Book Creator(s) in Minnetonka Schools

Source: iTunes

Starting last month, students in Minnetonka Public Schools began using the Book Creator app on their iPads in our 1:1 iPad program for 6,250 students in grades 5-12. This great tool makes ePublishing easy, and students use it to publish texts with images, drawings, comic strips, photos, music, and videos. Students can produce their own eBook or work collaboratively to combine their work into a group authored publication. After publishing, students can share their work with their classmates on Schoology, our learning management system and hub for our 1:1 program. eBooks can also be saved to Google Drive or published as an iBook. 

Last week, Deephaven Elementary teacher Mike Borgendale took his class to a nearby Carson Bay on Lake Minnetonka to collect invertebrate specimens as part of their science study. They are working with the educational branch of the DNR, MinnAqua. When they brought these samples back to their school, the students used a $2.50 macro lens which clipped on to their iPad over the camera to take close up photos and videos of what they found. They identified the organisms and began researching them, from snails to water scorpions. The students are writing and producing a non-fiction eBook using Book Creator to showcase their learning. The teacher is integrating the language arts lessons of non-fiction text features with science to make this activity interdisciplinary.

Photos: Andrea Hoffmann

Check out numerous examples online to see many more possibilities. Book Creator is just one of the many great tools teachers in Minnetonka Public Schools are using with students in our 1:1 iPad Program. Like Pear Deck highlighted last week, it is another example of how technology can be used to deepen learning experiences for students and make instruction more efficient and effective.