Lightbook is an exciting and innovative educational project from Pearson Australia. It’s a fully interactive online textbook that lets students work through the material at their own pace. They can access information as they need it and receive immediate feedback on their work. Lightbook also offers teachers a vast amount of information about their students, which allows them to tailor and adjust their classroom teaching to match the needs of their class.
It’s also a huge editing challenge. The product is built in Microsoft Word, using HTML tags and LaTex to render mathematical and scientific expressions. The editors have to be across the subject matter and also be able to work within the framework of a textbook without being daunted by the technical challenges of the online platform.
It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But it was worth it.
Lightbook was awarded Winner of the Best Senior Secondary Student Resource Award, Outstanding Secondary Digital Resource Award and Excellence in Australian Educational Publishing Award at the 2015 Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAA). It’s not yet live, and I can’t wait for it to hit the market.
