Hello again! This week’s session consisted of creating our own eBook using the app, Book Creator. According to the oxford dictionary an eBook is defined as “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed hand held device” (Oxford Dictionary, 2019). The purpose of using technology in schools, as I have already previously stated within my blogs, is the positive impact it has on the pupil’s learning as well as teaching (Scottish Government, 2016).
Giving the pupils the ability to create something of their own as well as learn from what they have created is one of the many reasons to why the use of digital technologies can achieve this. The variety in which you can teach through an eBook is simple but effective. Book Creator, for example, can allow you to create all kinds of books since the app is quite flexible: you can create children’s picture books, text books and even comic books. Having this multimodality feature within our devices can help the pupils understanding (Beauchamp, 2012).
David Andrews wrote an article in The Guardian to investigate how iPads and iPods could be used successfully within his classroom. He decided, before giving all the pupils an iPad, to only invest with the teachers first. The reason for this was that he believed that the teachers should be confident with using technology before integrating the devices throughout their lessons. They were given many apps which were for enhancing learning. If they found an app which they felt would be useful, they were allowed to inform the rest of the staff during a meeting, in the summer-term, every Monday (Andrews, 2012). After seeing the potential that iPads could have within a classroom, the school decided to invest in them and planned to use both iPads and iPods creatively.
This article gave me a better insight to the overall positive and negative factors of using devices like iPads and iPods in a learning environment. Although we are encouraged to use more digital technology I agree with David Andrews statement that “If the iPads don’t enhance the learning of the children that I teach, then I shouldn’t be using them” (Andrews, 2013, non-paginated). If we are not able to reinforce the pupils learning then it could be seen as a waste of material and use if there is no benefit for the children.
In terms of my own eBook that I created, I chose to base it on the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” The reason for this was simply because I loved reading it when I was a child and felt like I could do many activities with the story. One of our success criteria for this lesson was to create a summary of a well-known story, of our choice, and to use Book Creator effectively to achieve this. My summary involved questions and activities to challenge the pupils to think of the correct story line. I achieved this by having a true or false section as well as having questions throughout. The learning outcomes behind my vision were health and wellbeing tied into digital technology. The reason for this was because I had focused on the food that the caterpillar had eaten. Some of the topics which I covered were – if the caterpillar was healthy and whether the pupils thought that they were healthy by completing a table on what they had eaten that week.
Below are some photos and videos of the eBook which I created:
The learning outcomes which my creation are based on:
• Together we enjoy handling, tasting, talking and learning about different foods, discovering ways in which eating and drinking may help us to grow and keep healthy. HWB 0-30a
• I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts. TCH 1-01a
Over all, I had a positive experience when using Book Creator and felt like it was something which I will use in the future when teaching pupils. It is straight forward to use and enjoyable. Having used book creator before I felt like I knew roughly how to use each of the widgets but after having spent this session I now feel more confident about the app and could see myself successfully using it in a classroom environment.
Reference
• Andrews, D. (2012) An Apple for the teacher: are iPads the future in class? The Guardian. [Online] 13 August, non-paginated. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/aug/13/schools-secondary-schools [Accessed: 10 February 2019].
• Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.
• Oxford Dictionary (2019 )E-book [Online]n.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/e-book [Accessed: 2nd February 2019]
• Scottish Government (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government
[Online] Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf [Accessed: 2nd February 2019]
