TERP makes a-Books for digital transformation in education in the Philippines

TERP makes a-Books for maritime education
GENIVI FACTAO May 22, 2019 https://www.manilatimes.net/terp-makes-a-books-for-maritime-education/55...

Maritime schools are becoming immersive to digital learning by bringing textbooks in smart phones to make learning more fun for students.

TERP, a technology company based in Norway and Hong Kong with operations in Europe and Asia, was pushing for digital transformation in education in the Philippines through publication of maritime textbooks.

Leiv Kare Johannessen Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of TERP said 10 maritime schools in the Philippines would start using TERP books called a-books this school year. TERP had pilot- tested this a-book at the University of Cebu last semester.

“We developed a digital platform for publishing and distribution of books.

We have teamed-up with authors from the Philippines and Norway to develop a-books for maritime education. We have pilot-tested it in maritime schools last November and now we have 10 schools using a-books starting June,” Johannessen said.

He explained that the book is electronic, but it’s not e-books. They are called a-books.

Mike Esplago, country representative in the Philippines, and concurrent regional manager for Asia Pacific said they can partner with publishers, should they want to migrate from traditional textbooks to a-books.

TERP makes a-Books for maritime education

By GENIVI FACTAO

May 22, 2019

home / Business / Maritime / TERP makes a-Books for maritime education

Maritime schools are becoming immersive to digital learning by bringing textbooks in smart phones to make learning more fun for students.

TERP, a technology company based in Norway and Hong Kong with operations in Europe and Asia, was pushing for digital transformation in education in the Philippines through publication of maritime textbooks.

Leiv Kare Johannessen Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of TERP said 10 maritime schools in the Philippines would start using TERP books called a-books this school year. TERP had pilot- tested this a-book at the University of Cebu last semester.

“We developed a digital platform for publishing and distribution of books.
TERP’s CEO Leiv Johannessen and Country Representative Mike Esplago with members of the Maritime Journalists Association of the Philippines (MJAP) after the press conference. contributed photo

We have teamed-up with authors from the Philippines and Norway to develop a-books for maritime education. We have pilot-tested it in maritime schools last November and now we have 10 schools using a-books starting June,” Johannessen said.

He explained that the book is electronic, but it’s not e-books. They are called a-books.

Mike Esplago, country representative in the Philippines, and concurrent regional manager for Asia Pacific said they can partner with publishers, should they want to migrate from traditional textbooks to a-books.
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”Were highlighting the competence of the faculty here. We search for a good faculty to write the book, so the a-book is a combination of expertise of Filipinos and foreign authors. It’s a group effort,” he said.

Johannessen said they were preparing a research program to see the effect of a-Books when it comes to learning outcome.

“The a-books can be downloaded in different levels using smart phones. There are animations and videos inside the a-Book and we integrated the assessment in their a-book,” he said

The assessment provides feedback to student on what they can work on for their subjects. The a-books also provide feedback to teachers, so they can adjust to the needs of their class.

The available maritime a-books priced at $30 each were Trim, Stability and Stress, which was meant for Standards of Training, Certification, and Watch keeping (STCW) and the COLREG international regulation, which is about the convention of the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, edited by Johannessen with Emeterio Abangan Jr. & Espen Skare.

Johannessen said when they pilot -tested the technology, they observed that students seemed to be more motivated because learning is more fun.

“In COLREG, or the collision regulation, normally it is presented in text. When we do it in animation, you get 70 percent of the content in just a few second. Students were more and more motivated. Normally, they see the animation first and then go to the text. Teachers were positive about it because students were more engaged, and it makes their job easier,” he said.

He added that every country is unique. In the Philippines, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) have structures on maritime courses.

”We’re making books for the global market. Different countries have different approaches on how they fulfill the requirements or an angle,” he said.

Their sales target for the Philippine market is to sell 12,000 copies of each title of the a-books in two years.

“The target is to reach the farthest and most remote schools as possible, because not all students have books. We put the brains of the captain, chief engineers and officers in the Philippines and across the world in a-Books. We use the technology to reach more students as possible,” Esplago said.