology when combined with technique impacts that entire audience.

Flipped Learning

Flipped Learning is a form of blended learning where students learn their lessons at home by watching video lectures and studying content online, and then doing their homework in class.

Technology come handy here, where teachers use various mobile-app solutions to create the interactive environment that students benefit the most from.

Virtual or Remote Learning

Virtual or Remote Learning has helped all those students who were unable to attend classes. These students who either are from remote areas or from economically backward segments, attend schools & session’s virtually through video and access content online.

Video conferencing, class forums are few other methods that are used by teachers across. This provides a higher quality of learning to their doorstep.

Big Data

As per the definition big data analyses computation to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.

The analytics enables teachers to get real-time information of the students enabling them to focus on the areas they actually need help with.

Talent:

With the increase in usage of Technology, there is a high need to strengthen educators & teachers in techniques to handle technology. Though there have been various tech development programs being developed to equip teachers however there is still a long way to go.

Technology training is one of the most common types of professional development for teachers, however very low percent of teachers rate it “useful” or “very useful.”

The issue here is that the training’s provided in the programs are focused on technology integration, and less focused on learning how to use the software versus integrating it into the teaching and learning process

Unfortunately out of the three “T’s”, this is the only one where the entire focus now should be placed because as they say “If we want Tech in the Classroom, Tech the Teachers”.

To bridge the gap, measures must be taken to improve teacher training. These sessions need to be more interactive, encouraging teachers to explore the functions of a technology. The assumption that teachers will learn on their own time or be willing to attend unpaid training seminars will only serve to reinforce current classroom downfalls.

Offering incentives to teachers who go the extra mile to create a blended classroom is another important step in promoting technology use in the classroom.

Few Aspects for Considering Interactive e-books

With the technology getting matured day by day, the invention of mobile phones and smart handheld devices has created a new way in which people ingest the content today. There is several new software available in the market which can help you in easy creation of these books. And, due to plenty of options available, there seems to be a more dilution of quality which results in less interactivity.

So, if you are planning to create interactive ebook then you must have the complete knowledge of all the basic aspects involved in it.

·While creating e-books remember to utilize the full potential of the touch device to engage users and boost up their overall reading and learning experience.

·These books are basically designed and created specifically to utilize the potentials of tablets and smart handheld devices to enable users to interact with the storyline in sight, sound, and touch. E-books usually have added interactivity to enhance user experience beyond the printed format.

·Choosing the right platform is also necessary to the success of your released e-book. Every publisher and consumer has certain distinct needs which must be fulfilled accordingly to get the maximum output. Always ensure to choose the most suitable publishing platform.

Things to Consider while Creating an Interactive e-book

Interactive e-books are a new breed of long-form content which the giant organizations and companies are using to inform, educate and entertain their target audience. These e-books are revolutionizing the way we are learning and teaching. The invention of smart handheld devices has created a new way for book publishing and has transformed our way and culture of ingesting content. They have the potential to revolutionize the content marketing game and are saving both the content creator and consumer from boredom. Now, as these interactive ebook are a hundred times better than traditional reading ways and PDF e-books, they require some special expertise to get the most out of them.

If you utilize the same process to create interactive content which you used to generate static content, then believe me you will end up creating a lame interactive e-book. There is a lot more and you need to take full advantage of this new technology and its potential of story-telling. While creating an e-book, ensure to use the full capabilities of the touch device and digital publishing platform to attract and engage user’s attention and enhance their reading and learning experience. Don’t just get sucked into the PDF mode and don’t write tons of copy. Try to create valuable interactive content which are informative, precise and useful to audience. Having an adequate quantity of valuable content is much better than having hundreds of futile pieces of content. Enable your readers to explore in whichever order and way they wish to and don’t constrict them to linear narrative.

LockerGnome’s Interactive ABCs: Geek Edition

I created an interactive eBook with artist Kelly Ishikawa, and it’s available for you now!