Book Creator for iPad
Access: A free app is available for school use on iPads through the App Store. Book Creator requires iOS6.0 or later.
Summary: Book Creator is a simple way to create beautiful iBooks on the iPad.
They can be saved and read in the iBooks app, or shared with a friend through Drop box. This program is ideal for creating children’s picture books, manuals, textbooks, and assessments. iBooks can be created in a variety of shapes and sizes including, portrait, landscape or square. By tapping the + symbol at the top right of the screen, users can add pictures from their camera role, or from the internet, add voice recordings, video, music, free hand drawings, and text. These additions can be manipulated simply by touching the screen and dragging them around the page. Further editing is available by tapping the circled i symbol again at the top right of the screen. Editing options includes the adjustment of font, size, color, and style. A Getting Started tutorial, plus online support articles are available at www.redjumper.net/bookcreator
Connections to UDL Guidelines: The Book Creator App provides story creation tasks in keeping with UDL principles and guidelines. Students have choices related to representation, expression, and engagement. Projects offer opportunities for personalization, and can be customized using audio features or writing choice.
Summary: Book Creator is a simple way to create beautiful iBooks on the iPad.
They can be saved and read in the iBooks app, or shared with a friend through Drop box. This program is ideal for creating children’s picture books, manuals, textbooks, and assessments. iBooks can be created in a variety of shapes and sizes including, portrait, landscape or square. By tapping the + symbol at the top right of the screen, users can add pictures from their camera role, or from the internet, add voice recordings, video, music, free hand drawings, and text. These additions can be manipulated simply by touching the screen and dragging them around the page. Further editing is available by tapping the circled i symbol again at the top right of the screen. Editing options includes the adjustment of font, size, color, and style. A Getting Started tutorial, plus online support articles are available at www.redjumper.net/bookcreator
Connections to UDL Guidelines: The Book Creator App provides story creation tasks in keeping with UDL principles and guidelines. Students have choices related to representation, expression, and engagement. Projects offer opportunities for personalization, and can be customized using audio features or writing choice.
Reasoning: Book creator is an excellent addition to a UDL toolkit. Students are engaged in the creative project of composing and editing a digital book that they can share. Book creator has a simple tutorial to start teachers and students toward the creation of high quality projects. This UDL tool allows teachers to set appropriate criteria to individualize expectation for all students. For example, a student that has good writing skills might be required to write several pages of text while a student that has limited writing skills may be required to write very little. That student can create a very nice book project by adding pictures and audio clips instead of text to tell their story. A student with poor fine motor skills has access to a keyboard, so typed work is legible.
Critique of the tool:
Affordances and Constraints
Book creator is an engaging tool for most students. It is ideal for combining text images and audio information. However, teachers may want to create audio based assessments, and these projects have some constraints. While in editing mode audio files can be added. For example the teacher could add an audio file that reads the test question aloud for the student. If the assessment were left in the editing mode, a student could listen to the question, and respond in a new audio file. That would allow students that are none readers the opportunity to demonstrate their learning independently. Unfortunately, as the book is created and saved in iBooks there are no further opportunities to add new student responses file.
Supports: Book creator is a free app for school use. It is designed for iPad and requires iOS6.0 or later to run. A tutorial is available here.
Critique of the tool:
Affordances and Constraints
Book creator is an engaging tool for most students. It is ideal for combining text images and audio information. However, teachers may want to create audio based assessments, and these projects have some constraints. While in editing mode audio files can be added. For example the teacher could add an audio file that reads the test question aloud for the student. If the assessment were left in the editing mode, a student could listen to the question, and respond in a new audio file. That would allow students that are none readers the opportunity to demonstrate their learning independently. Unfortunately, as the book is created and saved in iBooks there are no further opportunities to add new student responses file.
Supports: Book creator is a free app for school use. It is designed for iPad and requires iOS6.0 or later to run. A tutorial is available here.