by: Hillary Goldthwait-Fowles
Book Creator is one of my absolute favorite tools to use with both kids and educators. It is super versatile, fun, and engaging! Let’s learn about the 5 reasons to LOVE Book Creator!
1. Book Creator is HIGHLY motivating and engaging
As Kathleen McClaskey reminds us in her blog post about Motivation and Learning, motivation, voice, and engagement together becomes the drivers to meaningful learning. Book Creator’s flexible platform, which offers learners the opportunity to access and engage in teacher-created content in the way that makes sense to them, as well as to express themselves in the way that makes sense for them makes learning purposeful.
2. Accessibility is prioritized
Book Creator does a superb job at prioritizing accessibility. From adding alt+text to images, to editable closed captioning in videos, to text to speech to read books, it makes perfect sense to leverage Book Creator to meet the diverse needs of today’s learners. Furthermore, using Book Creator also honors learners with disabilities who need these supports in order to access, engage, and express in their learning.
3. Integration with other apps
Book Creator integrates with a variety of apps including Canva, Bitmoji, Google Drive, and Giphy in their free version. There are other integrations in the paid version that include Google Maps, 3D modeling, animated emojis, and feedback stickers. This type of seamless integration only enhances engagement and creativity!
4. Remixable Books
Book Creator has a vast library of pre-made books that help to foster community, collaboration, and instill a love of learning. Whether it’s from Book Creator or one of their partners such as Common Sense Media, educators can be sure that the books that are in Book Creator can be easily used and/or customized to meet their needs, including social and emotional learning! I can see Coach Julie’s 5 for 5 Mindfulness Exercise as a great book in Book Creator! Our learner profile and introductory guide are also available in the Book Creator Remix Library!
5. It’s just FUN
I am a firm believer that learning should be relevant, meaningful, and engaging, which leads to learning being fun! Who wants to be disengaged and bored? No one! Using Book Creator can turn learners from tears to cheers , foster creativity, honor variability, and invite learners to be an active part in their learning. In my experiences with using Book Creator with learners, after a tutorial on how to use the features, the smiles on learner’s faces in creating meaningful understanding of learning for them, as well as to tell me who they are, is immensely powerful.
Earlier in this post I mentioned using Book Creator with educators. I use Book Creator as a tool for adult learners to showcase their knowledge in the graduate level courses I teach. The feedback is always clear and consistent “I wasn’t sure of this at first, but it was SO MUCH FUN to do this assignment! I can’t wait to use this in my class!”
There’s noting better than that.
