E-book Related Question and Answers

FAQs for Parents : e-books

1)      What is an e-book?

e-book is electronic or digital version of student textbook. The biggest difference between textbook and e-book  is that e-book consists of self-learning assessments / enhancements / audio / videos / web links etc integrated in the digital book.

2)      Why e-book?

a)      The e-books are light in weight, portable, lesser strain on back and shoulders for children.

b)      It is interactive with self learning assessments, slideshows, objective type questions, images, audio, video, links etc.

c)       It also enables a student to highlight / bookmark / zoom pages and also type notes.

d)      This is also latest technology in classroom and we are preparing students for future.

3)      How will eBooks help the students to learn better?

●     Entire book set on a single device allows easier integration of subjects.

●     Embedding audio, video and interactive activities makes the book more interesting and enhances the learning experience.

●     They are cheaper, lighter, and mobile with self assessment modules.

●     They can go beyond the textbook material (extended learning).

●     Fast and easy to search by topic and keywords.

●     Font enlargement, bookmarks, highlights allow easy accessibility.

4)      For what grade and subjects are the e-books available?

 Refer to the attachment with pricing and title details. We are offering
                CBSE - Grade 3 to Grade 8
                ICSE - Grade 3 to Grade 8

5)      On what kind of devices the e-book will work?

Tablets
Following tablets show good performance with the e-Books. 10” screen is a good option for viewing eBooks as it puts less strain on eyes.

●      Samsung Galaxy Tab 3-   7” & 10”

●      Samsung Galaxy Tab 4  7” & 10” (T231 and T561 Models)

●      Dell Venue 8” Tablet

●      Lenovo Yoga Tablet  8”

●      Ipad Mini

●      Ipad Air 2         

Operating systems required is IOS 7.0+ for Ipad and Android 4.2+ for Android Tablets. The books will not work properly if Android 4.1 or lower is installed.
Computer
Any computer which is Intel Core i3 or better, with 2GB RAM and good internet connection. Good internet connection is required, as, in the case of computer, the book is streamed from the internet and not saved on the computer.

5b) How do i Purchase books?

The ebooks purchase can only be done through between us portal. Once you login into the BetweensUs Portal there would be instructions on the eBooks Tab. Follow the same and pay online. Once paid, the instructions would be emailed along with the username - password. This will be available after 18th March 2016.

6)      How can I access my set of eBooks on the tablet?

In Android play store, type “beanstalk learning” to download the app. And on IOS App Store type “beanstalk learning”. The login username – password would be emailed to all the parents. Also the parents need to download the eBooks  (approx 1 GB total size at home) using the  wifi connection as the school is not equipped to provide downloading. Please note download one e-book at a time. Once the book is downloaded it can work offline except some web links which are reference links which will need internet connection.  Please note the username – password will only allow download for only one tablet per login.

7)      How can I access the ebooks on the PC? What will be the link of the ebook reader and browser specifications?

Weblink – http://beanstalk.kitaboo.com and use the same credentials.

8)      How would a parent load the e-books on the tablet?
Each parent will be provided a username/ password to access the e-book. The parent needs to load the e-books on tablet at home as school will have no internet access for downloading.

9)      What is the cost of e-book?
The e-books witll be 20% cheaper than textbook MRP.

10)   Is it compulsory to purchase e-books?
No. It is optional for students to purchase e-books.

11)   Where do we buy the tablets?
The parents can purchase it from any electronics shop or buy online. But make sure the specifications of tablet / devices should be as per point 5.

12)   Who is responsible for the device?
The parents / students are completely responsible for the device / tablets. The school will not be responsible for any breakage / theft or malfunctioning of the tablet. The school will only be responsible for the e-book content. The parents can insure the tablets with vendors.

13)   How would the teacher control misuse of tablets in classroom?

a)      Manual Supervision

b)      No internet in classrooms as books will be downloaded on tablets.

c)       Parents are also expected to keep monitoring the tablet at home.

14)   Can a teacher keep track of the content/assessments explored by a student in an eBook?

Yes, by using the Statistics button provided for each book. It allows the teacher to track the behaviour of the entire class such as the time spent by a student on the book, the number of assessments attempted, etc.

15)   If I download the book, how long it will be available in my account?

For a period of one year

16)   Can the eBooks work on Smart phones?

They are not meant for Smart phones.

17)   We have a desktop PC/laptop at home, do we still need to purchase an tablet?

eBooks can be viewed on the computer but, it will require an internet connection.   In contrast, tablets will allow you to view the book offline, thereby, facilitating the concept of anytime, anywhere learning.

18)   If I have more than one device (laptop/tablet/PC) at home, can I download the same set of books in all devices?

Each e-book account will work on one tablet and one PC.

19)   Will eBook enhancements/assessments be included in lesson plans/teaching strategy or will it be used just as a revision tool? In case it is a part of the lesson plan, and, if there are just a few students of the class having eBooks, how will the teacher manage those without eBooks, especially, while explaining something from the eBook? Is she allowed to use the projector?

e-Book enhancements/ assessments are meant for the students to reinforce self learning through practice. The teacher gives such revision exercises through worksheets. In addition to this, she can include some of the eBook assessments from each chapter for the students having eBooks. 

20)   Can the questions given in eBook enhancements/ assessments be included in the exams, since there could be many students without eBooks in the class?

As long as the questions are related to the content of the chapter, they can be included, though, in a different form. As such, questions asked in the exams are not the same as given in the book exercises.

21)   How will the school deal with the online safety concerns for students and the misuse of tablets such as playing games, using the camera, etc.?

Teacher would monitor it in the classroom with random checks.

22)   How many chances do I get to answer the assessment questions?

You can try each assessment twice, after which you have to close the assessment window and open it once more.

23)   A student can view the answers of an assessment before actually trying it out. What is the point of the assessment then?

A student understands the difference between showing answers and answering the questions himself to get them right. He/ She will be able to enjoy the activity only after doing it himself/ herself and so will be motivated for the same. The teacher or parent can ask the students the same questions to get a feedback of whether the student has actually read and then got the assessment right.

24)   Do the students have to get notebooks to school or use the eBook only?

Students will still get notebooks to school for writing subjective answers and other writing activities. They need not carry their textbooks, however, if they have the tablets.

25)   Can the students install games on their tablets?

We don’t advise students to load anything else on tablets apart from e-books as it can hinder the performance of the tablet.

26)   Using the eBook will further reduce the writing skills of students? How can we take care of this?

Students will still be writing in their notebooks, and also giving written exams, so, their writing skills are taken care of.

27)   Prolonged use of eBooks will increase the risk of developing health problems, such as, computer vision syndrome, progressive myopia, etc. How will we ensure that these are minimized?

The teaching strategies followed in the class are a mix of many different activities. Students are not going to be only looking at the eBooks. Also, with the development in technology, there are many safeguards such as anti-glare screens which can be added on the device. In addition eBooks allow magnifying the content for clear visibility.

28)   How will the student manage if the battery of the tab dies or there is some technical issue with the tab?

Just as the responsibility of maintenance of printed books lies with students and their parents, the charging and maintenance of the tablet will also be their responsibility. In case of technical issues, online documentation for troubleshooting and technical support is available for any device.

29)   How will teachers deal with students who do not have an eBook?

If required, teachers can change the seating arrangement such that students without an eBook could be seated near those having an eBook.

30)   How will I get access to the eBook if my device is lost or damaged? Can I download the same book on a new device?

If tablet is lost, we will activate one more downloading.

31)   How different will be an e-class, how do we deal with Multiple Intelligence?

The lesson plan for a topic includes a mix of many different teaching strategies to cater for Multiple Intelligence. So an e-class will not change that. In fact, the eBooks will engage slow learners more through its interactive features.

Amendment

1)      If the tab has to be formatted, is it possible to download the books again on the same device?
Right now only one download is allowed per user, in case of formatting done due to some reason a trouble ticket to be raised at www.podar.org/ebooks to help them in downloading again.

2)      How many times can the books be downloaded in an academic year?
Only one

3)      Can the students see their notes and highlighted content on the computer as well i.e. will it get synced automatically?
Yes they can see their notes, as all data is uploaded on the cloud server. For tab data to get synced with computer, the tab needs to be connected to internet once in a while to sync the data online with cloud.

4)      Is backup of the downloaded books possible?
These are auto backedup as all data is on the cloud

5)      If we change the tab from say, Samsung to Apple due to some technical issues in the former, can we still download the books free of charge without any hassle?
The samsung tablet user will get disabled and the new apple ipad user will become active in this scenario. To enable raise a trouble ticket at www.podar.org/ebooks

6)      Mobile and tab versions change very frequently and become obsolete very soon. Will the e books that are coming after 3-4 year be compatible to the old android version and IOS?
Yes we will work with our vendor to make sure the app is updated during such scenario.

7)      Is the validity of ebook for lifetime or for one year only?
Validity of ebook is one year as all the data is stored on the cloud and we are paying yearly cloud server support charges

8)      If the device is lost or formatted is the workdone on the book also lost?
Same as point 1, raise a trouble ticket at www.podar.org/support