Application Directory: Create a digital book

A digital book to present an educational project: great!

The students have worked hard on a documentary research project and you are looking for a way to showcase them? Here is a very interesting track.

Suggested Tools

Google Presentations (online application)

Google Presentations is an ideal collaborative tool for creating digital books with students. Easy to use, it allows you to integrate text, images, videos and animations. Students can work simultaneously, encouraging creativity and team learning. Moreover, it is free and accessible online.

iBooks (iPad)

iBooks for iPad is an excellent application for creating digital books with students. Intuitive and versatile, it allows you to insert text, images and multimedia easily. Suitable for young users, it stimulates creativity and interactive learning. Projects are saved on the iPad and can be shared easily.

Book Creator (iPad)

Book Creator for iPad is an ideal application for creating digital books with students. Accessible from the App Store, it allows you to add text, images, audio and video easily. Stimulating creativity and personal expression, it is suitable for all grade levels. Projects can be shared and exported in different formats.

Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a great tool for creating digital books with students. Available through Microsoft Office or Office 365, it allows you to insert text, images and multimedia easily. With its intuitive handling, it promotes creativity and interactive learning for all grade levels. Projects are easily shared and exported.

Apple Keynote

Keynote is a powerful application for creating digital books with students. Accessible via the App Store for Apple users, it allows you to easily integrate text, images and multimedia elements. Its user-friendliness and features stimulate creativity and interactive learning. Projects are easily shared and exported.

Google Sites

Google Sites is a useful tool for creating digital books with students. Accessible via Google Drive or sites.google.com, it allows you to design interactive pages that integrate text, images and media. Easy to use, it encourages student collaboration and creativity while offering easy online sharing and publishing.

Moodle

Moodle is an effective educational platform for creating digital books with students. Accessible through your school or moodle.org, it allows you to structure resources (text, images, media) in book format. Facilitating collaboration and content organization, Moodle supports student learning and creativity while ensuring secure access.

Genially

Genially is an innovative platform for creating digital books with students. Accessible via genially.com, it allows you to design interactive and engaging content by integrating text, images and media. Promoting creativity and collaboration, Genially makes it easy to create educational projects and offers flexible sharing and export options.

Can go 

Canva is a versatile solution for creating digital books with students. Available at canva.com, the platform offers customizable templates that incorporate text, images and graphics. Stimulating creativity and collaboration, Canva makes it easy to create engaging educational projects and offers a variety of sharing and export options.

Cross-curricular skills targeted

Competency 1: Use information
Competency 4: Implement creative thinking
Competency 6: Use information and communication technologies
 

Pedagogical approach

Step 1: Choice of subject

Students, in groups of 3 or 4, agree on the main topic of the assignment. This topic will come directly from a SCOOP! activity introduced by the teacher. They will need to take some time beforehand to explore the documentation available on the Internet, in the library or from other sources.
Then, where appropriate, they will need to situate the context, geography, cultural elements, important players and other features of their topic.

Step 2: Brainstorm

The group brainstorms ideas for what will make up the final album (or book). This brainstorming is ideally done in the form of a concept map. The students then group the ideas together under common themes that will form the basis of their work.
The teacher can indicate to the groups the number of themes to cover for the work or leave them free.

Step 3: Documentary and media research

For each of the selected themes and sub-themes, the team writes a few lines of text. One or two paragraphs are usually enough to cover an idea.
Also, it's time to research the images, graphics, icons and other visual documents that will illustrate the final project.
Beware of copyright!

Possible sources:
- Personal or family travel archives
- Royalty-free image sites (for example : pixabay.com, openclipart.org, commons.wikimedia.org, etc)
- Drawings made by team members
Students should remember to note their sources!

Step 4: Editing the project in Google Presentations (or other tool)

The group of students creates an album using Google Presentations.
Important:
The cover page must contain the title of the work and the names of the team members.
The last page of the work must contain the sources of the various illustrations used as well as the documentary sources of the work.
When the project is complete, students share the album with their teacher for access.
 

Evaluation

Here are the general points to assess:
- Correct use of vocabulary and grammar.
- Links with Quebec society.
- Choice of concepts to be treated.
- Respect of the copyright for the images.
- Effort put into the project in general.
- Team spirit.

Cross-Curricular Competency 1: Use Information
– Relevance of the sources consulted
– Coherence in the organization of information

Cross-Curricular Competency 4: Implement creative thinking
– Diversity of ideas generated and scenarios considered
– Originality of the links established between the elements of a situation (conceptual map)

Cross-Curricular Competency 6: Use information and communication technologies
– Relevance of the various technological resources used
– Rigor in respecting the rules of ethics
– Effectiveness of the strategies implemented to interact and troubleshoot
 

Bonuses!

• Have the best project album printed;
• Even better, get help from the school to print all the projects;
• Even better, organize a fundraising activity with the students to have the projects printed;
• Inform parents that it is possible to print the educational projects of the young people – what a great gift!

Here is a list of useful applications for presenting content, from a tablet or online.