E-BOOKS

How to create  ebooks

In February I could do an interesting  EVO SESSION about teachers as creators of  ebooks. We worked online in a closed group which was created in GOOGLE+ and I could discover new tools . I also designed and developed  my first ebook about  Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for English language  learners.  It was a great effort for me as I am not so tech-savvy as many  other  teachers but  we were guided on line and  Shelly Terrell was a  great supporter  for the  activity. In five weeks I learnt how to keep on working on my ideal ebook. 

I wrote some  posts  in the blog where I usually write about  my learning  about new technology . You can  see them online now:

http://gettingdigitalizedinlifeandwork.blogspot.it/2016/01/editing-and-publishing-ebooks.html

http://gettingdigitalizedinlifeandwork.blogspot.it/2016/03/evo-2016-teachers-creating-digital.html


Last March  I found an interesting ad about   Italian MOOCS and I found out that they were running  a course for teachers about the creation of ebooks. They seemed to have  a different approach but  I decided to try. I enrolled after 20th April and I have just finished my ebook based on the guide provided in the  MOOC course   -  Ebook per la scuola italiana  2016   -  you can find more  online  http://moodlehoc.polimi.it/.

We were left  working online and we had to rely on the support of the other teachers, I was a bit confused at the beginning but then I followed the tutorial and learnt how to create my ebook in a short time. We were also provided with lots of information about the development of ebooks and ereaders.  I also googled the tools and the approach which I was presented and discovered that other  teachers have been working in the same way and with the same tools.


This is what I found online about  creating ebooks and based on the  steps which were provided. I also tried to see what is happening in Italian  schools now. Not everywhere we have ebooks but some schools are trying to start using them. The role of the teacher is crucial. I am aware that not many  are eager at learning about  these  new tools which we can use now.

References online: 

http://verytech.smartworld.it/come-creare-un-e-book-con-calibre-180221.html

http://www.ebookreaderitalia.com/instapapernaviga-salva-e-leggi-in-seguito/

http://fmanclossi.com/index.php/2015/12/17/come-convertire-un-ebook-con-calibre/

https://farinasullescarpe.wordpress.com/tag/ebook-instapaper-scribd-calibre-epub-fatica-esperienze/

http://www.istitutoperlasca.gov.it/attachments/article/121/opentextbook_libero.pdf

http://www.pearltrees.com/garabaldafafarata/conversione-formati-ebook/id8069839


EBOOKS

Ebook e classi virtuali from Veronica Cavicchi



PROGETTO BOOK IN PROGRESS

http://www.bookinprogress.org/

http://www.bookinprogress.org/bookinprogress/_file/documenti/PDF_LIBRI/inglese/AIE206%20P2%20inglese%20professionali%20UNITA%201.pdf

There is a project which is supported by some headmasters in Italian schools and which aims at creating ebooks for learners by their  teachers - see  Project  Book in Progress.


The steps suggested  in the MOOC

Some simple tools you need to have on your  computer:

https://www.instapaper.com/     you need to be  registered and have an account.  
STEP 1-  INSTAPAPER
This is useful for bookmarking websites you want to use in your  ebook
Once you have chosen the websites you need to create a folder for them. This will be your " ebook". The tool is used for downloading the document   in the epub form.

https://calibre-ebook.com/
The tool is used for reading epub books and for  editing books. If you check online you will find this information:
calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It has a cornucopia of features divided into the following main categories:         

• Library Management
• E-book conversion
• Syncing to e-book reader devices
• Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form
• Comprehensive e-book viewer
• Content server for online access to your book collection
• E-book editor for the major e-book formats

STEP 2 - CALIBRE

The tool helps you turn the epub book into  a doc document.


STEP 3- WORK ON THE DOCUMENT-EDITING
Once the document is  ready you can add pictures, index, any  personal text you want  to add. The links to the webpages will be active and will open in the ebook online. 


STEP 4- UPLOAD YOUR DOC FILE  TO  SCRIBD

What is  Scribd ? It is an open publishing  platform where people can upload their books and they can read books. For reading books they are required to pay for some as the writers have published their books on the platform.
https://www.scribd.com/
  
You need to upload the file and then in just a few minutes you have your ebook published.  The ebook can be downloaded and viewed by other people. It can be  read online,shared and embedded in blogs and websites.


Easy?  It is a different approach, but I have learnt about some tools which were new to me. 

My attempts: you can find online what I have  created.
It was  based on the introduction to  William Shakespeare, the play The Tempest and his sonnets. I wanted to create a summer work for students of English which could be " free" online and with interesting weblinks and also videos. The final product was not excellent but an interesting experience for me.  
To download the book students need to be registered: the book will be a pdf document.

My second ebook:

Studying William Shakespeare by tiziana1

My third ebook, based on the second one but I wanted to add images and  more information about the sonnet and the English sonnet

Studying William Shakespeare - an ebook by Tiziana Angiolini - Learning about the BARD by tiziana1

What I could not add to the book: the background image which was present in the word document I had designed. Here is a screenshot of what I had created:

The experience was useful and I am going to use the platform on  Scribd for creating  some ebooks for my students.