Book Creator is an app, available on iPad, Android, and Windows for creating multimedia ebooks. I do like that making an ebook involves combining images, text, as well as audio and video components... but I'm kind of unimpressed with Book Creator. Mind you, I have made dozens of photo books and digital albums in my life... so the design limitations were quite frustrating. In addition, it took me way too long - plus some tech support from a professional web developer friend of mine because it was that hard to figure out how to share My Ebook in this blog!!! Hopefully you can get to it from that link. If not, too bad - I promise it's a good book. Highly enlightening about a brief history of self-portraiture (a subject I'm particularly passionate about... even wrote my undergraduate Honors Thesis on it!) You're missing out, promise :)
So, anyways, I do like the fluidity of usage and ability to quite easily add pictures, audio, and video to a book without problem. It's the design limitations that offend my inner artist. The page colors, the fonts, the text maneuverability... all are quite limited and it got frustrating!
Also, it seems like the content was more made for iPad when used in classrooms... in fact even the Book Creator site says that:
The iPad version has been around a lot longer and is more fully-featured.Some of the main differences include:
- No PDF or video export on Windows
- No comic styles and templates on Windows
On the other hand, the Windows version has a built-in reader for your books which the iPad version doesn’t have.
- No combining books on Windows
But I don't know if my blog readers have any of the applicable technology this program wants... so I have no idea if I am effectively sharing it!!
So, lacking any iTechnology whatsoever, I feel my experience was less than the best that Book Creator can do. Who knows, perhaps others quite enjoy it. It's not a bad program... just... meh. I mean, here are some expert tips from edtech author and Book Creator Ambassador Sam Gliksman.
We constantly ask students to demonstrate their knowledge and writing is certainly one of the most commonly employed assessment tools. However, the last decade has seen a huge transformation in communication technologies.
Almost 75% of US adults have a smartphone and media creation is skyrocketing. Today we communicate with each other using a hybrid of different media.
One tool that allows students to express themselves by combining text with different media is the ebook.
Ebook creation apps such as Book Creator are increasing in popularity and there are many compelling reasons to create ebooks as a way to express knowledge. Follow some simple guidelines and they can be powerful educational tools.
1. Combine different media You’ll hear lots of discussion around the theme of personalized learning yet we’ve historically asked students to demonstrate their knowledge in the same manner regardless of their personal preferences or skills. Ebooks give students the framework to create and merge different forms of expression.
1. Combine different media You’ll hear lots of discussion around the theme of personalized learning yet we’ve historically asked students to demonstrate their knowledge in the same manner regardless of their personal preferences or skills. Ebooks give students the framework to create and merge different forms of expression.
For example, wouldn’t many students find it easier to show and comment on video of an experiment than try to describe it? Some students might thrive if given the opportunity to complement text with more visual expressions of their knowledge using media such as animations, narrated slideshows and more.
2. Work collaboratively Ebooks use a presentation format that blends a variety of different elements. Text, video, audio, images, web resources and more can all be combined to communicate a cohesive message. Ebook projects are excellent vehicles for student collaboration as students break into groups to create the different ebook resources.
4. Personalize the ebook with audio We spend countless hours teaching students how to write but we rarely give them any guidance on speaking effectively even though that’s our primary form of communication. Some students simply have the gift of the gab and are most fluent expressing themselves by talking. Adding audio snippets to an ebook is a great opportunity for everyone to learn about how to use inflexion, emphasis, pauses and more. And adding audio in Book Creator is a very simple process.
So, ("surprisingly") the Book Creator ambassador has some nice things to say about Book Creator. I can see the educational merit in designing ebooks in the classroom for sure. I'm just not convinced this is the best place to achieve the type of learning you're looking for. And, like I said, it's not terrible. It's just not that Cool of a Tool. Sorry.
Hi Sara - this is Dan from the Book Creator team, thanks for allowing me the chance to respond.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I appreciate your honest feedback - we've always developed the app based on feedback from users - good and bad! And congratulations on making a book - you did a good job of it - love the self portraits of Joseph Ducreux!
From your review I gather you've used Book Creator for Windows to create your book? You rightly point out that the iPad version is more fully featured, whereas the Windows version lacks somewhat. Having said that, even if you'd used the iPad version, you may well have found it too simple for your requirements. We've unashamedly built the app with all ages in mind, so it can be used in Kindergarten upwards. We've kept it simple because that's what teachers insist we do, time and time again.
Your assessment of Book Creator for Windows is "meh". This might sound wrong but we tend to agree with you! Which is why we're doing something about it! Right now we're working on a web-based version of Book Creator which will replace the Windows app, this summer. This will be as fully featured as our iPad app (btw, there is an in-app reader in the iPad version too now).
I'd love get your feedback as an artist. What would you have us do to improve the design in terms of colours and fonts available?
Here's a couple of examples of some great looking books, made in Book Creator, which may appease your inner-artist! Usually the artwork is done outside Book Creator, but the beauty of the app is it's really easy to share content from other apps into the book.
http://bookcreator.com/2013/12/ipad-artist-goes-blank-canvas-published-ebook/
http://bookcreator.com/2015/04/pixar-artist-illustrates-beautiful-ebook-in-book-creator/