EBSCO Explora

I would almost always opt for the PDF.  I focused on Angelfish. The HTML would be good for readers who need to hear it, but it's so boring. The PDF gives access to colors, pictures, etc. There are options to download pdf readers for students. I would use those.

I think there are advantages to both formats depending on the needs of the students. PDF is helpful when students want to see images or who are traditional readers. I like the PDF because it reminds me of reading an article in a magazine or journal but many students have never read a magazine/journal. I think the HTML format is more versatile for diverse learners. The text can be changed, the words can be read to them, etc. There are multiple ways to modify the reading experience to suit each student's individual learning needs.

Hi Fiona!

I completely agree with there being benefits for both formats!  I think that the ability to use both is ever better!  This is yet another reason that I really love digital resources for research.  The ability to customize each experience for each student is so beneficial! 

America's involement in World War II is coming up soon in an American History class that I have been working with this school year.  I didn't realize that there were so many ways to accomodate all students viewing the HTML version of articles in Explora.  I always would go for the PDF, but the differentiation possibilties with the HTML are impressive!  We have been chunking information for the students, so they aren't overwhelmed with information - the Page Mask feature would be great for this!  I also like that students can listen to every article and chance the font and size to meet each student's needs - and there is also a translate function!!  This is AWESOME for our Spanish speaking poplulation.  The difference in reading levels amouns students in the same class is jaw dropping, and these tools will allow all students to access the same information without embarassment. 

I echo what most have said here, the PDF is much more engaging visually, but it is certainly nice to have the assistive text features in the HTML versions.

Let's Look at Major League Baseball, allows me use both HTML and PDF in the classroom. Being intervention, I need the text to speech feature available and the PDF allows for articles as they would appear normally for the grade level readers.

I looked at a resource on Mars Rovers because our school is reading Rover's Story. I think both resource types offer great options for diverse learners. Students could choose which option works best for them, allowing them to personlize their learning. 

I clicked under the “Explore Topics” tab and went to History, War and Conflicts, Catapults because it sounded interesting to me and seemed like a quick example. 

I have a strong “pro-PDF Bias” that goes back to my days as a grad student in History.  It just seems easier, more convenient, and I have the option of downloading a PDF to my devices and reading them on my iPad or it’s easy to print if needed.

I do see that HTML has come a long way. Explora has a bookmark feature, it can be saved to my EBSCO Account or I can save it to Google Drive, Google Classroom, OneDrive, or I can share it as a link. So I admit that many of my objections have been lessened by user experience improvements. I also saw several posts discussing the ease of translation to Spanish with HTML, and the accessibility advantages associated with text. Is there an option to use Dyslexic Friendly fonts?

After finishing a unit in which students learn to use a green screen in order to film a group video, I found an article I would like them to review for their Team Reflection piece.  The article talks about how Netflix is using a "Magenta" Screen in some of it's new projects and some of the pros that come from a "Magenta" Screen.  I thought that this would be a fun thing for the students to read given the fact they just learned about and used a "Green" Screen.  In their team reflection they can talk about what they might do differently if they were to use the "Magenta" Screen.  I saved the article to my Google drive and posted the article to my Google Classroom.