Designing eBook interaction for mobile and contextual learning

Given the global spread of mobile platforms, such as iOS and Android, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices in teaching and learning. Our exploratory research was designed to evaluate the possibility of using common ebook formats to create gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools, we decided to use iBooks Author to built a first model of a dynamic book that may function as an educational game for "Environmental Studies", aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9-10 years old, in Portuguese schools. This paper presents the design and features of this interactive book titled "Adventures in the Guadiana River", developed using the Apple iBook format, and especially set for the iPad retina. Because this is a proprietary format we also built a prototype following the EPUB3 standard and developed new ways to interact with content within this universal format. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and promising pedagogical potential in the proposed models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The development of a gamebook for education

Mobile technologies are becoming very accessible to students, due to advances in the development of technology and a simultaneous decline in hardware costs. In this way, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices in teaching and learning. Our research was designed to evaluate the possibility of creating gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools for making ebooks we find out that these tools were not appropriate creating gamebooks. This paper presents a novel interactive book, the gamebook (g-book): a book with a story that can be read sequentially or not. The main difference refers to the ability to choose different paths to the main characters or the unfolding of the history, as happens in games. We built a model of a dynamic book that functions as an educational game for "Environmental Studies", aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9-10 years old, in Portuguese schools. This paper presents the design and features of this g-book titled "Adventures in the Guadiana River", implemented with the Unity3D platform that can be explored in iPhones, iPads, Android mobile devices and web browsers for the OSX and Windows platforms. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and promising pedagogical potential in the proposed models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interactive design and gamification of eBooks for mobile and contextual learning

Given the global spread of mobile platforms like iOS and Android, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices to teach and learn. Our exploratory research was designed to evaluate the possibility of using common eBook formats to create gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools, we decided to use iBooks Author to build a model of a dynamic book that may function as an educational game for "Environmental Studies", aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9 to 10- year olds enrolled in Portuguese schools. This paper pre- sents the design and features of this interactive book titled "Adventures in the Guadiana River", developed using the Apple iBook format, and especially set for the iPad retina. Because this is a proprietary format, we also built a proto- type following the EPUB3 standard and developed new ways to interact with content within this universal format. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and a promising pedagogical potential for the proposed models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How teachers become content producers: student’s use of ebooks

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developments of serious games in education

As Human Computer Interaction technologies evolve, they are supporting the generation of innovative solutions in a broad range of domains. Among them, Serious Games are defined as new type of computer game that is capable of stimulating users to learn, by playing and competing against themselves, against other users or against a computer application. While it could be applied to a broad range of fields and ages, these games are becoming especially relevant in educational contexts and for the most recent generation of students that is growing in a new technological environment, very different from the one we had some years ago. However, in order to become fully accepted as a teaching/learning tool in both formal and informal contexts, this technology has still to overcome several challenges. Given these considerations, this chapter makes a state-of-the-art review of several works that were done in this field, followed by the description of two real world projects, helping to understand the applicability of this technology, but also its inherent challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interactive 3D Digital Models for Anatomy and Medical Education

This chapter explores the creation and use of interactive, three-dimensional (3D), digital models for anatomy and medical education. Firstly, it looks back over the history and development of virtual 3D anatomy resources before outlining some of the current means of their creation; including photogrammetry, CT and surface scanning, and digital modelling, outlining advantages and disadvantages for each. Various means of distribution are explored, including; virtual learning environments, websites, interactive PDF’s, virtual and augmented reality, bespoke applications, and 3D printing, with a particular focus on the level of interactivity each method offers. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the use of such models for education is discussed. Questions addressed include; How can such models best be used to enhance student learning? How can they be used in the classroom? How can they be used for selfdirected study? As well as exploring if they could one day replace human specimens, and how they complement the rise of online and e-learning

Cognitive Learning and Motivation of First Year Secondary School Students Using an Interactive and Multimedia-enhanced e-Book made with iBooks Author

In this study, multimedia and interactive e-book content was explored to determine the impact on 1st year Irish secondary school students, specifically looking at cognitive learning and student motivation. To achieve this, a controlled experiment was undertaken using a comparison between a test group and a control group. The test group was given an interactive and multimedia enhanced e-book, developed with interactive widgets of the iBooks Author for the iPad. The control group was presented with the same material, but the widgets were replaced with static materials. The study found that some widgets were more successful for learning than others, and that the ibook format indicates a high level of motivation in students

EFFECTS OF AN iPAD iBOOK ON READING COMPREHENSION, ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY, AND ENGAGEMENT FOR ADOLESCENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an iPad iBook for adolescents with disabilities. With its release in 2012, the iBooks Author software for the Apple iPad allows classroom teachers to create accessible and engaging textbooks. Leveraging media and interactive widgets, iBooks Author holds promise for delivering content to learners of all needs. However, little empirical research currently supports the iPad as a textbook. In this intervention study, 22 middle school students with disabilities learned to identify and understand features of textbooks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two cohorts and alternated reading between a traditional textbook and iPad iBook across six science textbook chapters. Using a repeated measures design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected for reading comprehension scores, electrodermal activity, cognitive workload, and participant satisfaction. Results indicated no significant differences in reading comprehension scores, electrodermal activity levels, or cognitive workload scores. Satisfaction measures indicated students significantly preferred the iPad iBook. Emergent themes from participant interviews, fidelity checks, and task analyses are also discussed

Reinventing the book: exploring the affordances of digital media to (re)tell stories and expand storyworlds

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Professional Doctorate in Journalism, Media, Television and CinemaThe focus of this thesis is on analysing the affordances of new technologies of the book. It looks at the transition between the affordances of the material book and the digital, focusing on the formal aspects of the book and its digital production and consumption. The research uses a coreperiphery model to locate innovation, looking first at a range of practices and then at selected producers and artefacts to identify relevant uses of the affordances of digital media, namely participation, co-creation, online reading communities, and the potential for cross-media extension of stories into other forms. The analyses of selected digital artefacts evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and ask: how have the affordances of the digital medium been used? What do these affordances offer to producers and consumers? And how have certain affordances changed the use value, the pleasures and the suitability of texts for their intended functions? This evaluation takes into account professional publishing contexts and a range of practices, looking at the ways in which producers make, classify and present their works. Affordances theory is used throughout, and ultimately shows that good design practices reinvent the medium, push the boundaries of the book, whilst considering the habits, needs and expectations of readers/users. A practice-led project is subject to analysis and reflection on practice in order to draw further insights and recommend approaches and tools for designers, publishers and other producers. This project experimented with reader engagement and co-creation to adapt the Nature Mage fantasy book series (Duncan Pile, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016) onto enhanced digital book and digital game texts. Media-specificity is used as a framework to look at the ways in which stories can be translated and expanded onto new forms that explore the affordances of digital media. The adaptations are located at the intersection of media, shaped by a range of intertexts from both analogue and digital media, and offering not simply another way of enjoying the narrative but texts that explore the digital affordances also to design features that relate to ludic, creative and social motivations and pleasures. Ultimately the thesis revisits the very definition of the book, its functions, its value and the ways in which emerging digital artefacts are doing the work of books and — thanks to new affordances and their hybrid nature — are not only changing the experience of reading, but also mixing it with the work of other media forms and genres. In doing so, this thesis contributes to furthering professional practice by highlighting a range of uses of the affordances of the digital medium to reinvent the book in the next chapter of its evolution

New interactive books for control education

This paper presents ongoing project to develop new interactive books for control education. The novelty of the proposed idea is to merge web-based solutions with LaTex text into a epub format. In such a way, classical interactive tools for control education are combined with static text and thus interactive books are created, being compatible with standard e-book readers. A book chapter about the teaching of second-order processes is presented as example to show the different steps and the results of the proposed ideaPostprint (published version