A St. Columbia’s Student using eShelf

By Edward Nawotka, Editor-in-Chief

ePubDirect, the ebook sales and distribution platform, has been working for some time with students and faculty at its neighboring local primary school, St. Columba’s, in Cork, Ireland and has developed a proprietary digital platform especially for them.

“We were inspired to build a bespoke online reading platform, eShelf.ie, especially for this school,” writes Aoife Dowling, on the company’s blog. “We wanted to create something that would provide students with a library of engaging eBooks. That’s exactly what we’ve done. eShelf.ie is a library application that allows students and teachers to access fantastic reading material – without the need for downloading. It’s completely secure and password protected, ensuring that there is no risk of sharing or unpermitted access.”

The 11- and 12-year-old-students were given initial access to the project and the reaction has been, as they would say in Ireland, grand. “I’d gone off reading for two years but now I’m enjoying books again,” one girl is quoted as saying of the project.

Books were donate by publishers to use for the project and the company is soliciting more.

Ireland has long had a strong IT and digital development infrastructure, and served for many years as the European base for Intel, Microsoft and numerous other countries. As such, the country has prioritized digital learning.

As quoted by the blog. 2013 report by the Department of Education and Skills, ‘Views on digital literacy in Irish Education’, explores the benefits of print and digital literacy. It suggests that “reading literacy involves understanding, using and reflecting on written information in a range of situations including both digital and printed text…in order to achieve one’s goals, develop one’s knowledge and potential and participate in society.”

There’s nothing like having a home team to help you test out your new products. Bravo!