To ease the burden of students having to carry heavy and bulky books, textbooks, notebooks and other reference materials to school almost every day, Vibal Publishing Corp. has made their books under the Elementary and High School curriculum available in digital or electronic format.
Vibal e-books are 20% cheaper than their printed version. They are interactive and contain enrichments not found in other e-textbooks in the Philippines. Multimedia assets like videos, animations, slideshow galleries, audio and music can be incorporated inside an e-textbook. Encyclopedia entries, glossary tools and self-scoring exercises that offer instant feedback and assessment for students can also be embedded.
Teachers are provided with annotated teacher’s edition e-books. The said edition includes lesson guide, answer keys and teaching tips that would maximize the use of e-textbook as a teaching device.
The publishing firm also has Vibe Reader — offering personalized reading experiences for every user. The Vibe Reader gives options from changing font sizes, font styles to screen colors. Users can add doodles and annotations and highlight phrases for further customization.
And because Vibal wants their e-books to be available in various platforms, their next batch of e-books that are mapped to the new K12 curriculum would have more enriched features and designs to be made available in a wider array of devices like iPhone, Google Chrome, MAC OS and Windows desktops. This would make Vibal of easy reach for the use of Filipinos both in education and private enterprise, the local and national government and consumer lifestyle segments.
For better features and designs of the e-textbooks, Vibal is forming partnerships with Samsung, Apple, Microsoft and Google that will enhance digital learning in the country.
Vibal e-textbooks accept payment from users through Globe GCash, Smart Money and other services like Pasaload and e-Wallets.
Available e-books for Elementary and High School curriculum have already been deployed to more than 70 client-schools namely: La Salle Green Hills, De La Salle Zobel Santiago Alabang, Miriam College, St. Paul Surigao, Foundation University Dumaguete, University of Sto. Tomas Manila, University of Batangas, Claret School of Quezon City, International School for Better Beginnings Lucena, Palmerston Grammar School Davao, Asia School of Arts and Sciences Quezon City, Kids’ World Christian Academy San Mateo, Siena College of Taytay, Academia de Julia Victoria Imus, Pro Integrated School Misamis Oriental, Laguna Bel Air School, Christian Academy Manila, Dominican College Sta. Rosa, Mount Carmel School of Ma. Aurora Baler, Wesleyan Academy Cabanatuan, Pasig Catholic College, St. Paul College Bocaue, Governor Hills Science School Cavite, St. Paul College Davao, and St. Louis College La Union. Some K12 e-book titles like K1, K2, K7 and K8 are also being used by the said client-schools.