It always amazes me how technology grow in leaps and bounds. Over the summer I had designed a course in IBOOKS Author that I taught to six fine educators in my school district. They were super impressed with programs ability to synthesize text, assessments, keynote files, m4v video files, dae manipulative files etc. They created some amazing books that they used with their students.
In the past four months I had moved away from the IBOOKS author format. I am trying to create a paradigm shift within my classroom this year in which my students are the creators of their own products instead on just consuming products that I create for them. So we have been spending a lot of time using Creative Book Builder. Must give a shout out to that — CBB is an APP that allows my students to blend text, images, movies, quizlet flashcards, qr codes, latex math equations, and audio file into one seamless ebook.
However, when I retaught my IBOOKS author course this December to a group of wonderful and enthusiastic teachers in my building I start pangs of nostalgia for this tool that I had used more the first half of 2012 than the later. The reason why I have these pangs of nostalgia is the availability of new widgets. This summer there were maybe two widgets that you could place into IBOOKS: the puzzle slider widget and something that grabbed you tube videos.
Now thanks to http://bookry.com/ you can create several exciting widgets to make a more dynamic learning environment. You can place a scientific calculator into the IBOOK, a 360 panorama widget, or an interactive timeline to name a few features. I am going to spend New Year’s Day making a book for my Algebra II class to help them prepare for their upcoming HSPA exam. I hope that others can enjoy the innovative spirit which IBOOKS author can inspire.
mrspepedotcom 