Even an ex-English teacher can learn to love digital pubs
From the Executive Director, Wesley Smith
July 15, 2019
As an ex-high school English teacher, I have been slow to the e-reader/ePub migration. I like the smell of ink on paper and love to dog-ear my pages just in case I come back for research, a quote, or inspiration. And if I happen to have a highlighter handy... don’t even get me started.  When I started to do my research on life/work balance, however, I could only get a couple of the books electronically. I was extremely surprised to find how much I appreciated the dynamic nature of the electronically published content. Instead of dog-ears, I could add digital bookmarks, and I had no need for a highlighter. I could choose different colors for the highlighting and then sort, manipulate, and/or print my quotes thematically. I was, and remain, sold. ACSA membership demanded in our last two strategic plans that we make technological improvements to, among other things: our content management system, our association management system, our professional development content and delivery, and our communication tools. We are excited to announce that we are launching our newest electronic version of EdCal with powerful enhancements that will bring our member newspaper into the digital age. The new digital edition of EdCal has 100 percent responsive design and is viewable on computers, tablets, and phones — cell phones, of course. The convenient table of contents menu will give access to archived issues, provide a search function, and allow for social media sharing. The dynamic nature of the digital edition will allow us to embed content in a variety of formats including video.  There’s new content, too: The new Professional Learning page will highlight how members can advance their careers via articles, ACSA networks, and the High 5 column that will list the top 5 picks for professional development that week. Most excitingly, the Region News section will allow regions to share activities, professional learning, and photos.  Viewers can swipe through entire issues or go directly to content of interest, – yes, even members who still read the EdCal from “back to front” can go right to Career Connect with the touch of a finger. Find the digital edition at
edcal.acsa.org
. For the ex-English teachers reading this, we are still offering the print edition for all those who want it. However, when we recently surveyed membership, some members expressed interest in receiving a digital edition in lieu of the printed publication. If you would like to subscribe to the digital-only editions of EdCal and Leadership magazine, you may change your subscription preferences by contacting Member Services.  We hope you are excited by the functionality of our new edition, which will allow you to access and share even more ACSA news and updates. As always, we appreciate your feedback. Let us know what you think about this and other new tools, and tell us how we can better serve you.
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