In previous posts I waxed lyrical about the possibilities of creating ebooks with my class. I came back to work with some great ideas. Kids love the idea of seeing their names on or in a book as much as the rest of us. It's certainly something that never palls for me. And, all going well, perhaps the kids could do their own ebooks.
But when I came back and checked out the kids' school iPads I found that so much was blocked on the school system that my ideas fizzled out. They have Pages and Keynote on their little computers, but can't email their work to their teachers. They're supposed to have access to the App Store, but most can't download from it. And some don't have it on their iPads anyway.I am told that they should be able to do it - the IT teacher was on leave the first four weeks of school and needs to get up to date before he can help there. So they can't even download iBooks(the school gave them the Kindle app) although some can - one girl with her own Apple ID downloaded iBooks and is now happily discovering Beatrix Potter and other classics on Gutenberg. Others find the Apple ID is the school's - they can't log in. Talk about messy! Thank goodness for kidblog.org, which enabled me to set up a class blog from which I hopefully can copy and paste posts into my Blogger class blog and from there to - thank heaven! - Ebook Glue!
But last night I looked for web sites which offered free ebook making. I found one that seemed similar to Ebook Glue and tested it out, only to find that you had to pay $5 for your crude ebook!
Then I found another one which looked promising: in return for putting up with a few ads, you get free access to ebook creation. It was designed for class use. If it worked, my students, especially those with learning issues, could make their own ebooks. I tested it out. But I don't think it was designed for iPads. I couldn't turn the book's pages. It doesn't download, it's only for online reading. And they can't even share their online ebooks because you have to have access to email or social networks - all blocked!
Back to Ebook Glue, but no ebooks made by the students. Sigh!
That's really disappointing. What's the use in having the hardware if nothing else works. Hopefully you'll be able to sort things out. The kids must be super excited.
ReplyDeleteIt's especially annoying because I promised one mother, who had been planning to drop the iPad scheme, that her daughter would be using it this year. Well, she will, but nt in the imaginative way I had intended. And I have to great ebook ps, one of which would be perfect for a certain integration student, but even if, as I hope, I can arrange for the integration folk to buy it for him(it's about $5.50) he can't share it! No email, you see. That means also that he can't hand it in to me. The IT teacher has assured me,"We're working on it" but I need it now, not term 3 or 4.
ReplyDeleteEr, that's "two apps".
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame!
ReplyDelete