Becoming an Author... The ePub Revolution

So here's a book you'll all want to buy.

'Cooking with Apps - an iPad Educators Guide' it's a fantastic, practical guide to the best apps for use in the classroom, written by the teachers who know. How do I know? Because I'm helping write it!

This book is a result of our project team at the recent ADE 2011 conference in London. We were all interested in the iPad in a 1:1 classroom environment, some of us already in that position and some moving swiftly in that direction in their schools. We wanted to help teachers who found themselves in a class where the kids all had the iPad and wondered,

"Ok, where do I start with this?"

On a side issue, it is clear to see the need for this kind of help. Just to roll out the devices is a first step only and we have seen to many examples of technology placed in the hands (and quickly cupboards) of teachers and schools who had no real idea of what to do with it and therefore found it fell way short of transformational.

Anyway, Our project group decided to share some apps, and ideas of how to use them in the classroom that would give teachers a good start, we sort of wanted to hold the door open for them until they reached the "Hold on, I've just had a great idea.." moment.

The best way to do this in a meaningful way: ePub!

In the desktop version of Pages, the Apple word processing package, we now have the option of exporting as an 'ePub'. This means our document is able to be exported as a beautifully formatted 'book' including navigation aids such as contents pages and chapter headings and, more impressively, video and audio selections.

Whilst I already knew about ePub and had already considered some of the effects it could have in school assessments and projects, I needed a project of my own to give me the impetus to get to know this new format.

It makes a huge difference to the children in our classes. One of the most important aspects of teaching language is the concept of audience. It is increasingly so as children enter a world where they will be asked to give talks and presentations in many situations and to different groups of people. ePub gives the chance for children to present their writing and video to an audience in a really fantastic way.

Now to get writing...


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