EPUB Vs E-Course: Which is the Best eLearning Solution?

EPUBs and digital courseware are great options for people who want to read a certain book or take a particular course, but they do have their differences. In the present market, that is brimming with education technology solutions, it is no longer satisfactory to go with the flow; rather, you need to choose the right content delivery format for higher education.

Would it be better if the course is delivered in an EPUB version or as an e-course? In this blog post, we will explore the pros and cons of each one so that you can make an educated decision about which type is best for you.

Let's dive in to find which eLearning method is the most suited for an impactful learning experience.

What is the Role of Elearning Content Solutions in Higher Education?

eLearning content solutions provide an easy method to develop and maintain solutions for e-learning in higher education.

You can create content from widely used authoring tools such as; Articulate Storyline, Lectora Inspire, PowerPoint, PDFs (in collaboration with Learning Designers) to support learners at every stage of their academic or professional journey.

The idea behind this is to create, distribute, and allow content creators to publish their content on one platform. It's publicly accessible and contains security measures that allow it only to be visible for those who have been properly "cleared" with an access key. This way, a professor can share course materials or collaborate with other professors without affecting its structure.

Educational institutions worldwide now consider a high-quality online library of online tutorials, lectures by expert lecturers, interactive games, and simulations as essential to stay competitive in the global market. E-learning content is now not only used for college-level sciences and higher education but also at elementary school levels through EPUB conversion services.

With the prevalence of COVID 19, the publishers have doubled down on creating various courses digitally. In addition, many publishing companies have already converted their physical books in EPUB format or PDF for easy access.

The higher education sector is also one of the sectors that have undergone tremendous changes during these unprecedented times. As a result, academic institutions are now investing heavily in education technology solutions to bring new changes and improve the way education has ever worked.

Is EPUB the Best eLearning Content Solutions in the Education Sector?

Content publishing, especially in higher education, is remarkably competitive. Different higher-ed publishing services offer impactful experiences to the learners. This is where EPUB comes in; it is one of the standard eBook formats for publishing. Creating interactive content includes tools like CSS3, HTML5, and many more.

All the academic institutions revere this technology as it is easy to create and design interactive content centred on higher education. It has already got the nickname "EPUB for Education", which seems quite fitting as it enriches the content framework.

Pros of Using EPUB

• All-Device Support

  EPUB is one the best education technology solutions that can be read from any device like smartphones, iPhones, or Android. Users have the advantage to read the reflowable content according to their screen size without pinching and squinting.

• Reasonable Cost

  EPUB is cost-effective compared to other methods, and it is very easy to create content. In addition, learners are in for a treat with its support for various features and interactive content experience.

• It's Media Rich

  You can make digital content with audio, videos, hyperlinks, and other metadata. This helps in enrapturing the attention span of students who are already bored with the repetitive assignments and class works.

• Multi-column layout

  This feature enhances the point you are trying to make. For example, publishers use this feature to make a course with images and other features.

• Copyright Protection

  Digital Rights Management (DRM) protects your content against any theft. With this feature, you can view or edit the document and control who has access to the file.

• Enhanced metadata

  Enhanced metadata includes book excerpts, author bios, and media reviews that could potentially persuade someone to purchase your course.

• Flexibility

  The two types of EPUB content provides flexibility for the publishers compared to other education technology solutions. One is fixed, and the other is reflowable. In addition, according to your preferences, you can change the orientation and typeface.

• Improved accessibility

  This includes improved navigation within the eBook, providing readers with the ability to jump to specific chapters and pages.

• Hyphenation

  To help avoid tight or loose justification for text, this helps page formatting.

Cons of EPUB

While many advantages are gained from ePublishing solutions, there are some disadvantages to be mindful of when it comes to EPUB:

• Ereader has much less storage capacity than paper and ink format; this means that books might include foldouts full of diagrams and illustrations, which are practical physical aids but using them as still pictures may not provide enough context for readers.
• Publishers rarely consider their readers when designing ebooks.
• Student's disability of low vision, blindness or dyslexia is not considered while designing. Although it does possess data tables and graphics, it lacks accessibility.
• When it comes to ebooks, there are no fun activities. It only assists you in completing worksheets, and there is no follow up in the process of learning.

Is a Digital Courseware the Best ePublishing Solutions in the Education Sector?

Digital courseware refers to any e-Learning media formatted for the digital environment. It's a teaching and learning tool designed to supplement traditional classroom instruction, provide laboratories in which students can explore scientific concepts, or teach physics concepts with hands-on activities accessible through computers and software.

While it goes by many names such as "computational thinking", "digital literacy", and "personalized" or "individualized" education because there is no airtight definition of the concept, most educators would probably agree that digital courseware includes tools like interactive presentations and multimedia projects. But it also includes things such as simulations, games, and other fun activities.

Digital courseware has helped educators around the world to deliver personalized, scalable instructions. For development purposes, it supports the delivery of an entire content through a specific software built for educational use.

Since it can be personalized for each student, it is impressive to impart knowledge and instructions.

Pros of Digital Courseware

It has been proven that digital courseware is more cost-effective than in-person classes. The vast majority of information is delivered online with minimal to no preparation required on the instructor's part. It can also offer virtual interaction through voice, video conferencing, and text chat; bringing a liveliness to instruction not available in many other educational publishing services.

Another benefit to digital courseware is allowing students to take an active role in their education by reading, taking tests, collaborating with classmates, writing papers, blogs, etc., and providing interactive opportunities where learners can apply knowledge to real-world situations with simulations and games. This approach encourages participation and fosters confidence in involving students as they learn new concepts.

• Duration

  The time taken to prepare complete digital courseware is much less than the approach taken up through EPUB conversion services. Each page must be scanned meticulously or use OCR (optical character recognition) in the conversion process. This might sometimes leave a lot of errors, it is better to outsource the service to reputed companies like MAP Systems.

• Interactivity

  Students learn faster when they are more engaged with digital content. EPUB formats do provide some attractive features, but they have their limitations. If you see real-life use cases, there are not many examples of Ebooks compared to documents for higher education.

  Digital courseware, on the other hand, is interactive and is suited for student engagement and as it drives the interest of learners, it improves the quality of education.

• Personalization and Analytics

  Those academic professionals who want to provide a unique approach to learning in higher education can choose this format. It provides a customized experience for every student, and you can provide on-demand content.

  You can also use this method to collect data about each student. This can help you determine a bunch of improved teaching methods.

• 24-Hour Resources

  One big benefit of digital learning is that it is easier to access lessons anytime to get extra study. Students will be able to access your materials online any time they want, and with cutting-edge tools like virtual labs in simulations, you can now even conduct experiments from the comfort of your home.

• It is Flexible

  The creation of digital courseware is flexible as you can include simulation, games, and other interactive activities. This ultimately engages the students and their learning experience.

Cons of Digital Courseware

Technology-enabled learning is becoming the norm in classrooms, not just because they're cool but for their affordances, such as scalability and inherent interactivity that can be leveraged to address the rigorous needs of the digital age.

• There are problems with plagiarism detection for exams or quizzes.
• It isn't easy to provide students with feedback if a high-performing part of the class might only engage by watching filmed lectures.
• The content must be developed from scratch, which takes a lot of time and effort.
• It is costlier than EPUB because it involves creating the course material, designing it and then delivering it.
• Turning your textbooks and syllabus into an application is difficult. However, it is easier by outsourcing the work to an expert in educational publishing services.

Have you decided which kind of format you will use to create a beautiful piece of course content? Although digital courseware is more effective, it takes a lot of time and research to implement it. If you are short of time, convey your requirements to the best digital conversion services provider like MAP Systems to create engaging content. We offer best-in-class higher-ed publishing services to clients worldwide. Contact us to know more about our services.