Interactive Arithmetic for the World

21 August 2013

Education, K-12, Interactive Content, AZARDI, Widgets, ALL-IN Learning Objects

This post discusses using ePub 3 (and in the near future E0) to create advanced K-12 textbooks that significantly exceed the features in the current crop of proprietary textbook reading systems used predominantly in the U.S. like Inkling, Articulate and Apple's iPublish to name a few.

This post discusses using ePub 3 (and in the near future E0) to create advanced K-12 textbooks that match or better the features of the current crop of proprietary textbook reading systems like Inkling, Articulate and Apple's iPublish, to name a few.

There is a demonstration interactive ePub3 text book:  Operations on Numbers (Year 5 Maths) available. The links are at the bottom of the post. This will work with AZARDI 23 or newer. It will not work on other non-specification complete reading systems like Apple's iBooks or the IDPF Readium system.

And the challenge is... Reading Systems

EPub3 is now aging very fast. The current IDPF PR with the AAP and the EDUPUB Conference announced for September (2013) is either a glimmer of hope; or just more PR. Time may tell. Meanwhile serioius practioners must push on and get the work done.

With AZARDI we have focused on creating a reading system with significant ePub3 fixed-layout specification support. We have implemented the features that empower new and powerful education content experiences; especially K-12 education content.  to be presented in a way that exploits the potential of digital content.

This post briefly explains the use of a number of layout, presentation and interactive components that can be used in core K-12 Math books and which are presented in this interactive Math ePub3 book.

Number Mathematics - Interactive

Now to the demonstration book. It is a sample book that addresses basic whole-number arithmetic concepts: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division.

This demo book is a view into the flexibility and power the ALL-IN engine brings to education content, and the flexible fixed/reflowable/scrolling presentation options delivered only by AZARDI.

Here is the main interactive/feature list included in the book.

Interactive Guided Learning Tutorial Panels

Sometimes a stepped approach moving a concept slowly forward one item at a time is just the learning ticket. The tutorials use the AZARDI Interactive Engine Widget panels to provide focused sliding panel stepped instructions.

Sliding panel tutorials can be provided to any depth and at any instructional pace.These are inserted into the lesson pages which are reflowable content.

Interactive Practice Page

Unlimited practice with auto generated sums for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The application provides its own easy to tap or click 10 digit keyboard. This is easier to use than fighting with mobile device pop-up keyboard that tends to hide the problem.

Link directly to an interactive practice from anywhere in the book.

Interactive practice are fixed-layout landscape locked pages.  will give a range of problems with any preset difficulty.

Interactive Test

Take a test for each concept with 10 problems and see how well the learning is going. This version doesn't have a timer but that could be turned on. 

Link directly to an interactive test from anywhere in the book.

Interactive test pages are also fixed-layout landscape locked pages. There are interactive tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Interactive Exercises

Exercise blocks in many print textbooks often look "jammed in". Here there are pages with many questions of varying difficulty for each learning area. The learner can directly enter their answer into the problem answer-line to see if they are right or wrong. This saves turning to an answers page at the back of the book.

Interactive exercise pages are not in the spine or TOC. They are linked from the text. They are also experimental rendition:layout-scrolling pages because page flipping equations results in a presentation mess, and a fixed layout page is too small.

Interactive exercises are presented on scrolling pages. Enter the answer and it is instantly checked.

Printable versions of the Exercise pages.

These are easily produced with IGP:Digital Publisher and allow the Exercises to be distributed in an environment where not all students may have digital platforms, or where a bit of pencil on paper work helps the learning. The printable exercises can be accessed from within the book or from an independent external resource location. Here for example.

Print PDFs can be created using the same content as the interactive problems.

FX presentation arithmetic

This is used through-out because it allows the fast, easy and consistent creation of arithmetic sums and equations for both digital content and print. Unfortunately MathML is not really ready for basic arithmetic yet, and we need to use a consistent XHTML structure for flat presentation, interactive answering and productivity.

Consistent, high-quality presentation is easy with FX arithmetic tagging patterns. They can have interactive answer lines or just be for reading.

Fixed, reflowable and scrolling pages

The book has reflowable pages (the lessons) and fixed-layout pages - the Interactive practice and tests. It also includes the use of the experimental rendition:layout-scrolling fixed layout spine property. This is used in the Exercise pages to make sure they scroll rather than paginate.

Custom Spine Properties

The Exercise pages are not included in package TOC or the linear spine. They can only be accessed by internal links from within the book (with return links of course). This is to ensure they are always accessed directly from a relevant instructional context and don't clutter up the navigation.

Download the Book

This book is a demonstration and contains some "production notes" on how it can be changed for localization, internationalization and core lesson material.

Because AZARDI does not try and replicate a print-book presentation and has personalization options to allow the reading session to be optimized for any monitor, viewport or aspect ratio. If you download and look at the book, take time to read the AZARDI help page and Introduction page.

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Warning

This is a mixed reflowing AND fixed layout specification compliant ePub3 book.

It uses ePub3 fixed-layout spine properties correctly for reflowing and fixed-layout

It will NOT work on Apple's iBooks or the IDPF Readium project. Neither of these reading systems support fixed layout spine properties.

You must use AZARDI to experience the book correctly. We feel it is essential that this type of material is not reduced in features for delivery to non-specification complete ePub3 platforms or devices.

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DOWNLOADS

You can download Maths 5. Operations on Numbers right here.

THIS WILL ONLY WORK IN AZARDI 23 OR LATER DUE TO THE NEW EPUB3 EXPERIMENTAL SPINE SCROLLING PROPERTY.

You can access and download the printable Maths 5. Operations on Numbers Exercise Pages from here (and also from within the book).

You can also access the Book and Exercise Pages from the AZARDI site.

Posted by Richard Pipe

   

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