WordPlay™ Shakespeare Presents a New Interactive Reading Experience
New York, New York (PRWEB) February 18, 2014 -- It's a Shakespeare revival with a twist. Students and readers now have a revolutionary way to experience the centuries-old plays. The WordPlay™ Shakespeare enhanced eBook series, published by The New Book Press, places the complete text alongside a filmed performance with professional Shakespearean actors.
Shakespeare wrote his plays to be watched, not read. For the last 400 years, students have studied Shakespeare by reading the text, often struggling with the complexity of the language. How can we retain the value of the written text, but increase immediate understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare’s work?
“A brisk test run had me sold on the merits of the project... It’s clean, well produced, and easy to use.” – The New York Times
The enhanced eBooks feature an array of interactive tools:
- Full Modern Translation Available in One “Tap”
- Scene by Scene Synopses
- Pop-Up Character Descriptions
- On-Page Annotations
- Creation of Study Flashcards
- Whole Play and Text Search Function
- Built-In Dictionary
- Social Media Sharing via Twitter, Facebook, Text Message and Email
- Complete Control of Video Play
“We have one goal,” says The New Book Press founder Alexander Parker, “to present Shakespeare’s plays in a way that makes the best use of the new capabilities of tablets. The 17th century meets the 21st.”
WordPlay™ Shakespeare has been taught in pilot programs in South Carolina, New York, and Illinois schools. As a teacher explains it, “you get the best of both possible worlds—the text, which reinforces the filmed performance, and then the performance illuminates and clarifies the text—it works beautifully!”
The WordPlay™ Shakespeare series includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet (currently in production and scheduled for a summer 2014 release) and retails on the iBookstore for $9.99 each. The eBooks are available for iPad and Mac computers, with plans to publish for other platforms in the near future.
A limited number of access codes are available for reviewers, educators, bloggers and journalists.
The New Book Press is led by Alexander Parker, an educational technologist. For the last 20 years he has worked at the intersection of technology and education, developing early web-based instructional tools at Harvard University; distance education and training projects at McKinsey & Company; online liberal arts courses at the Global Education Network; and now, with The New Book Press, the next generation of multimedia books. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. http://www.thenewbookpress.com
Copyright © 2014 The New Book Press. All rights reserved.
Alexander Parker, The New Book Press, http://thenewbookpress.com, +1 (212) 245-1964, [email protected]
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