"Teaching for the 21st Century" Professional Development

Creating Digital Content

Creating Digital Content: ePubs and iPads

With the advent of eBooks, teachers and students can not only read content electronically but produce interactive written work of their own, complete with images, audio and video, and interactive hyperlinks. Collaboration is more possible than with simple word processing, and student work can be shared with anyone via the Internet, allowing students to create content for classmates and others.

"ePubs" v. ePub

•"ePubs" are "electronic publications." An example of an electronic publication is an ebook.

--WWII reader

--"Tales of the Jazz Age"

--Sound and the Fury

• ePub is the accepted standard format for digital book publishing. It is a file format that packages and encodes enhanced Web content. The current version is EPUB 3.0.

--ex. ePub files of Tom Saywer by Mark Twain

• If you want to make an ebook that can be read on a digital device, you’ll need it in ePub format. The iPad, iPhone,

• ePub v. PDF - PDF is a visual format, not a text-based format, so it often has problems when you zoom in or alter text formatting.

• Some ebookstores are now selling “ePubs” locked with their own proprietary DRM. (DRM = Digital Rights Management, or a restriction that publishers put on ebooks so only your registered ereader can open it. ) For instance, Apple’s iBookstore sells “ePubs” that will not work with any device other than the iPad.

• Non-DRM formats like .doc and .rtf and .txt are supported by most ereaders.

Create "ePubs"

• Convert an existing document into a PDF and upload to ISSUU, ebook creation service. • For other services see EdTechTeacher THWT page on e-books

• Issuu & Issuu Youtube tutorial channel

• Example of an Issuu Customized Primary Source Reader

• Scribd & Scribd 101 Tutorials • Scribd vs. Issuu Youtube video

• Example of a Scribd Customized Primary Source Reader

Create ePub files

• Calibre is a free program you can use to organize and load your non-DRM ebooks.

--Article on how to convert to ePub using Calibre

• Use Apple's Pages and export as .epub file format. (Can also save as PDF.)

--Note: in Pages, use “inline” for pictures