During this week’s session in Digital Technologies, we were learning about the use of mobile devices in order to enhance learning. We were learning and utilising the Book Creator app on the iPad to either create a summary of a book or a teaching aid. This enabled us to discover the many benefits of using this application within a classroom environment as advantages for educators and learners.
Oxford Dictionary defines an eBook as “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.”
The principles and practices of literacy and English, created by Education Scotland, states that the most effective ways to teach literacy and English is by providing “frequent opportunities to communicate in a wide range of contexts” (Education Scotland, n.d., a). A multimodal text contains 2 or more of the 5 semiotic systems: gestural, audio, visual, spatial and linguistic. When a text is multimodal, is makes the learning experience beneficial to the child as it features many different features to suit different types of learning.
(Education Scotland, n.d., b) states that ICT in school helps to raise attainment and achievement, closing the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged and thus, providing them with the skills for the digitally advancing world that awaits them.
E-books have many advantages in the classroom for both learners and educators. Using e-books in a classroom environment will prepare students for life, and the development of skills for learning and work. When using technology, children will grasp an awareness of our digitalised society and will prepare them for the working world in the 21st century. Educators can also use e-books for lessons for pupils who are struggling with texts, which with the aid of book creator, can help to give them a deeper understanding of the text and engage within their own learning and taking responsibility for it.
E-books are small in size and are highly portable. This means that they can be used and promoting outdoor learning which makes the learning fun and exciting and links into a child’s health and wellbeing. E-books allow children to develop their creativity skills, putting their mind to whatever they wish to create, interpreting something in their own unique and modern way, with reference to the 5 semiotic systems.
We created a mind map at the beginning of the session, demonstrating our knowledge of what an eBook was and what the benefits of using it entailed.
We then went on to look at the content from Moodle, which told us more about eBooks and the many advantages they uphold within a learning environment, which enabled us to add even more to our mind map, creating a tree of knowledge we had learned.
Today during Digital Technologies, we created an e-book using the Book Creator app on the iPads.
I created a teaching aid to support pupils with the book “Baby Brains – The smartest baby in the whole world.”
The CfE experience and outcome which linked in with my e-book creation was:
“I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts, sharing my thoughts in different ways. LIT 0-19a”
I used many of the semiotic systems which enabled my text to be multimodal. The semiotic systems I included were: Linguistic, as my e-book contained questions for the pupils to consider throughout the eBook to ensure full engagement, such as: How do you think Baby Brain was feeling at this point? or Can you describe 5 items in the room? I also included Audio, as my e-book included sound clippings from YouTube, in order to bring my text to life. Finally, I included Visual, as my e-book had illustrations from the book to help the children.
As a prospering teacher I would definitely use e-books in the classroom. I found it very beneficial to have gained the access to the book creator app as a tool for teaching and learning purposes, as it clearly enabled for the 5 semiotic systems to be included within every book. The possibilities were endless and it allowed for a lot of freedom and choice of lessons to create, making literacy and technology lessons highly engaging.
REFERENCES
BBC Webwise article [Online] http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-e-books [Accessed: 6 February 2018]
Education Scotland (n.d., a) Curriculum for Excellence: literacy and English, principles and practice [Online]. Available from: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/literacy-english-pp.pdf [Accessed: 6 February 2018].
Education Scotland (n.d., b) Technologies in Curriculum for Excellence [Online]. Available from: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/curriculum-areas/Technologies%20in%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence [Accessed: 6 February 2018].
