Now, students can access textbooks online with the help of a mobile application. To give students a real picture with live characters of what they are studying, a mobile app, Oxford A real, has been launched. The app works on specially coded books. Be it the animation of a poem or a story with a voice over to teach the correct pronunciation and intonation with visuals or the real time videos of various science or social science concepts, this app will help the students, teachers and parents, too. These books have been introduced in a Panchkula school, The Gurukul in Sector 20, where the app scans a particular topic and show it on screen, in real. The app can be downloaded for free from any Android phone. Asked about the utility of the new app, Ashutosh Walia from the Oxford University Press, said: “This is a revolutionary step towards the development of books wherein learning was taken to a new level. Suppose, if a book shows images of a tribe dancing, the app would scan the images and show the real dance on the screen. This way, the students will get to learn more as compared to only theoretical knowledge.” Sanjay Thareja, the director of the school, said: “Gone are the days when only theoretical study was sufficient to make children learn things. From watching a picture of a snail comes alive to getting to see the formation of cyclones and hurricanes, this app transforms mundane reading into engrossing learning replete with live examples.” Apart from being useful for teachers in classrooms, this app offers a complete after-school home support system for the parents. Puja Mahajan, the parent of a Class V student, said: “These books have opened a whole new world of learning for the students. The life-like demonstrations on various topics would bring in better understanding and more interest among the students.” Suraj Tewari, the parent of a Class VI student, said: “As a parent, sometimes even we are not clear about some difficult topics or how to pronounce some words correctly. This new mobile app will help us in such situations.” Many more schools from the Tricity are likely to introduce these app-based books soon.
