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4 Monday, June 24, 2013 Ed Tech Show Daily BRITANNICA SCHOOL OFFERS TAILOR-MADE DIGITAL INSTRUCTION Britannica School is a comprehensive digital knowledge resource for teachers, students, and their families. That's a mouthful, it's true, but the product defies simple description. It goes way beyond standard "reference", providing thousands of articles, images, videos, e-books, and editor-recommended websites in an easy-to-navigate, interactive format. Britannica School is worthy of consideration for many reasons, but perhaps the most significant lies in the word's universal access and dynamic response. Unlike most digital classroom products, Britannica School works superbly and provides the same optimal viewing experience on any digital device, be it a computer, smartphone, or tablet. This feature is tailor-made for schools that have instituted Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs. As long as the device is equipped with an Internet connection and a web browser, students can retrieve and explore content anywhere and anytime – content that includes a dictionary, thesaurus and world atlas so students can look up unfamiliar vocabulary or facts about a particular place without having to consult other resources. Britannica is well-known for content which is written, edited, reviewed EBOOKS IN EDUCATION: IS YOUR SCHOOL PREPARED? Say goodbye to tattered bindings and torn pages. No more backpacks overflowing with heavy textbooks that could be outdated the minute they're printed. Digital textbooks require just one small device: an iPad, which is portable, intuitive, and weighs less than two pounds. Today, iPads and e-books are helping to facilitate exciting, interactive, and engaging learning environments. Apple's iBooks Author tool has opened up a world of exciting possibili- ties for education organizations, particularly in K-12. The ability for schools to produce their own electronic textbooks presents a monumental change in the way information can be presented in the classroom. And it is not just educators creating e-books; in some districts, students are using iBooks Author to create ebooks that become curriculum for younger students, and textbook publishers are producing more and more e-books for Apple's iBookstore. and updated regularly by experts across a broad range of disciplines. Yet, the developers of Britannica School have gone beyond these expectations to also ensure that the resource is equally valuable for daily classroom use. Aligned to the Common Core and state curriculum standards, non-fiction material supports reading comprehension, vocabulary development, use of digital media, information research, digital literacy, higher-order thinking and critical analysis skills across all subjects. Teachers Continued on Page 45 But as educators dream up new uses for e-books in the classroom, IT administrators have many questions running through their minds. How will students receive their e-books? How many devices will my school buy? Will my staff have to manage them? How will my IT department take on this responsibility without being overworked? A student cannot simply be handed an iPad out of the box and expect it to work magically. IT departments must be Continued on Page 39 AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH ISTE Lee M. Oser CEO and Editor-in-Chief Lyle Sapp Senior Associate Publisher Director of Sales Kate Seymour Senior Associate Publisher Kim Forrester Jeff Rosano Associate Publishers Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director Kristina Harris Hayden Neeley Associate Editors Yasmine Brown Graphic Designer Ruth Haltiwanger Traffic Manager Dave Chavez Lynn Hilton Account Managers Enrico Cecchi European Sales EdTech Show Daily, is published by Oser Communications Group ©2013. All rights reserved. Executive and editorial offices at: 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300/Fax: 520.721.6300 www.oser.com European offices located at Lungarno Benvenuto Cellini, 11, 50125 Florence, Italy.