What do you think when you hear the word "ebook"? Before class last week, I thought of ebooks as an alternate to paper textbooks and novels, a compilation of words to share knowledge that is written by an accredited author. I had never thought about turning my students into authors of their own ebooks.
There are advantages and disadvantages to student-created ebooks. An advantage is the ability to continuously edit the writing. One of the steps of the writing process is to edit and revise. When writing an ebook the book is never permanently finished. For new writers this is great because as they learn about new techniques and ideas, they can go back into their ebook and improve it. This is also a good example of the improve step of the engineering design process.
A disadvantage of using ebooks to practice the writing process is that spellcheck and grammar check can prevent the student from actually knowing the proper use or spellings of words. As a teacher it is important that we stress not to rely on the spellchecker, because it isn't always correct.
A great example of a teacher who uses ebooks in his classroom is Jon Smith. He is an ibook ambassador, you can find his students' books at this website: http://mrsmithtrt.weebly.com/class-ebooks.html. I really enjoyed his collaboration books. He includes different grade levels to create books. The book, "Monsterpieces" had 3rd grade students draw the monsters and high school monsters remastered them to create the "monsterpieces". I really like this younger student to older student collaboration. It has inspired me to want to start creating ebooks in my STEAM classes. I didn't think it would be easily done until I saw some of his examples. I love the idea of having my 5th grade students write a story and finishing the story with kindergarten illustrations.
I think using ebooks in the classroom will increase engagement. Jon Smith has said that it has made students more excited about writing too. I like the idea that students will open their audience to beyond their small social circle. When students think about getting their work out there for anyone, they tend to have better quality work. I have noticed this when I tell them that I will be putting some of their artwork on my blog.
Have you used ebooks in your classroom already? Do you have ideas for them in the future? Let me know by commenting below.
There are advantages and disadvantages to student-created ebooks. An advantage is the ability to continuously edit the writing. One of the steps of the writing process is to edit and revise. When writing an ebook the book is never permanently finished. For new writers this is great because as they learn about new techniques and ideas, they can go back into their ebook and improve it. This is also a good example of the improve step of the engineering design process.
A disadvantage of using ebooks to practice the writing process is that spellcheck and grammar check can prevent the student from actually knowing the proper use or spellings of words. As a teacher it is important that we stress not to rely on the spellchecker, because it isn't always correct.
A great example of a teacher who uses ebooks in his classroom is Jon Smith. He is an ibook ambassador, you can find his students' books at this website: http://mrsmithtrt.weebly.com/class-ebooks.html. I really enjoyed his collaboration books. He includes different grade levels to create books. The book, "Monsterpieces" had 3rd grade students draw the monsters and high school monsters remastered them to create the "monsterpieces". I really like this younger student to older student collaboration. It has inspired me to want to start creating ebooks in my STEAM classes. I didn't think it would be easily done until I saw some of his examples. I love the idea of having my 5th grade students write a story and finishing the story with kindergarten illustrations.
I think using ebooks in the classroom will increase engagement. Jon Smith has said that it has made students more excited about writing too. I like the idea that students will open their audience to beyond their small social circle. When students think about getting their work out there for anyone, they tend to have better quality work. I have noticed this when I tell them that I will be putting some of their artwork on my blog.
Have you used ebooks in your classroom already? Do you have ideas for them in the future? Let me know by commenting below.
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