Interactive E-booksChristian Glahn

Interactive E-books =

Enhanced digital book publications

For swiss aca

demics

1. The Web, mobiles, and e-books

2. Modes of interactivity

3. Interactivity and managed learning

Once upon a time … the WWW and PDF were new (1993/4)

PDF

HTML

• 1st popular smart device (1996)• Low resolution screen

(160x160px)

• Monochrome graphics• Sync-by-wire

• 1st “e-book” readers (ereaders) • MobiPocket*• Documents2Go• Acrobat for PalmOS

“Responsive Design” appears around 10yrs later!

… but then computers went mobile

E-books reach out to domains where the WWW and PDF fail(ed) to meet the user-requirements.

• Offline capability• Re-floatable content

E-books are “mobile first” resources by design!

Web-technologies became (much) later part of the game.

“Web-only e-books” are a big No-No!

What is an E-Book?

PDFs are no e-books??

E-books are content-packaging formats for distributing publications to a wide range of digital displaying technologies

The content will adapt to the displaying capabilities of the “ereader”.

PDF is a content format for the lossless distribution of layouted documents to a wide range of printing and displaying devices.

The content looks the same on every “ereader”.

For comparison …

E-books are content-packaging formats for distributing publications to a wide range of digital displaying technologies

E-books are content-packaging formats for distributing publications to a wide range of digital displaying technologies

EPUB version 2 uses XHTML + CSS2 for formatting. • Mostly text and images• Basic interaction

EPUB version 3 uses HTML5 for formatting and interaction. (HTML+CSS3+Javascript)• Multi-media documents• Complex interaction (sometimes possible)

E-books are no longer limited to text and images.

But many "ereaders" already

have problems with handling

images correctly

EPUB introduces “fixed-layout” documents as alternative to “reflowable” documents.

Kiss Marry AvoidX

EPUB3 introduces scripting for interactive content

"Progressive e

nhancement” fo

r

most accessible

content!

EPUB3 defines ereaders as runtime environments for interactive content.

Can we publish apps as e-books?!

Business Logic Complexity

The Line Between Apps, Web-apps, and E-books

Full Device

Capabilities

Online Business

LogicInteractiveContent

Native Apps Web-Apps E-books

E-books support different interactions

• Annotations• References (Links)• Interactive graphics• Quizzes• Interactive storylines

Eas

e of

auth

oring

Inte

rope

rability

Annotations• Audience-based document

enrichment• All ereaders provide basic

annotation.• Highlights• Notes

• Many ereaders offer also collaborative annotations.

• New Specifications for sharable annotations• Open Annotation • EPUB Content Fragment

Identifier (epubcfi)

http://www.openannotation.org/spec/core/

Collaborative annotations in Kindle

Annotation tools in iBooks

http://www.idpf.org/epub/linking/cfi/epub-cfi.html

Footnotes and Links• HTML anchors and

links help to move between chapters and sections

• “epub:type” links allow to create pop-ups• Footnotes• Glossaries• Bibliographies(Some readers require back-references)

Interactive Graphics

• SVG or HTML5 Canvas graphics preferred• Works well for diagrams• PNG or JPEG if photos are

required

• A lot of Javascript is necessary!

Many authors a

nd

ereaders fail here

Example taken from Sanders Kleinfeld: HTML5 for publishers; O'Reilly

Quizzes

• HTML form elements and form-like interactions

• Some Javascript necessary!

Most authors an

d

ereaders will fail here

Interactive storylines

• Different levels of interactivity• Content-level scripting

• Changes the content in one chapter• Spine-level scripting

• Changes the flow of the entire document

• Javascript manipulation required

Most authors an

d

ereaders fail here

Supporting Ereader Capabilities

Providing fallback content for non-scriptable ereaders is mandatory!• epub:switch, epub:case, and epub:default• Choose between ereader capabilities at

content level.• No scripting required.

"Progressive enhancement” means:

start from the fallback presentatio

n!

The Persistency Pitfall

Persistency of interaction results does not come for free!

Ereaders force reset the scripting engine when• Changing chapters• Changing layouts

The Future: Reducing Complexity for Authors

New widget specification for EPUB• Organise interaction logic in

(reusable) content blocks.• Separate interaction

elements from main content.• Embed via iframe-elements

http://www.idpf.org/epub/widgets/

Widget example in iBooks

E-books and

Managed Learning

SCORME-books are content-packaging formats for distributing publications to a wide range of digital displaying technologies

vs.• (X)HTML as the primary

data format• Embedded interaction• Sequencing via

pagination (and scripts)• No user-interaction

handling• No sessions• Undefined back-channels

• Mixed data-formats

• Interaction objects (SCOs)• Defined sequencing via

IMS Simple Sequencing• User-interaction handling

• Session aware• Back-channel definition via

CMI

Overcoming the Gap for Managed LearningEDUPUB® profile adapts the functionality of the EPUB® 3 format to the unique structural, semantic and behavioural requirements of educational publishing.

• Metadata • Additional instructor notes • (Distributable content) • (Scriptable content) • (Assessment via IMS QTITM) • (Analytics via IMS Caliper AnalyticsTM) • (Annotations)

Very early working draft!

http://www.idpf.org/epub/profiles/edu/spec

EDUPUB Assessment and Analytics will take some time

• EDUPUB will require IMS LTI conformance for back-channels

• IMS LTI defines service interactions not content interactions.• “Man in the middle” is

built into the design

http://www.imsglobal.org/edupub/EPUB3QTILTICaliper_BestPracticesvd8.pdf

Very early

working draft!

Overcoming the Gap for Managed LearningEPUB and XAPI Integration (IEEE ADB Initiative) • Interactions are stored as experiences• No special content extensions required

• Experiences are available throughout the book

• Experiences could get exchanged with other systems at content level

New, but based on existin

g

specifications and technologies

EPUB does not define how to organise back-channels.

XAPI looks promising,

but there are hidden challeng

es

Not a technical problem!

Who owns the E-book Back-channels?

Authors Publishers

Readers & Institutions (teachers/learners)

Distributors

Who owns the E-book Back-channels?

Authors Publishers

Readers & Institutions (teachers/learners)

Distributors

The ereader bac

k-channels d

efine

the interact

ion complexity

Authors Publishers

Readers & Institutions (teachers/learners)

Distributors

Amazon

Apple

Google

X

Who owns the E-book Back-channels?

X X

Who owns the E-book Back-channels?

Authors Publishers

Readers & Institutions (teachers/learners)

Distributors

Swiss Law

XXX

Who owns the E-book Back-channels?

Authors

Readers &

Institutions

(teachers/learners)

Publishers

Distributors

?

Summary• E-books are mobile-first resources• E-books are not limited to text and images, but keep the

accessibility in mind• Ereaders are runtime environments for interactive e-book

content• Interactive e-books require software development skills (for

the time being)• E-books are very similar to SCORM Modules (and may

replace them in some cases)• Access to interaction back-channels guide the

effectiveness of e-books in education (and elsewhere)

Dr. Christian Glahnhttp://www.isn.ethz.ch

@phish108http://slidesha.re/phish108

http://lo-f.at/glahn