Today in digital technologies we investigated and studied the use of mobile devices, in particular e-books, within the classroom and how they could be used to their full potential. At the beginning of the session I was particularly apprehensive surrounding the use of this application within the classroom as I was very unsure as to how and why this may enhance a lesson for children as I had never explored this software before.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term e-Books can be identified as “An electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device”. This involves a variety of different handheld devices such as iPads, mobile phones, tablets etc. We were given the opportunity to investigate the application called book creator, which I had never heard of before this session. Book creator is a simple way to make a variety of books on the iPad such as children’s picture books, comic books, photo books, journals, textbooks and more.
According to the Scottish Governments’ Children’s Parliament (2016), the use of digital technology in the classroom is beneficial as it saves the waste of lots of paper therefore saving the environment, it gives them the ability to listen to music if it helps them with concentration and also it allows them to download the latest texts and audio books to use within the classroom.
Using this software would cover a variety of CfE experiences and outcomes within the classroom, for example, “I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to and asking different kinds of questions (LIT 1-07a)”, “I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to literal, inferential, evaluative and other types of questions, and by asking different kinds of questions of my own (LIT 2-07a)” and “I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways (TCH 1-04b / TCH 2-04b)”.
We were given time to investigate the application book creator with the initial task of designing a booklet on the iPads that would prove why students should apply to UWS in Ayr. This was a very fun task which enabled us to explore the campus on our own, whilst using the time effectively to therefore practice creating our own e-Books. The application was very simple and straightforward to work, which was beneficial as I am not particularly confident with using new technological software. The pictures below indicate what our group created in around half an hour, including time to explore the campus.
Our second task throughout the session was to create come up with a summarised version of a previously well-known text and create tasks for children to complete on their own. As I was apprehensive about this, I chose Charlie and the Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl as I was already very familiar with this text beforehand. I found it fairly difficult to begin this task as I was still unsure how to adapt it for use within the classroom, however once I had a look at previous examples for ideas I became more confident when creating this booklet. Below indicates the work I had produced including tasks for the children to answer the questions on their own using the iPads in class.
Overall, I found this experience very beneficial to see how this application can be adapted for use within the classroom. Some of the benefits of using it would include the range of resources and devices used by children in their daily lives at home, which could therefore build on these skills. It is also easy to share and access lots of resources from various online platforms, and finally it is helping to meet the needs of children and preparing them for the digital era in the 21st century.
References
Children’s Parliament Consultation (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland: The Views of Children.
Webwise Team. (2012) What is an e-Book? [Online] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-e-books [Accessed 20th February 2018].
Curriculum for Excellence
