“eRead For The Future" aims to establish mobile libraries in elementary schools by introducing E Ink ePaper display eReaders. Our approach involves curating an extensive collection of books to offer students an enriching and visually friendly reading experience.
With the combination of technology and education, digital reading is an inevitable trend. In recent years, international student ability assessment surveys, such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, PIRLS and the International Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA both have included digital reading in the index of ability assessment of schoolchildren.
According to the report of "Students, Computers and Learning: MAKING THE CONNECTION" by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the text, images, audio and video information on the Internet are diverse and updated quickly, requiring higher vigilance than traditional paper books. Therefore, digital reading requires a higher level of alertness and concentration than traditional paper books, so as to judge and think about the reliability, logic and connotation of information.
Computers, tablets, and smartphone devices with internet connectivity have become almost universally accessible. The diverse array of multimedia, games, and instant messaging available online captures the attention of children. However, prolonged immersion in the use of digital technology products can have a detrimental impact on children's eyes.
While educators and parents aspire to enhance children's digital reading skills and reduce the gap by using digital technology, they also have concerns about the potential harm to children's eyes from prolonged use of these devices. Striking a balance between digital learning and visual health becomes a challenge.
This project also complies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of "Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3)," "Quality Education (SDG 4)," and "Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17)."
“eRead For The Future" project uses the characteristics of E Ink e-pPaper to provide students with a focused and comfortable reading experience with quality digital reading devices - eReaders. It is hoped that the e-book mobile library built for schools will bring students a broad perspective and more knowledge inspiration, and can also help teachers to demonstrate the teaching creativity when promoting digital reading.
In 2022, when E Ink project team tried to figure out which counties to donate, we surveyed the Ministry of Education's " Standards Governing the Determination of Levels and Classification of Schools in Remote Areas." We found out that Penghu County has a total of 37 elementary schools classified as remote areas, including 13 in remote areas, 23 in extremely remote areas, and 1 in extremely isolated areas.
In alignment with the original intention of the project to "bring digital reading resources to remote areas that have difficulty accessing teaching materials and are not prioritized for subsidies due to their large student populations, located neither in the mountains nor in urban areas," we selected Penghu County as the region to establish a mobile library of eReaders in 2022.
Before the project officially commenced, E Ink project team paid a visits to Penghu County. We met with the Penghu County Education Bureau, Magong Elementary School, Zhongshan Elementary School, and Wenshan Elementary School to learn more about the challenges they face when it comes to promoting reading.
They were all eager to do more but lack of either funding or right tools.
To fulfill the need of schools, more than 1,000 color eReaders were delivered to all 37 elementary schools in Penghu County in October. E Ink, together with 10 partners in the our ecosystem, including Readmoo, a digital reading platform, Xuan Tong System Integration, Hsu Kuang Foil Technology and Lee Ming Construction all make a contribution. Each eReader was pre-loaded with 103 books suitable for first to sixth grades of elementary school students, totaling 103,000 ebooks, with a total donation value of approximately NT$23.69 million.
Some of the ebooks were selected based on the theme of Environmental Sustainability, refering to the United Nations SDGs. Project team intended to enrich the digital reading library for elementary schools and at the same time to promote ESG sustainable development through digital reading.
Considering that the internet resources of schools in different regions are different, the E Ink project team called on volunteers within the company to help manually log in to the ebook platform accounts for each donated eReader, and download the donated ebooks to the eReaders. This will allow students to access the reading world as soon as they receive the eReaders without having to log in to the internet.
"The project started in 2017, and the footprint of the project has covered Nantou County, Changhua County, Chiayi County, New Taipei City, and Taoyuan City. I am very happy this year we can bring reading resources to school students in Penghu County. E Ink combines the core business of ePaper, following our unique P, E, S, and G sustainable structure, and is committed to contribute to society inclusiveness, and we will continue to join hands with partners in the ePaper ecosystem in the future, hoping to bring visually friendly eReaders and quality ebooks to more children in remote areas, increasing digital reading for school children." said Johnson Lee, Chairman of E Ink.
"Reading is the most effective way to promote concentration in cognitive behavior. It is expected that school children can develop reading habits through extensive and intensive reading activities. In the face of digital learning and Internet development, the choice of digital tools has become an important key! The sound and light stimulation of mobile phones and tablets can easily cause distraction. However, the "3C-like" eReader with a dedicated reading function has no audio-visual interference, is able to store a large amount of ebooks yet portable and eyes friendly. Students can enjoy a good time reading without carrying heavy books or worrying about display that might harm their eyes” said Netronix（振曜科技）General Manager Mao Feng Ma（馬茂峯）.
"I am very glad to have the opportunity to cooperate with Wheatfield, Zimu, Hsin Yi Foundation Publisher, MorningStar, and Emily Publishing to convey the importance of SDGs to the children of Penghu County through the selection of ebooks. I also hope that through this project ignites the flame of reading in children's life and makes reading an important tool for their independence."says Sophie Pang, CEO of Readmoo.
E Ink project team invited experts from Readmoo, the ebook platform provider, to elaborate more details to the teachers from 37 elementary schools on the hardware and platform interface of their products MooInk C color eReader. Volunteers from E Ink explained the content of ebooks and the account numbers assigned to each school, leaving contact window’s information for question follow-up.
The participation of "seed teachers” can then pass on their experience to other teachers in their schools and enjoy reading ebooks with their students.
To learn the effectiveness of the training on the "seed teachers”, the project team also arranged a questionnaire survey before and after the training. The teachers responded positively (94.6% of them were willing to use the eReader in the classroom.)
