Once Upon an eBook...
The Story of How
Tommy Teknologie
Became a
DIGITAL HERO
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It’s late. Tommy Teknologie is hunched over his desk, poring over a pile of spreadsheets.
As the Dean of Academics, it’s his job to order textbooks for the upcoming school year.
And even though it’s only January, Tommy knows from experience that textbook ordering
is anything but easy. It’s always best to get started early.
As he leafs through the teachers’ textbook picks, he notices something unusual. A lot of
the books are just plain old. “Geez,” he mutters to himself, “This physics book hasn’t been
updated since 1980! What about all the new discoveries that have been made since then?”
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tommy starts to feel a little funny. His palms get sweaty and
the hair on the back of his neck stands up. Before he can understand what’s happening,
his mind flashes blank and then…
He sees students sitting in a classroom reading. But wait—those aren’t books! That’s an
iPad®. Where are their books? All at once, he understands this is the future. And in the
future, schools use eBooks! The teacher at the front of the classroom tells the students
to download an app and, within minutes, they’re taking a class tour of the Museum of
Modern Art on their tablets.
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Tommy takes a deep breath and shakes his head. He’s not quite sure what happened,
but it felt like a premonition. Did he just see into the future? If so, the future of education
sure seems bright! Then it hits him—what if he was sent this premonition for a reason?
What if Readerton Academy’s students didn’t have to rely on thirty year old textbooks?
What if they could have interactive, updated versions of every textbook delivered right
to their tablets? What if the future was…now?
Barely able to contain his excitement, Tommy rushes to his computer to do some research.
Before long, he has a great plan to pitch to the Head of School in the morning.
The next day...
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WOW!
“…So, don’t you see?” Tommy says to Mrs. Edukashun after outlining his plan. “Our
students could have all the benefits of technology in the classroom, while easily
accessing the most up-to-date eBooks on their tablets. Plus, eBooks cost significantly
less so it’ll save their parents money!”
“Wow!” Mrs. Edukashun says. “That sounds great. Where do we get started?”
Before Tommy can answer, his palms start to feel sweaty again and he gets another
premonition flash:
There’s a rush of excitement in the hallways as the school prepares to transition from print
to digital. Teachers have questions about incorporating technology into the classroom.
Parents want detailed information about what to expect. Students need guidance on using
their devices. This isn’t something that can be rushed into. There needs to be a good
amount of time set aside for planning and implementation.
“If we are going to be ready for the start of school next year, we need to get started
right away” Tommy says to Mrs. Edukashun. We have lots of decisions to make before
we can actually start using eBooks.”
“Like what?” Mrs. Edukashun asks.
“Well,” Tommy says, “first we have to decide which device we’re going to use. What tablet
are our students going to get their eBooks delivered to?”
“I’d rather provide more choices,” Mrs. Edukashun says. “Why don’t we just tell students
they can use whatever device they want?”
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Tommy is about to say that sounds good to him when suddenly…
“Class, click to the diagram on page 48 in your Biology book,” the teacher at the front
of the class asks. But wait—the diagram is different in the online version of the eBook on
Joey’s laptop than the one on Meg’s iPad. And Jessica needs help updating her Samsung
tablet, but the teacher isn’t familiar with how it works, so she can’t help her. They lose
valuable class time trying to get everyone on the same “page.”
Tommy tells Mrs. Edukashun what he’s seen. “I think standardization when it comes to
device use will save us all a few headaches in the long run. Maybe we should require all
students to have the same device after all,” he says.
“But which device should we use?” Mrs. Edukashun asks.
Tommy thinks for a minute. “Well,” he says. “I did some research last night and the iPad
seems like a great choice. Students can download eBooks and access them without
being online, plus there are lots of educational apps.”
Mrs. Edukashun is relieved. “That sounds perfect. Thank goodness you can see the future,
Tommy! Why don’t you go talk to the other departments to see what other choices we
need to make?”
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First, Tommy decides to go talk to Issac Turner in the computer lab.
“Hey I.T.,” he greets him. “Are you excited about the new eBook initiative?”
“Absolutely,” I.T. says. “You know how much I like technology!”
“Are you worried about the ordering and fulfillment process?” Tommy asks. “Since you’re
the Director of Technology, you’re going to have to order all the eBooks.”
“Hmm,” I.T. says. “Well, we’re going to use ClassBook.com, so that should simplify things
significantly. What else do you think I need to consider?”
Tommy barely opens his mouth to answer before he starts to feel his next premonition
coming on…
I.T.’s office is full of parents and students who can’t
figure out why their eBooks aren’t being delivered
to the right iPads. “Why did my son’s Language Arts
eBook turn up on my iPad?” asks one father. “We did
everything we were supposed to do!”
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“ClassBook.com sounds great,” Tommy says, “But we still need to make sure we’ve got
everything under control on our end. For instance, have you thought about student
email addresses?”
“What about them?” I.T. looks confused.
“Well, if we don’t specify which email address students order their books with, they
might end up getting delivered to the wrong device—like their mom’s iPad! Maybe we
should consider assigning school email addresses to standardize the ordering process.”
“Wow, Tommy. I hadn’t thought of that! That seems like it’ll fix all of our computer
problems.”
Tommy opens his mouth to tell I.T. that it sure seems like it, but then…
They thought they had all their technology problems solved, but it’s the first day of the
initiative and the whole school is a disaster. The wireless network can’t handle so many
devices and the school doesn’t have the proper bandwidth to manage the increase
in web activity. Teachers can’t get students to download the apps they planned their
lessons around and students can’t even sign onto their devices.
“Wait a second, I.T. There might be a few more things we have to think about before all of
our problems are solved,” Tommy says, shaking his head free from his hazy premonition.
“Like strength of wireless signal and quantity of bandwidth.”
I.T. nodded enthusiastically. “I’m on it, Tommy. I’ll start running some tests right away.”
And with that, I.T. bent over his keyboard and began typing frantically, which Tommy
took as his cue to leave.
I’m on it,
Tommy!
The
old way
or the
highway!
Give us
our books
back!
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HEAD of
SCHOOL
I wanted to learn how to
use this in my lesson plans,
But I just don’t know how.
On his way back to Mrs. Edukashun’s office, Tommy runs into the Anatomy teacher,
Mrs. Bones.
“Good morning, Mrs. Bones,” Tommy says.
“No it’s not. And I hear this whole electronic book business is all your fault.” Mrs. Bones
points an accusatory finger at Tommy’s chest.
“You mean you aren’t excited about it?” Tommy asks in surprise.
“Excited about changing everything about how I’ve taught for the last 20 years? What’s to
be excited about? Hrmph.” Mrs. Bones starts to walk away and Tommy calls after her to
wait, just as he flashes forward to his next premonition…
Teachers are crowded outside the office of the Head of School. “Give us our books back!”
one yells. “The old way or the highway!” another says. Off to the side of the mob stands a
teacher holding an iPad, weeping. “I wanted to learn how to use this in my lesson plans,”
she says, mournfully, “But I just don’t know how.”
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s
ne
iTu
Tommy snaps to from his vision and starts to chase Mrs. Bones down the hallway. “Wait!
Mrs. Bones! It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Breathlessly, Tommy starts to explain to Mrs. Bones that not “everything” is changing.
“We’ll help train you on the new technologies. And you’ll probably even be able to use the
same book you’ve been using. We can check our Digital Assessment—which lists all of our
current textbooks that also come in eBook form—to see if it’s available.”
“Hmm,” Mrs. Bones sighs. “That doesn’t sound as bad as I thought it would be…but I’m
still not going to get too excited about it.”
“I promise to help you and the other teachers out until you feel differently!” Tommy says.
“In fact, why don’t you use this iTunes gift card to explore some new apps you might be
interested in using in your classroom?”
“Well,” Mrs. Bones says, and tries to hide a smile. “That’s a good start.”
Tommy is glad he was able to help Mrs. Bones understand, but he feels silly for not
considering how the teachers might react to the changes. What if the parents feel
the same way?
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PTA
MEETING
Tommy decides to call up the president of the Parents Association, Patty Fordakids. “Hi
Patty,” he says. “I was calling to see what your thoughts were on our new eBook initiative.”
“Oh, I have some thoughts, all right. For starters, I don’t think my daughter needs to have
a several hundred dollar toy on her school supply list. Not to mention that I’m sure she’ll
never pay attention in class again once she has that thing to play with.
Tommy is about to object, but before he can say anything…
He’s sitting in Mrs. Edukashun’s office. “I’m sorry, Tommy,” she says. “It was a good idea, but
if the parents aren’t on board, we can’t make it work. Time to get the textbooks back out.”
Uh oh. Tommy realizes how important it is to have parental support. “I understand how
you feel, Patty,” he says. “Maybe we haven’t done a good enough job explaining to
our parents why we’re switching to a digital curriculum. Has anyone mentioned the fact
that iPads reduce back strain from heavy backpacks to you? That’s one great reason to
make this switch.”
“No,” Patty says, suddenly interested. “I hadn’t thought of that, but come to think of it, my
Lucinda’s delicate frame isn’t benefitting from those horribly heavy textbooks she carries
around every day. Her backpack weighs almost as much as she does!”
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Readerton’s
Digital Hero!
“That’s exactly it,” Tommy says. “And there are lots of other benefits, too. Why don’t we
call a Parents Association meeting to talk about all of the reasons we’re launching this
eBook initiative?”
“That’s a fine idea, Mr. Teknologie,” Patty says. “I always knew I liked you!”Tommy feels a
lot better when he hangs up the phone. Early communication will definitely be important
for earning the support of parents. He knocks on Mrs. Edukashun’s office door to tell her
about the PTA meeting.
“Well, Tommy, it sure sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” she says confidently.
“Maybe not everything,” Tommy says. “But I think it’s all going to work out great.”
“Thanks to you!” Mrs. Edukashun exclaims. “You’ve really become Readerton’s Digital Hero!”
Tommy has his final premonition, which is suspiciously similar to his first… Students stand a
little straighter as they walk through the halls of Readerton Academy, their backpacks
no longer weighing them down with multiple textbooks. Teachers talk excitedly in the
conference room about new technology strategies they’re using. In the classroom, students
follow along on their eReaders and get excited when it’s time to download a new app.
Every day, they expand their minds as 21st century learners.
--------------------------------
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With the right support, mindset, and tools, the transition from
print to digital doesn’t have to be complicated. Preparing
your school to make the change is the first step in preparing
your students to succeed as 21st century learners. eBooks
are just the beginning—the possibilities of technology in
the classroom are endless.
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textbooks your
school uses available
as eBooks?
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