TN textbooks get artistic touch, to go digital

In addition, textbooks will also have Quick Response (QR) codes, which can be accessed by smartphones and tabs that can record the text. In this manner, the user will be transferred to a website where the government is planning to display books with additional information such as videos explaining the topics printed in them.  

A senior official from the Education Department said this was the first time that artists were commissioned for drawing in textbooks. He said the size of many books has been modified to A4, in a bid to accommodate the magnified pictures and fonts. 

“I was hired to draw pictures and illustrations for school text books. We will sketch it first and then colour it through computer,” K Venkatesan, a senior artist, told DT Next. 

Stating that the picture clarity will improve by leaps and bounds, the artist said this way, students will easily understand the text. Citing an example, Venkatesh said that centrifugal force (tending to move away from a centre) in Physics can be explained better through a picture. 

“The website will have the PDF pages of textbooks,” the official from the Education department added. The QR code will also be useful also in web application, enabling the students to carry lesser books. “The department wants to focus more on e-learning by introducing such aspects,” the official said. The text books will be printed by Tamil Nadu Text Books and Educational Services Corporation.