Benefits of using eBooks in classrooms

When almost every aspect of our lives is being sprinkled with the dust of new invention and eased out methods, the growing span of globalization has also interfered with education vastly.

One of the noteworthy advancements in this regard is the gradual shift from traditional printed textbooks and handouts to ebooks and e-notes.
How many of you have had the dreaded experience of taking to school a bag that was mostly full of textbooks, that was probably heavier than yourself and had consequences in the forms of aches and pains and a challenge in itself to balance yourself up the stairs to your classroom? All these problems can be put to rest with books composed or converted into electronics formats that are commonly termed ‘ebooks.'

We thought of expounding somewhat, all the good things that this invention has brought about to make life relatively lighter.

Eliminates a Heavy Load

The best use of e-books is the fact that it eliminates having to carry around with you a huge pile of books.  Whether in school or university we are constantly asked to research and refresh our knowledge referring to age-old texts books that are most often quite bulky. Now with the convenience of most of these books being published on the web and soft copies of the same being available, it is an easy task to access them via an ebook that gives you the convenience of having entrée to hundreds of books with minimum requirement of space.

Versatility

An ebook can help you with other task, than just being a means to an end for reading. Ebook Softwares are customizable, and the interface can be adjusted to fit your reading requirement. Fonts can be made larger, and texts can be made bolder to make sure you have just the right visual interaction with your text to give you better comprehension. Also, some interfaces give you the option of making and archiving notes and even highlighting text making it easy to refer at a glance with the ease of bookmarking valuable content.

Audio and video plug-ins

A distinctive feature of an ebook is the dimensions of audio and video plug- ins. Sound files can be created and played back later, to recall the explanation of say a particular concept. This would also aid a student with visual impairment and serves as a good medium of self- learning for such students. Video clips and key links can also be embedded making the lesson more interactive helping students to concentrate better to foster active learning.

Eco-friendly Concept

Statistics according to U.K.’s Nielsen Book show a decline of 4% in 2013’s overall book sales due to the increased switch to e-content from traditional paperback. Mother nature is probably the happiest hearing this news as this means, that there are fewer trees being brought down for the sake of paper.  With the revisions in knowledge and this affecting the curriculum, schools will also be saving without having to invest in versions of each new edition. Though they are not all green energy used in the materials that go into ebook production, the damage to the environment is comparatively less than the printing of physical books.
 
Cost effectiveness

 eBooks are an effective way to ease up investment in big fat books that you would spend a good chunk of money by the time you enter university. Think smart and look for versions of the book you are looking to purchase online. Not only will you be saving a great deal but you will also be able to have access to the most updated version of the book from time to time. If you are lucky enough you will stand a chance of downloading a copy free of charge. 
    
Access to Other Sources

When you are in the midst of your final assignment requiring two or three sources to get done with validation of your data, ebooks will help you flip from one bookmarked section to the other, saving time and energy of turning the pages of a bibliography of content. Some e-books will also give you links relevant to the content that can be found on other platforms as well for further reference.
 
For all the reasons above e-books are recommended for use in institutions, schools and universities and will help to mitigate, issues that students encounter like aches and pains due to heavy weight.  Implement an elibrary system that will help to keep track of all the literature in the possession of your institution.  Introduce e-books to your curriculum and give your higher education platform a new dimension.