Vibal into e-textbook publishing

I envy our youngsters today for their being bright and smart — and, as many adults will attest, it’s primarily on account of their having access to high-tech tools such as personal computers, tablet computers like the iPad, and smart phones like the iPhone. Many high school kids, why, even my seven-year-old third-grader grandson Santi, are wizards in games and complicated diversions in iPads, while poor computer-illiterate me, I have to wake up my nephew PonPon in the middle of the night to retrieve a long text I’d typed which I accidentally erased in my computer.

Today’s generation is information-communication-oriented. Their dexterity in the use and application of varied computer programs is a stimulus that compelled educational publishers to offer them the world in handy iPad tablets — world history, literature, mathematics, science, entertainment, yes millions of information, on everything under the sun. 

Little did the founder of Vibal Publishing House Inc., which opened 60 years ago, know that far from becoming the leading educational publishing house in the country, it would be the first in the industry to go into e-textbook publishing. And that it would forge a partnership with yet another giant — Microsoft, the biggest global software provider, to further the advancement of digital educational endeavors.

Vibal’s flagship product is the e-textbook developed under the “Future of Learning” initiative. E-textbooks are digital counterparts of the printed textbooks developed by Vibal, but feature innovations beyond print such as rich multimedia content, embedded knowledge base, among other supplementary additions that aim to enhance the reading and learning experience of students. Lessons for Grade I to VI and high school freshmen to seniors prepared by Vibal are contained in the tablet; there’s no need for students to lug around voluminous textbooks; with the e-textbook revolution, the journey to what Education Secretary Armin Luistro calls “a bookless society” has already begun.

At a recent Microsoft Education summit held in Makati City, Vibal Group of Companies Chair Esther A. Vibal and John Bessey, Microsoft Philippines managing director, officially launched the partnership before educators from different schools, colleges and universities around the country.

“In almost 60 years as one of the premier players in the educational publishing industry, Vibal Publishing has always been committed to providing quality education for every Filipino,” said Mrs. Vibal. “While we have long been a partner of the Department of Education in trying to realize this noble dream, it is only today that we are joining hands with a global giant such as Microsoft, and it goes without saying that we have high hopes and expectations for such a partnership.”

Undersecretary Ruth Fuentes of the Department of Education, who delivered the keynote address at the summit, lauded the partnership, which is in line with DepEd’s drive for the enhancement of learning experiences of students.

Microsoft Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based Microsoft Corporation, is involved in programs emphasizing the use of technology to enhance educational enterprises. Among these is the Microsoft Tools for Education Project, and the Partners in Learning program, which works to integrate technology into teaching, learning and research.

Vibal Publishing House e-textbooks are readable on the Vibal Reader App. Since last year, it has formed partnerships with various educational institutions.

In June 2011, under the initiative of Provincial Board Member Neil Nocon, locally-engineered eRizal tablets were given out to 1,000 public school students in Laguna, featuring a library of Rizaliana classics provided by Vibal’s philanthropic arm, Vibal Foundation. The following month, Foundation University in Dumaguete was the first to purchase eight Vibal e-textbooks for their iPad2 units.

In September 2011, La Salle Greenhills became the first school to roll out an entire digital curriculum in its elementary to high school honor classes, with 14 digital e-textbooks deployed by Vibal on 500 Galaxy Samsung tablets.

More schools are expected to join the digital shift with recent announcements for pilot classes to begin adopting e-textbooks when the next school year starts in June.

Vibal’s e-textbooks are powered by the internally-engineered Vibal Knowledge Base digital encyclopedia and features a variety of interactive applications that take learning beyond the printed page. These include animated springboards to enhance lesson presentations, audio and video clips that reinforce textual reading, study tips, and self-scoring quizzes that give immediate feedback to learning. Teachers will also be provided with annotated teacher’s edition e-books which include a lesson guide, answer keys, and teaching tips, among other tools for using the e-book as a teaching device.

Vibal e-textbooks are currently available for iOS and Android platforms. Through the partnership with Microsoft, Vibal will be making its e-textbooks compatible to the Windows OS and for desktop platforms as well. Engaging digital content is expected to be loaded on Windows desktops and tablets with the year, to address the growing demand for more effective learning.

Michelle Casio of Microsoft Philippine said, “Technology has and will always be part of the learning process of students and teachers alike. It is not just a tool in educating the young mind, but is also an instrument that can be utilized to improve, strengthen and enhance the teaching and learning experiences of both the teachers and the students.”

Chris Datol, operations manager of Vibal’s subsidiary Vibal Technologies Inc., said during the Microsoft Philippine Innovative education summit last March 2 that “a child becomes smarter when he or she uses a digital device and consumes digital material.”

He cited a study conducted by the United Nations which found that students “exhibited better performance” because of the highly visual and multimedia content that tablets can show to students.

Michelle Casio, education head of Microsoft Philippines, said that the concern is to improve the learning process not only of the students but also the teaching process of the teachers.

Rio Brigino, Vibal events supervisor, told me the company is currently producing its own tablets that will cost less than those sold commercially at P17,500. Educational institutions like Foundation University purchase e-textbook materials from Vibal, and students can view them in their tablets or computers in the university’s computer centers. 

The tablets may cost much at P17,500, but turn out to be cheaper than buying books as the tablets are usable for years - if the user takes care of them, of course. Aside from accessing to Vibal e-books which are free, the learner, with his tablet, can go to the internet, Twitter and Facebook, play games and music, write letters and manuscripts, even novels.

A goal is to make available e-digital learning in the public schools.

With e-textbooks and the implementation of the K-12 educational system, we are almost sure of the new and future generations of students becoming globally competitive.

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My e-mail: [email protected]