Monday, February 16, 2009

Mixbooks

I am constantly on the lookout for easy to use web apps that I can share with my teachers. I can easily get overly-excited and overwhelm teachers sometimes-- see some of the prior portfolio posts. Today I was lucky enough to come across another fabulous tool that would be easy to use here at V0-Tech 2.0. Mixbook is a great application that can be used to create rich digital stories, using simple text and images. This is perfect for the classroom because you can invite others to collaborate on a single book. Publishing is available in two ways: digitally and by purchasing a bound book.
An easy-to-use and diverse tool such as Mixbook fits well in any school, but it is especially perfect at a technical school. Since we usually fall out of the realm of some of the software apps that are in place at the traditional high schools, I have found it important to find apps that are broad enough to be useful in any of my teachers' classrooms. Mixbook fits the bill, and as an added bonus it is so simple to use, that it won't scare my teachers away.

Tech Tips for today:

Mixbook is a versatile app. Here are some ideas for any classroom, and especially those at Vo-Tech 2.0.
  1. Create a how-to book using pictures the students take to demonstrate knowledge of a process or skill.
  2. Research a relevant topic/item/theory.
  3. Create a tips list that could be used to help students who are struggling with a topic or skill.
  4. The possibilities are endless!

And as a former English teacher, I can also see the very creative uses of this site. Creating character's family photo albums, scrapbooks from events in the story, plot analysis... Couldn't help myself there!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very cool. I signed up and am trying it out now. It might be exactly what I've been trying to find for a science teacher and an English teacher.