Instant Teaching Resources

Technology has reinvented so many things in our lives, and it is changing the teaching profession, too. But like the rest of the world, sometimes the changes happen so fast that it is hard to keep up with everything. Enter the world of educational eBooks. This is one of the newer advantages that technology has brought to teachers, but too many teachers simply don’t know what eBooks are and how these books can make their lives easier.

It used to be that every time teachers needed another teaching idea for their classroom, they had to either get in the car and drive to their local (or not so local) teachers supply store, or they could leaf through a teacher supply catalog, fill out the order form, send it in, pay the shipping charges, and wait for it to arrive. But things have certainly changed.

Teaching resources have become as easy to come by as simply clicking a few buttons and downloading them to a personal or school computer. This means no shipping fees, no waiting times, no clutter on your shelves when they do arrive, and no hassles. And these are the same books by the same publishers that you would find at the store or in the teaching supply catalogs.

Unfortunately, many teachers don’t even know what an ebook is, or that they are available just for them. These books are not only instant, all classroom activities can be printed right from the downloaded file. Let’s say a teacher needs an activity on multiplication—but he or she needs it today. With ebooks, that is not a problem. Download the book, print out the pages needed, and the problem is solved.

What makes ebooks even better is that they can be used with another new and amazing advantage in technology: the SMART board. SMART boards are interactive whiteboards, and they are also sold by other manufacturers and called by other names. These boards can use PDF files, and that’s where ebooks come in. The downloadable ebooks are PDF files.

As if all this isn’t enough, there’s more. Most ebooks now come in Enhanced versions. This means that the text in the books can be moved, allowing the teacher to rearrange the book’s content to suit individual needs. You just can’t do that with a printed, paper copy.

Teachers, like everyone else, will find that technology can be mind-blowingly fast, and it can be confusing. But the good news is that at the end of the day, if you take the time to learn just a few small, new things, the new technology can make your life a whole lot easier. The world of educational eBooks opens up a whole host of advantages for teachers.