Using Real e-Books in Real e-classrooms in the US, UK and South Africa

Mark Condon, RealeStudios

Colin Harrison, University of Nottingham, UK

RealeBooks ("really books") are now becoming known internationally as a valuable tool for empowering authors of all ages in a wide variety of communities, and for making publication something that is within every person's reach. RealeBooks are small, self-published books that are made to be held in your hand, but they also can be easily shared on the Internet. This hands-on session will present information on the development and use of RealeBooks in research and development projects involving educational settings in Texas, the UK and South Africa (see http://www.realebooks.com/ and http://uk.realebooks.com/). The presenters will support participants in a lab session exploring RealeWriter software, consulting online RealeBooks libraries, and starting to make their own RealeBook.

Today’s session focuses upon a new kind of eBook that is created using free software that is downloadable from the Internet. These ebooks are picture-books and they are not only screen readable, but are printable.Today, we’ll share some of these books for your inspection, briefly review several projects around the globe that are both using and creating these books to the benefit of children, and take a tour of some online libraries featuring these books in their digital formats.

RealeBooks are REAL Books that are also eBooks.

These books feature qualities of multi-media picture-books and their benefits for literacy development are focused upon the power of authenticity in books for those just learning to read and write.

The books include:

1.    Images that are familiar to the children for whom they were written. This local publication feature fills the void left by commercial publishers who cannot publish for small language and cultural populations

2.    Language that is familiar to the children. This may be English, but it could be  anything else for which we have a good primary font. It could  also feature bi-lingual content.

3.    The books are printed locally, either by teachers and parents or by a commercial printer. The back cover of the book offers a local business or professional office an opportunity to support literacy in the local community and to get their logo or face on every family’s coffee table!

4.    The books are cheap enough to be distributed to lots of children. The books can be created for as little as a dollar and if labor is volunteer that beats anything that publishers can offer – at least economically.

5.    Locally published books offer everyone an opportunity to make a contribution to the learning lives of others.

The Book Cycle represents the possibility that communities as small as families, including classrooms or schools and as large as a “village” can become fully literate places. The books you see here are the first step in the creation of the Book Cycle in the projects where we are currently working.

The Community Literacy Medicine Wheel represents the players that must be active for a whole and healthy Book Cycle to come into being.

Current Projects – where we seek to establish a whole and healthy Book Cycle:

1.    Bureau of Indian Education – Books used to promote AYP – Four locally produced books are being sent home each month with Head Start and Primary children. Parents are being taught how to care for, enjoy the family time together and support their little ones in learning the power of literacy.

2.    INNOED – Creativity needs to be shared. Talented school children publish their brainstorms for all to enjoy, thus creating a rich and authentic context for the strategic use of literacy.

3.    The Ithuba Project - South Africa Partners the SA Department of Education and the University of Texas – San Antonio with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development – Books are being created for minority language populations that are too small to make it feasible for commercial printers/publishers

4.    Rotary Club Initiative – Community Service Organizations like this one get involved in ways that recognize their limitations in supporting literacy development and take advantage of their strengths. Middle school children are creating RealeBooks as part of their service learning curriculum. From those, two books are selected each month for printing for Head Start Children in Loveland, CO. 

5.    Children’s Museum of Denver Grow Project –  22 Denver Public Schools and the Children’s Museum of Denver, in partnership with the Butterfly Pavilion are leading second graders in writing books for Kindergarten children.

6.    Kentucky / New Mexico Writing Projects  – Folks are working to organize a book share in which the two very different kinds of lives are captured and digitally shared with audiences. These book authors are also Pen Pals.

7.    Reading Recovery Research– Roaming and Writing – Teachers writing for, then with their RR students, reflecting the full expression of their lives through literacy.

8.    RealeLibraries

a.    Offer reading material to anyone with Internet Access

b.    Invite Publication of ebooks by Children, Teachers, and families

c.    Reflect specific interests of library holders.

Here are some links to web sites that feature the kinds of ebooks that we will be sharing today.

http://www.realebooks.com – Get your own free copy

http://bie.realelibrary.com – Native American schools

http://uk.realebooks.com  - A new showcase for children in the United Kingdom

http://lopez.realelibrary.com – An elementary in Florida

http://FACE.realelibrary.com – a Preschool / Parent program in this project won the first ever Verizon “Tech Savvy” award for using ebooks to promote parental involvement.

Note: Time permitting; attendees will be invited to try out the ebook software used in all of these projects, RealeWriter. If that time is not found, attendees are invited at their leisure to visit www.realebooks.com and download a copy appropriate for their up-to-date MAC or PC. Once installed, click on the Template button and follow the directions for a tour of how the software works.

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