Download - Sri Madu Newsletter 3
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sri madunewsletter
no 3
information about ebooks for parents and students
ebooksthe what and the why
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buy this e-book on Amazonpublished in singapore by monsoon books
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ebooks
information about ebooks for parents and students
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What ARE ebooks?
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What ARE ebooks?
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What is an E-Book?
An eBook is just like a regular book, except that you can read it on
your computer, tablet (an iPad, for example), or your hand phone. They are in electronic format, such as PDF
(Portable Document Format)or epub.
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What are the advantages of E-Books?
E-books have several advantages over print materials:
You can conveniently buy e-books from your computer or reading devices while at home,work, or on the go.
Text or words can be searched, cross-referenced or looked up in a dictionary.Because e-books are compact electronic files, hundreds of books can be stored in thememory of your computer or reading device.
E-books can be stored on several computers or portable devices, making themaccessible from multiple places.
If you lose an e-book, you can easily replace it by re-downloading the title (up to thenumber of allowable times).
Readers who have difficulty reading printed books can benefit from the adjustment oftext size and font.
Most e-book reading devices allow reading in low light — even total darkness — with anincluded backlight.
Although electricity is required for reading, e-books are not made of paper or ink, makingthem considerably greener than the print alternatives.
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Don't have enough room in your house or dorm room? - You can save hundreds of books on an e-book reader
No shipping costs when you buy e-books
You don't need to wait for e-books to arrive - as soon as you purchase one, you can
download it to your device
Environmentally friendly
FREE - well there are free E-books too!
Tired of carrying a huge bag of books - carry your entire Library in a small device!
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Don't have enough room in your house or dorm room? - You can save hundreds of books on an e-book reader
No shipping costs when you buy e-books
You don't need to wait for e-books to arrive - as soon as you purchase one, you can
download it to your device
Environmentally friendly
FREE - well there are free E-books too!
Tired of carrying a huge bag of books - carry your entire Library in a small device!
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....they are light and portable. You can carry hundreds of ebooks on any one device, making it easier for your children to have books with them.
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Electronic books (ebooks)can be read on your tablets, on your hand phones, on your laptops. desk top computers or on an ebook reader....
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Ebooks can be read on your Laptop
This is probably the most common way to read eBooks currently, but also fast becomingthe least convenient for many. In order to read an eBook on your computer, you may needto download and install a free program like Calibre. Once you have Calibre installed,simply open up the ebook you downloaded and enjoy your reading. If you want to take itwith you on the go, there are also some other options.
Paper
After you have opened up the eBook on your computer you can easily print it out to takewith you on the road, read in your bed at night, or to write notes and ideas in the marginsfrom all the great insight and ideas the eBook gives you. Once you are done reading youreBook, you can put it on a shelf for later reading, or recycle it to make the world a betterplace.
Smart Phone
Smart are becoming a prime choice for reading eBooks. Many smart phones can eitherread PDF and epub files by default, or have free and paid applications that can easily addthe feature is desired. Smart phones are small and light and backlit for easy reading in lowlight.
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Tablet
Another eBook reading device that is growing in popularity is the tablet. The iPad andAndroid devices similar to it allow users to read eBooks on a beautiful full color backlitdisplay
eReader
eReaders, which are sometimes also refereed to as eBooks(confusing isn’t it?) areanother way you can read your eBook. eReaders usually use a special kind of display thatimitates the look and readability of the pages of a book and can be read easily in brightconditions as they have an anti-glare coating, but can require a book light in darkerreading conditions just like a book. eReader batteries usually far outlast those of othereBook display devices as they use very little power to display your reading material. Oneof the most popular eReaders on the market is the Amazon Kindle and many are availablefrom MPH.
Taking it Further
Many modern devices are starting to enable text to speech. This is a technology thatallows the device to digitally read text in a document to the user. This can allow you toread eBooks faster, or you can look at something else while the eBook is read to you by your device. Many computers have this ability as well as some smart phones. Check yourdevices’ manual or try the old google search to see if your device has these capabilities.Some search words to look for are assisted devices and/or text to speech.
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Where can I get ebooks?
Some Suggestions;EBooks.com - http://www.ebooks.com
MPH -http://www.mphonline.com/ebooks/Children.aspx.net//
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Free EBooks (out of copyright)
The ICDL Foundation's goal is to build a collection of 4,642 free ebooks to read, that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children's literature from the world community.
Digitization process
CHOOSING BOOKS
Librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers, and children from all over the world suggest books that they think should be considered for our collection. Each book must be carefully evaluated before it can be added to the Library. Some books are very old and oth-ers are just like those that you might find in your school or public library. Most of the old books are out of copyright. This means that nobody owns these books so we can put them on the ICDL without getting permission from anybody. For the newer books, we must get permission from the people or the company that owns the words and the pictures in the books.
All of the books in the ICDL must meet our collection development standards. These stand-ards are the rules that we use to choose which books can go into the ICDL. The rules were created by our Advisory Board of Librarians and our International Advisory Board.
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Digitization process
CHOOSING BOOKS
Librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers, and children from all over the world suggest books that they think should be considered for our collection. Each book must be carefully evaluated before it can be added to the Library. Some books are very old and oth-ers are just like those that you might find in your school or public library. Most of the old books are out of copyright. This means that nobody owns these books so we can put them on the ICDL without getting permission from anybody. For the newer books, we must get permission from the people or the company that owns the words and the pictures in the books.
All of the books in the ICDL must meet our collection development standards. These stand-ards are the rules that we use to choose which books can go into the ICDL. The rules were created by our Advisory Board of Librarians and our International Advisory Board.
Free EBooks (out of copyright)
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Project Gutenberg - http://www.gutenberg.org
Project Gutenberg offers over 42,000 free ebooks: choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online.We carry high quality eb-ooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers. We digitized and diligently proofread them with the help of thou-sands of volunteers.Over 100,000 free ebooks are available through our Partners, Affiliates and Re-sources
Free EBooks (out of copyright)
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The Baldwin Library contains over 6,000 free digital children’s books from all over the world.
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Monday April 16, 2012
Time to turn to ebooksINTEGRATED communications service provider, Maxis Berhad recentlylaunched Maxis ebooks, Malaysia’s first integrated digital book service whichcan be used across devices.
With the service, Maxis customers will have access to a selection of over300,000 international and local ebooks from over 40 categories.Maxis ebooks feature a user-friendly interface and runs on a cloud-baseddigital bookstore, where customers can download books for free onto theiriPads or Android tablets, anytime and anywhere they want.
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“When ePub became the standard format for eBooks, I became a very ardent digital book shopper, with fictionwise.com and Booksonboard.com my favourite stores.It’s just simply thrilling to read books that are not in our stores yet or will probably never grace them. It’s also exciting that I can buy them at great discounts. Sometimes the eBooks are RM20 cheaper than their physical counterparts in our bookstores here!
Gone are the days where I have to wait a long time for the book to arrive from Amazon.com. Gone too are the days where I have to pay exorbitant shipping rates (US$20!!) for the books. Now I can download the books and read it in a matter of minutes – all done at the comfort of my study without
driving to the bookstore!” From E-books arrive in Malaysia by Elizabeth Tai
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Although the Sri Madu Child Development Centre contin-ues to give the highest tuition standards for those children using the State English Standard, Sri Madu also offers authen-tic English teaching from Cambridge University, England.In a structured, systematic way using reading, listening, com-prehension exercises and audio, Cambridge English offers all ages of children the opportunity to enhance their Eng-lish language abilities right up to the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tests.
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Society
eBooks still some way away from studentsBy Peng Yining (China Daily)
Students at one class in Yangzhou Sanyuanqiao Elementary School are the first to use eBooks in the Chinese mainland. Zhao Jun / for China DailyWhile eBooks lighten the load of backpacks and save trees, they still need some adjustments before becoming replacements for paper textbooks. Peng Yining reports from Yangzhou.Twelve-year-old Tang Yin is one of the earliest students to test a digital textbook in China. The boy said he was a little disappointed when he received the monochromatic flat device in April this year, because he thought it should be a "super cool" laptop. But Tang still cherishes his new equipment like "protecting my eye," said the fifth grader. After all, not every student has the opportunity to use the eBook, which is worth 2,000 yuan ($294), he said. The 50 eBooks, donated by Taiwan eBook manufacturer Chuanqi Photoelectric Technology in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, enables one class at Yangzhou Sanyuanqiao Elementary School to be the first group of students in the Chinese mainland to replace their regular textbooks with electronic ones. Out of 1,000 students, Tang's class was the lucky recipients. "Our school could not afford the project without the company's donation," said Yuan Shishan, vice-headmaster of the primary school. Although the digital book is considered environmentally friendly, because it replaces paper books, and saves money in the long run, the price is much higher than most Chinese families can afford. Also, some technical defects, the inconvenience of taking notes and monochromatic display, make the eBook fail to meet the expectations of students and teachers."There's still a long way to go before the eBook really plays an important role in education," said the headmaster. According to Yuan, the annual average income of a local family in Yangzhou is about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and neither the parents nor the school can afford the 2,000 yuan digital textbook.During class breaks, children who aren't in Tang's class crowd around the windows of Tang's classroom,
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staring at the new gadget with admiration. "Sometimes I let them have a touch before I hand the eBook in," said Tang Yin. The school doesn't allow the students to take their eBooks to their homes. The devices are handed in after class, and are locked in the headmaster's office."Fifty eBooks are worth nearly 100,000 yuan. They're the most valuable property in our school," said Yuan. "We can't take the risk that a child might break the device or lose it. Besides, we don't have money to buy replacements." At Tongxin School, a school for migrant workers' children in Yangzhou, more than 1,000 primary pupils and junior high school students compete to grab four digital textbooks donated by eBook manufacturer Yangzhou EDO Technologies. "Our students' parents are migrant workers, disabled people and rag pickers. It's difficult already for them to feed their family and save 360 yuan to send their children to our school for a semester," said Wan Lijuan, a math teacher and assistant headmaster of Tongxin School. "The company's donation gives students a chance to use the electronic studying equipment but they are too expensive to replace the physical textbook." The company donated six eBooks, two of which are used by teachers. The other four are used by students who receive the highest score in the final examination this semester."Children are very excited about the reward. I've never seen them work so hard before," Wan said. But even the top four students will not own the devices. Each of them will share the eBook with other students and also won't be allowed to take it home, to avoid it getting broken or lost when a student moves or drops out due to the family's poverty, which frequently happens in the school."The students from poor families have little access to digital learning equipment, although people all claim we are in the digital age," the teacher said. Tang Yin, right, reads a digital textbook with his classmates at the Sanyuanqiao Elementary School in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. Tang and his classmates are the first group of students on the Chinese mainland to have their regular textbooks replaced by electronic ones. Zhao Jun / for China DailyeBooks catching on In 2010, the sales of eBooks rocketed to three million in China, from 900,000 in 2009, according to a report from the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, which announced on July 7 an eBook project. Yangzhou, a city once famous for block printing in the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907), now has become one of the world's biggest manufacturing bases of E-ink, which is electronic "ink" used on the eBook."The textbook market will be our target in the future, but not now," said Li Bailu, vice president of EDO. The company's three best sellers are worth 1,600, 2,000 and 3,000 yuan, according to Li, so most of its customers are white collars in developed areas."The eBook won't be accepted in schools unless its price reduces to 500 to 600 yuan," said Li. "The market in schools is surely huge, but we can't cut the cost, and we can't always donate the device to schools. A staff member of Yangzhou EDO Technologies shows the company's latest product - a seven-mm thick eBook, which is believed to be the third generation of its kind. Provided for China DailyDuring the nine-year compulsory education (six years for primary school and three years for junior high school), the textbooks are all free. "So I have no reason to pay 2,000 for an eBook," said She Yaqin, Tang's Chinese teacher, and also his mother. "As his teacher and mother, I won't buy my son a digital book. It's not only because of the high price, but also because of the technical defects."The biggest problem is the inconvenience of taking notes, she said. The devices they are using don't have the function that enables the user to write on the screen. "Taking notes is a part of study. Pupils especially need to practice how to write the characters," said the 36-year-old teacher who has been teaching Chinese for 17 years.Textbooks return to the classroom for students to be able to take notes. Students read on the digital book and write or sketch on the paper one. "No convenience at all. It slows down the teaching progress," said She.
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Every so often a book appears that reveals and illuminates a project that might otherwise remain largely unknown by the outside world: ‘Colors of Cambodia’ is such a book. This is a highly personal and passionate account written by Martin Bradley and illustrated by Pei Yeou Bradley of her encounter with a remarkable
art-based project in and around Siem Reap in Cambodia, and how she was drawn into practical involvement with the children for whom the project exists.
Richard Noyce, Artist, Wales 2012
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She also complained about the slow reaction of the device, which pauses at every page turn, and the six-inch screen. "It's too small," she said. "It's called the eBook, so it should be at least as big as a real book." The eBook is used in three subjects: Chinese, math and English. Because of the inconvenience, the digital device is used in only 10 percent of the lessons in those three subjects. "The eBook is usually used in reading courses in Chinese class," said She. "I am satisfied that the digital device is able to save more reading material than physical books, but its monochromatic display is not attractive to children as much as the colorful traditional textbooks." Li, the vice president of the eBook manufacturer, said the problem will be solved as technology develops, but with higher cost. She showed a new product of her company, which enables users to write on the screen. The price is 3,300 yuan. The colorful display and bigger screen also can be manufactured but with higher cost. "The government strictly limits the price of textbooks, so it is unlikely that expensive digital formats will replace a huge amount of textbooks in a short time," said Zhen Qiang, assistant to the editor-in-chief of Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press, one of the biggest textbook publishers in China.Obstacles remain Obstacles include immature and expensive technology and user resistance, according to Zhen."I believe the textbook will be one of the last publications impacted by digital innovation. The large scale replacements won't trigger until most people accept and use electronic reading devices."But Zhen also believes the transformation from physical books to digital books is the trend in the long run. He said the Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press has been talking with eBook manufacturers about cooperating, but they have not yet reached an agreement. "The eBook market is still developing," he said. "It is premature to take any actions now."Although the process of replacing paper books might be slow and difficult, it's still worth a try, Yuan said. Some 230,000 pupils in Yangzhou will use more than 2.55 million textbooks each year. "How much wood will be consumed?" he said. The headmaster also advocates recycling old textbooks. At Sanyuanqiao Elementary School, public textbooks are used in music and arts classes."Digital books and public books are not only environmental friendly, but also reduce the weight of school bags," Yuan said. A pupil's schoolbag with 10 books for 10 subjects, plus notebooks and exercise books, is usually heavier than five kilograms, according to Yuan. Twelve-year-old student Wang Yuwei has to use a mountain bag to bring all the books she needs to go to school."I am asking my parents to buy me a trolley," said the skinny little girl.The faculty hope the eBook, which can contain the equivalent of more than 150 books, or 4.5 million characters, would help the students get rid of their big bundles. But to take notes, the student still has to bring the physical books to school. Only one textbook in the reading course is replaced by the digital reader. "The electronic book might save money in the long run," said Zhao Meilan, a 37-year-old mother whose daughter is using the donated eBook. She said every year she spends more than 300 yuan to buy her daughter books, including exercise books and reading materials."If the device is cheaper than 600 yuan and could be used for more than five years, it would be acceptable for me," said the mother, whose annual income is 20,000 to 30,000 yuan.Zhao's daughter, 12-year-old Gao Chenxuan, said she always looks forward to using the electronic book in class. "It's new, and more interesting than the physical books," said the girl. "It's also very easy to operate. It only took me half an hour to learn how to use it."Tang, Gao's classmate, said he has been playing with a computer since the age of 6, and became a big fan of Warcraft, a famous computer game. The eBook is like another digital toy for the young computer literate."I was first excited to use the digital reader, but after a few months, I found it was as boring as the physical
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books," the boy said with a laugh. "My head aches when I read the text and math formulas, no matter if they are printed on paper or on screen." "The younger generation is more accepting of new ideas and technologies, and I believe the digital reading will go mainstream," said Tian Tongsheng, an expert from the China Educational Technology Association. Besides Yangzhou, schools in Shanghai and Yiwu in Zhejiang province are also planning to promote digital reading. "As the technology develops, the function of the eBook will be more and more powerful," Tian said. "But the most important function is to help teaching and studying. If the device could solve some of the education problems bothering teachers and students, it could be a real asset in the classroom."
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 66 2012
E-Books in Malaysian Primary Schools: TheTerengganu Chapter
Azelin Mohamed Noor, Abd Mutalib Embong, Muhamad Ridhuan Tony Lim Abdullah
Abstract—After the Terengganu state government decided togive a boost in teaching and learning through the allocation of free ebooksto all Primary five and six students; it was time to examine thepresence of e-books in the classrooms. A survey was conducted on101 students to determine how they felt about using the e-book andtheir experiences. It was discovered that a majority of these studentsliked using the e-book. However, although they had little problemsusing the e-book and the e-book helped to lighten the schoolbags,these new-age textbooks were not fully utilized. It is implied thatperhaps the school administrators, teachers and students may not beable to overcome the unfamiliar characteristics of the e-book and itslimitations.
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Terengganu alocates RM50milfor e-book project
KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu Government has approved RM50mil to provide digital notebooks or e-book to Year Four and Five pupils this year.State Education, Higher Learning, Science, Technology and Human Resources committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman said the allocation for the project was a significant increase from the RM25mil allocated for 2009. Interesting: Year Five pupil Wan Ikhmal Syahmi of SK Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu using the e-Book during Ahmad Razif ’s visit.
“For 2010, 50,000 e-book digital notebooks will be distributed to Year Four and Five pupils compared with only Year Five pupilsin 2009,” he told reporters after presenting awards to students who excelled in Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menegah Rendah (PMR) 2009 at Seberang Takir, here on Tuesday.
He said an increase in the allocation this year showed that the state government was committed to raising the level of education in the country.He added that the state government hoped to see 20% of students achieving all A’s in their subjects in 2010 with 15.3% in 2009. — Bernama
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MAXIS Ebooks is Malaysia's 1st integrated ebook serviceTHURSDAY, 12 APRIL 2012
Maxis has launched Maxis ebooks, Malaysia’s first integrated digital book service.Maxis ebooks is a cloud-based digital bookstore, for downloading books onto iPads or Android tablets. This service can be used across devices. The service also has dictionary, tagging and a notes function. Maxis customers can access over 300,000 international and local ebooks from over 40 categories. Prices of Maxis ebooks are from RM8 to RM99, in English, BM and Chinese, as well as international languages. Customers can download 45 free titles , and purchases will show up in customers’ Maxis bills or deducted from their Hotlink accounts.
To get one started, Maxis is letting customers download a free ebook from a selection of titles without incurring data charges until 31 May, when you download using Maxis’3G. Download the app for free from Google Play and Apple’s App Store.Maxis is working closely with the relevant authorities and bodies to bring more ebook selections like digital versions of school books for children.
Maxis is partnering with local publishers, authors and educational institutions to increase local content in its digital library, like Cempaka Schools to distribute publications and reference materials by its teachers for students to digitally access them.
For more information on Maxis ebooks, go to www.ebuuk.com.my.
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We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or
imaginary, do and think and feel...is an essential guide to our
understanding of what we
ourselves are and may become
- Ursula K. Le Guin
