Book Creator is a resource wherein students can create and publish books. Book Creator enables students to complete projects for any subject, and the flexibility of the tool allows for students to create projects for a variety of purposes. The tool can be used for digital portfolios, poetry books, short stories, instruction manuals, science reports, history projects, and more. Once finished, students can share their work. The books can be published on Book Creator, printed, or shared in a PDF format. This allows for students to write for an audience beyond their teachers. Additionally, this means that students can find books created by other teachers or students that have been published. Book Creator even offers books that can be used in a lesson as an instructional aide. These books are available for all grade levels and subject areas.
The tool works by allowing teachers to create “Libraries.” Teachers then add students the library and adjust the settings to fit their needs. Teachers have access to all of their students’ books and can monitor progress while students work, and teachers can also choose whether students can see each others’ books before publishing or not.
The tool’s strengths are in its features. Users have access to multiple different fonts and can even use the pen tool to write or draw. Pictures, video, audio, shapes, and emojis are also all available for students to use. The tool even offers real-time collaboration, so that students can all work together on a book at the same time. The tool is geared to promote creativity and engagement for young writers. The ability to publish projects and view other published works by students and teachers from around the world is another great strength of the tool. As the article “Going Global With Project‐Based Inquiry: Cosmopolitan Literacies in Practice” by Hiller A. Spires, Marie P. Himes, Casey Medlock Paul, and Shea N. Kerkhoff discusses, projects that promote collaborative learning and engage learners in global topics and with people from around the world are important for developing cosmopolitan literacies. The article outlines design features for Global Project-Based Inquiry, and the tool Book Creator allows for teachers to incorporate those features into project-based learning. The collaborative potential on Book Creator is perhaps the tool’s strongest feature.
The biggest weakness of the tool is in the cost. Book Creator offers a free account, but unfortunately the free version has limited access to creating books. Under the free account, there is a maximum of 40 books available for creation and only 1 library. The premium account offers unlimited libraries that can each store up to 200 books. This account costs $10 per teacher, though there is a school/district membership option available as well.
References
Spires, H.A., Himes, M.P., Paul, C.M., & Kerkhoff, S.N. (2019). Going Global With Project‐Based Inquiry: Cosmopolitan Literacies in Practice Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63( 1), 51– 64. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.947
Book Creator is a resource wherein students can create and publish books. Book Creator enables students to complete projects for any subject, and the flexibility of the tool allows for students to create projects for a variety of purposes. The tool can be used for digital portfolios, poetry books, short stories, instruction manuals, science reports, history projects, and more. Once finished, students can share their work. The books can be published on Book Creator, printed, or shared in a PDF format. This allows for students to write for an audience beyond their teachers. Additionally, this means that students can find books created by other teachers or students that have been published. Book Creator even offers books that can be used in a lesson as an instructional aide. These books are available for all grade levels and subject areas.
The tool works by allowing teachers to create “Libraries.” Teachers then add students the library and adjust the settings to fit their needs. Teachers have access to all of their students’ books and can monitor progress while students work, and teachers can also choose whether students can see each others’ books before publishing or not.
The tool’s strengths are in its features. Users have access to multiple different fonts and can even use the pen tool to write or draw. Pictures, video, audio, shapes, and emojis are also all available for students to use. The tool even offers real-time collaboration, so that students can all work together on a book at the same time. The tool is geared to promote creativity and engagement for young writers. The ability to publish projects and view other published works by students and teachers from around the world is another great strength of the tool. As the article “Going Global With Project‐Based Inquiry: Cosmopolitan Literacies in Practice” by Hiller A. Spires, Marie P. Himes, Casey Medlock Paul, and Shea N. Kerkhoff discusses, projects that promote collaborative learning and engage learners in global topics and with people from around the world are important for developing cosmopolitan literacies. The article outlines design features for Global Project-Based Inquiry, and the tool Book Creator allows for teachers to incorporate those features into project-based learning. The collaborative potential on Book Creator is perhaps the tool’s strongest feature.
The biggest weakness of the tool is in the cost. Book Creator offers a free account, but unfortunately the free version has limited access to creating books. Under the free account, there is a maximum of 40 books available for creation and only 1 library. The premium account offers unlimited libraries that can each store up to 200 books. This account costs $10 per teacher, though there is a school/district membership option available as well.
References
Spires, H.A., Himes, M.P., Paul, C.M., & Kerkhoff, S.N. (2019). Going Global With Project‐Based Inquiry: Cosmopolitan Literacies in Practice Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63( 1), 51– 64. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.947