WITH the modern pace of technology, children have become amazingly fast learner especially when it comes to using gadgets. Pre-schoolers even know how to use a cellphone.

Several colleges and universities in primary cities and regions have started using e-textbooks in iPad application and this includes textbooks like Language in Literature, Asian History and Civilization, S&T II Modular Approach: Functional Biology, New Trends in Math II: Intermediate Algebra, Yaman ng Pamana: Wika at Panitikan II, Alab ng Lahi II: Florante at Laura, Our World of MAPEH II, and Values Education II.

Soon, students will  carry one single device loaded with all the textbooks needed in class. They will no longer lug heavy books to school.

For now, Vibal Publishing House, Inc. is the first publisher of e-textbooks and storybook apps in the country. For the last 10 years, Vibal had invested a lot in developing digital content on text books to make it easier for students to flip and navigate with embedded links for easy access to a variety of online resources.

According to Nila Vibal-Mata, vice president of Vibal Publishing, they already had eight e-textbooks for use in mobile tablets, and have released six bilingual storybook apps in the Android Marketplace and Apple iTunes stores.   

“We have started developing content for Filipinos to learn the digital format,” Mata said. They also started to harness the creativity and curiosity of pre-schoolers in their first i Play i Learn Hub. “This is our first time to have a hub in SM mall”.

Vibal i Play i Learn is an interactive hub where children can also explore different modes of learning through play. “Actually they have been enjoying a lot of these during past times, so we thought why not harness their imagination into digital format,” Mata said.

The hub, she said is an offshoot of their digital campaign, that is, the integration of e-learning content enrichment for the various subject areas through the microsites i-Teach for teachers, i-Learn for students and i-Guide for parents.

Children will totally enjoy their hub in SM Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center in Pasay City. Storybook apps on iPad and Android tablets include their favorite Chikiting Books, and were also bundled with games and exercises to make it more exciting.

In partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, one can find DOST’s information kiosk called Starbooks which contain thousands of articles, journals and digitized resources in various formats.