Hello everyone!
Schooling and illnesses have kept us busy over the last few months. But, now that we are better, I wanted to follow up on a previous post. This post is entitled "How To" - Education with Tablets - BOOKS First, if you have not already read my post for "Tablet Safety" found HERE, please read it before continuing. Although this post is aimed more at Android tablet devices, most points here can be applied to IPads or Windows based laptops. For this post, I will focus on Books. I will follow up this post with other methods of educating with tablets. BOOKS Thousands upon thousands of free books, nonfiction and fiction, are available online. I still advocate paper personally. I love the feel of a book and finding what I want on an actual bookshelf is easier. BUT.....I can not stand looking for a library book, textbook, or spiral that has traveled with us. That missing book may hide in the car, at the doctor's office, in the classroom, back on the bookshelf, the possibilities are endless. I have paid many a late fee due to a library book playing "hide and seek" as we travel. On the contrary, the tablet is under our constant attention, is not as easily forgotten, and it can hold as many books as our "Memory" cards allow. Yet, the world of ebooks (electronic books) can be daunting and confusing to someone not very "tech savvy". My head started spinning thinking just how to explain it. I will try my best. There are 3 separate types of ebooks (electronic books) 1. EPub "Electronic Publication" for a more detailed explanation of EPubs, please see HERE 2. PDF "Portable Document Format" 3. Supplier Specific Formats "Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Library Books...yes, I said library books, etc" These are just Electronic Books (eBooks) in different formats. This does not mean anything to the everyday user other than... You need different software to read them. But, just WHAT software can you use and WHERE CAN YOU FIND THESE FREE BOOKS? 1. Software - To find EBook reading software from the Android Market, click these links for: EPub format Readers PDF format Readers Library Book Readers (from your local municipal library) Amazon Kindle Barnes & Noble Nook Kobo Book Reader Google Books Reader iStoryBooks for the little ones :) Some of the software can support many formats. My favorite FREE Readers (some have ads) are: Overdrive Media Console for the Library Books Aldiko Book Reader Amazon Kindle Nook for Android Mantanto Reader Free this one can annotate PDFs. I snagged some free PDF textbooks. "On the go schoolwork" can be completed within the book reader so spirals do not get left behind. My husband annotates blueprints. Be aware that it is supported with ads. 2. Where to find the books My mind is vastly overwhelmed by the sheer availability of free eBooks. How do I find what I am looking for among the various sites? Here are some lists. I personally snag some of the RSS Feeds (more on that down below) to keep up with fresh content. Flexbooks are free open source textbooks that can be downloaded in EPub, PDF, or Kindle. Please be aware that some of these books may have mistakes. See reviews HERE on Amazon for the various books. I use these only to supplement our regular hardbacks while we are "out and about". Free EBooks by Project Gutenberg From the site "Project Gutenberg offers over 36,000 free ebooks to download to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable device. Choose between ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats. We carry high quality ebooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers. We digitized and diligently proofed them with the help of thousands of volunteers." Amazon Kindle Top Free 100 I have gotten many educational books this way. Amazon Kindle Free Collections Barnes & Noble Nook Free EBooks Google Books Free EBooks Kobo Free Ebooks eBookMall.com From the site, "If you want free eBook downloads, you've come to the right place! Many of these free eBooks are only free for a limited time as special promotions, so download them while they are available. This list is updated daily with new selections. Add these free eBooks to your shopping cart just like any other product and they will be free when you checkout -- no credit card required!" One Non Free Option that I have looked into but have not made the jump to membership: World Public Library 3. Sign Up for RSS Feeds to see fresh content Rather than checking sites frequently, I use an RSS Feed Reader for my favorite sites. What is this? Just simply a link to help notify you of new content on the site in a "FEED READER" software. My two favorite Feed Readers... Google Reader and Take a Tour Here Pulse The Amazon Top 100 Free Kindle Books Feed is Here The Gutenberg Project Free Ebooks Feed is Here Truth be told, we still use our "paper" books most of the time. But, I sure have enjoyed EBooks too. Perhaps one day I could be convinced to give up paper .. or not. I know there is still too much information in this post for someone who is just learning about the EBook world. Still, just come back here for refreshers and links as you "get the hang of it". Actually, creating these lists helps to give me a reference point for individual topics vs.my bookmarks...heehee. I hope to follow up this post soon with more on "educating with tablets". We live in a constantly changing world. The current generation, considered the "Tech Generation" , utilize technology from a very early age. How many babies do you see with a smart phone in their hands? Children walking through a store are blinded by a screen their eyes are glued to. So then, no wonder many parents have difficulty trying to navigate the ever changing technical waters of the information tsunami.
Recently, I experienced great shock when I discovered the new requirement for the local public elementary school parents, with children twelve years of age, to buy their children tablets. Of course, low income families would qualify for financial assistance. Of course, technology, used properly, can facilitate the learning environment with many educational opportunities. I will post more on this topic another time. For example, the PBS Newshour published a fantastic segment on this subject. Even homeschooling families utilize such technology. First, when I heard of this requirement, I thought about the costs to families and cash strapped school districts. I won't express my opinions on that one in a faltering economy. I will leave that controversial subject elsewhere. Then, I started laughing and envisioning future news articles and controversies about the increase of "Computer Vision Syndrome" in children. But, once the real impact began to sink in, I began to worry more about child safety. Yes, many parents have figured out how to protect their PCs with Windows Live Family Safety and Norton Online Family. They may have even installed free Kids Safe browsers for the PCs such as Kidzui.com and Zoodles.com. Perhaps parents have even educated their children on internet safety with such sites as NetSmartz.org and KidsSmart.org. Since many devices have access to the internet (gaming systems, phones, computers, etc.) many parents also abide by advice from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and have their children only use their PC, laptop, or gaming system in the family room. Truth be told, I could not find any step by step advice in protecting children who use tablets or smart phones for this "tech generation", who use screens for everything from games to textbooks "on the go". A recent study stated these facts: · 85% of children don’t have parental controls activated on their mobile phone · 68% of parents think children accessing adult content on their mobile phone is a growing problem · 81% of parents agree that they need more information and guidance on how to stop their children accessing adult content via their mobile phones WHAT TO DO? These statistics boggle the mind. I wanted to post a step-by-step guide for parents who may not understand how to navigate the mobile operating system world. Parental Controls are actually easiest on the iPad. The Maryvale Technology Department has posted an excellent tutorial for this device HERE. Devices with the Android operating system remain more prevalent for most families since they have a lower price point, have more availability from more manufacturers, and have software such as Adobe Flash and Netflix. Therefore, for this post, I will concentrate on the Android operating system. The Android Operating System does NOT have parent friendly Parental Controls built into the software. I was disappointed to learn that the new 4.0 dubbed "Ice Cream Sandwich" did not integrate such controls . Perhaps shopping savvy parents can keep an eye on new manufacturers that may build such controls into their own devices. In the meantime, I have some advice on safety and learning tools for the Android system. SAFETY FIRST TIPS Above and beyond, each family needs to determine the amount of usage and services each child may be mature enough for and the amount of restrictions based on the age of the child. Set up each device yourself before allowing the child to use it.
I am NOT against use of such devices for education. In fact, we use them for online textbooks, educational podcasts, books from the library, and so much more. I AM for constant parental interaction and monitoring for the safety of the children. We as homeschoolers have the right to decide though whether or not such devices enter our homes. Public schooled children may not have such a choice for much longer. Either way, I hope this posts helps someone. Check back later for the educational opportunities these devices offer :) Safe surfing! |