Free (iTunes & PDF) ATOM texts & study guides [Australian History, War, Culture, Etc]

[ATDrake]

So, the Australian Teachers of Media are a group of exactly what it says in their name, and have put together a number of very nice e-books for various subjects involving Australian history, culture, military history, cultural history, and science.

Some of these are basically multimedia presentations amounting to mini-textbooks, others are educational study guides meant to supplement pre-existing materials such as documentaries, but often have enough additional info that you can learn quite a bit from them on their own.

The iBooks multimedia versions are really well-done, IMHO, with good explanatory text and lots of zoomable picture galleries with contextual captions, and often incorporating video clips from documentaries and interviews from relevant participants/experts, as well as suggestions for further research/reading and discussion/lesson plans for teachers (which any homeschoolers hanging around on MR may also be able to use).

ATOM offers their education materials free for a limited time on a set schedule: the DRM-free PDF guides are downloadable free from their website for 18 months, then they go into the pay store for $4.95 AUS each. They didn't mention a rotation schedule for the Made For iBooks stuff, but I wouldn't necessarily assume these were permafreebie and would grab all the ones I was interested in, if I were you, since there are already quite a number un-free (though this may be the plan, to hook you with the freebies so that you'll pay for the presumable even better and more enhanced upgraded ones). They've also some freebie iPad apps as well.

Here's their website link for all their supplements, including interactive websites and the downloadable PDF guides for many, many more media projects than are featured below (requires giving them your name & email address): ATOM Study Guides @ MetroMagazine, and some background info on the guides from the ATOM blog.

As for the iBooks, these are what are still currently free (all available to Canadians & Australians and presumably elsewhere throughout the world). They're also very large files, often running into the hundreds of megs, so 3G downloaders beware:

The nicest and most standalone of the lot are the Australian military histories made in conjunction with some of the various veteran's/war memorial societies, as well as a couple of behind-the-scenes guides to the production of various genre films:

Gallipoli: Australians in World War I by historian Dr Richard Reid, this is an e-book-ization of a publication from the Department of Veteran's Affairs; extremely nice with a good introductory write-up and audio explanations on various aspects, with lots of period photos and propaganda posters and film footage and music clips and galleries of contemporary art depictions of the war, etc. Highly recommended if you've even a passing interest in military history.

Indigenous Australians at War by The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, pretty much like the above, but smaller, and based on an actual exhibition that was held in various locations across the continent.

Gallipoli from Above: The Untold Story by Robert Lewis, meant to go with the eponymous documentary, but has nifty maps, who's who and what's what, a helpful timeline of events, and some behind-the-scenes making-of videos.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Study Guide by Marguerite O'Hara, about a period film adapted from a novel; actually quite a lot of info about adaptation and production issues as well as historical background & daily life that the characters would have had: recommended if interested in such.

The following tie-in much more strongly to the selected Australian film, documentary, or TV series, some of which are available on DVD or Blu-ray.

These ones contain a few useful write-ups and info on the subject matter:

Australia: The Time Traveller's Guide by Cheryl Jakab, earth history & the development of geological and biological bits; contains a few explanatory video excerpts and introductory overviews.

Driven to Diffraction Study Guide by Katy Marriner & Eryn O'Mahoney, bio of the Nobel Prize-winning father/son physicist duo; mini-biographies, early scientific works, ultimate discoveries.

Kadaku Study Guide by Cheryl Jakab, nature observation & conservation issues in some kind of national park; a few video excerpts and extensive transcripts of the narration.

These ones really seem to need the film in question at hand:

Colour Theory with Richard Bell by Marguerite O'Hara, actually about indigenous art and not, like, theories involving colours; a few excerpt clips where the artists talk about their art.

Shifting Shelter 4 Study Guide by Margo Fleiser, kind of a meta-documentary on documentary participation.

Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery Study Guide by Robert Lewis & Lee Burton, exactly what it says in the title; if you don't have the film, this will be a mystery to you.

Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery Supplementary History Study Guide by Robert Lewis

If any more of the free ATOM iBooks show up in the future, I'll be sure to update this thread with them.

Happy reading (or happy multimedia viewing), if you happened to find any of these of interest.