Book Creator

Book Creator is an app for creating digital books online. It combines text, images, audio and video to create books to demonstrate author’s understanding of the world around him/her. Because of the multimedia learning effects it offers (multimedia learning: learning through words, images, video, and so on. Bower, 2017) it can be a perfect tool to learn languages as it supports work in all four of the domains – listening, speaking, reading and writing.

One example of an ebook created by a language student on Book Creator.

The use of Book Creator is very simple, just tap the + button, which means students can grasp it very quickly. Here we may apply Sugata Mitra’s notion of “Hole in the wall” , children can teach themselves how to use it. Self-organized learning (Stamp, 2013) can also be employed in the process of making an ebook with Book Creator as long as teachers create a learning environment that support personal interests, involvement, enjoyment, and engagement with challenging tasks. In such learning environment creativity comes to life (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2013). For example, after learning vocabulary of subjects (数学，历史，地理，体育，音乐，中文，德文，音乐，科学)，students can be required to make a mini-project by creating an ebook on Book Creator. The options for the mini-project can be the following:

1. use some words you like from the subject word list to make simple sentences or texts accompanied with images, audio and video forms.
2. use some subject words to write a story in Chinese, images, audio and video included.
3. research on the origins of one or two subject words, images or audio or video included.
4. Personal interpretation of one or two subject words, images or audio or video included.

By providing multiple choices to the task and simple digital tool differentiation is achieved, and creative thinking is encouraged.

Another advantage of Book Creator is it promotes real-time collaboration. Students and teachers can work together seamlessly, across multiple devices, with real-time feedback.

The disadvantages of Book Creator may be that it works mostly on literacy. Also students and teachers with negative disposition towards digital tools may not be fully engaged in ebook making. Making a physical book can be an alternative to promote creativity.

References

Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of Creativity. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 10-15. 

Bower, M. (2017). Design of technology-enhanced learning: integrating research and practice. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Stamp, R. (2013). Of Slumdogs and Schoolmasters: Jacotot, Rancière and Mitra on self-organized learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45(6), 647-662.