ERIC ED557240: EBooks as PDF Files, in EPub Format or as Interactive IBooks? Digital Books in Physics Lessons of Secondary Education

Autor: ERIC

Tema: ERIC Archive; Foreign Countries; Books; Electronic Publishing; Electronic Learning; Handheld Devices; Computers; Blended Learning; Technology Integration; Student Attitudes; Science Instruction; Secondary School Students; Secondary Education; Interaction; Multimedia Materials; Computer Software; Physics; Secondary School Teachers; Student Motivation; Lohr, Manfred

urn:ark:ark:/13960/t

ERIC ED557240: EBooks as PDF Files, in EPub Format or as Interactive IBooks? Digital Books in Physics Lessons of Secondary Education ebook cover
This paper outlines the different capabilities of ebooks in the pdf, epub and ibook format in science teaching evaluated at the BG/BRG Schwechat. Over the recent years the school equipped with 100 personal computers and 28 iPads has become one of the leading e-learning schools in Austria. iPads show their advantages in the context of blended learning sequences: the devices are instantly ready to use and allow pure haptic interaction with the content. The iPad appeals with its simple interface and very stable operating system. It encourages teachers to implement e-learning with the usage of ebooks into their lessons. Significant differences between ebooks as pdf format, epub format and ibook format are evident in the integration of interactive elements: only ibooks support the integration of various interactive objects beside basic functionalities like the use of dictionaries and tagging tools. This format of ibooks meets the demands of teachers and pupils in ebooks in almost every point with the disadvantage that they are available only for iPads. The creation of ebooks goes smoothly with the use of the software pages available for Mac OS and iOS, which is appropriate for the epub format, the production of interactive ibooks succeeds with the software iBooks Author available only for Mac OS. The evaluation of this paper was done with the feedback tools of the learning platform Moodle asking students about their views. Through two e-lectures with teachers and a presentation at the national conference called "Tablet User Days 2013" at the Pedagogical University in Melk, a validation of this work was accomplished. [For the complete proceedings, see ED557171.]