Tag: iBook

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Class 15: Publish or Perish

Civilian_Conservation_Corps,_Third_Corps_Area,_typing_class_with_W.P.A._instructor_-_NARA_-_197144We’ll be using iBooks Author to finish our iBooks today (Report to Digital lab / Clark Library). Here’s a  pdf copy of our rough draft “Exploring History Vol III” A collection of student-designed document based lessons.

Note: You will be adding your last blog post (reflection) as a final portion of the lesson. That can be your look back at the of the entire document based lesson process.

We will also take some time to complete our UP Smart Evals

Here’s a  few iBooks Author reminders:

  1. We will use the Inspector/ Document to disable “Hyphenate.”
  2. Your chapters will need your names. If you have a website, Twitter or LinkedIn page, etc – you can link to it so readers can find you.
  3. Some chapters need dates (or eras).
  4. Some have used sections, some not. That is your call. Unless the sections help deliver the content, we should consider eliminating them and going to chapter with pages.
  5. You will need to have links back to documents / content. They should not just link to jpg file, but the entire source as listed in whatever archive you used.
  6. Sources can be adjacent to document or at end of the lesson as Work Cited.
  7. All  links should all be checked to see if they work. To save space consider just using the words source and making it a hyperlink.
  8. Looking for icons to spice it up? Check out The Noun Project. They are free and should be cited in your sources
  9. Some of the images you used are bit fuzzy in resolution. We can look for higher resolution versions.
  10. If you have large images, you can use a setting to make the images pop out to full size. (inspector/ widget/ interaction/ goes to full screen)
  11. Some of you still have placeholder text in widgets “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet….” That needs to be removed. iTunes will not accept the iBook.
  12. If you want to embed a video, we will use the Bookry site. Here’s a video how to
  13. I’ve created a YouTube channel with some short tutorials – iBooks Author Tips

Image Credit: Civilian Conservation Corps, Third Corps Area, typing class with W.P.A. instructor ca. 1933
National Archives and Records Administration Identifier: 197144

 

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Class 13: Don’t Hand It In, Publish It

William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen. 1877
William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen. 1877

Digital technologies have put us in charge of the information we access, store, analyze and share.  Creating an iBook harnesses those motivational factors into an engaging learning experience. The ease of distribution across the world (via iTunes) means students can communicate with a broader, and more authentic audience than just their teacher and class peers.

This is the third iBook published by our EdMethods students. Available free at iTunes:

Exploring History Vol I: Fall 2013
Exploring History Vol I: Fall 2014

Note: EdMethods students regularly post to our course blog. See posts here.

This week we will wrap up our first drafts of our DBLs for inclusion into our collaborative iBook. The iBooks will be designed using iBooks Author in the library digital lab. Students will bring digital versions of their DBLs to the lab – including all image and sound files, text files, citations and URLs.

Workflow? See this guide Getting Ready for iBooks Author 57KB pdf

For more see my resource site: Get Started with IBA

I’ve created a YouTube channel with some short tutorials that students may wish to refer to. See iBooks Author Tips

Exploring History IIIAssignment:

Write a reflection on the document-based lesson project.  It should be turned into your final blog post by 12/6. (Add an image from your lesson). Note: It will also be included in the final version of your iBook chapter.

Here’s our first draft Exploring History Vol III 23MB pdf

Image Credit:  Wikipedia The Graphic, June 30, 1877, p617. 

William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen. Published in The Graphic in 1877 refering to The Caxton Celebration. The Caxton Celebration, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first printed book in England, took place in London in the summer of 1877.

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Class 14: Proofing Our DBQs

Exploring history-2
This is the final activity in our DBQ design project. It began with exploring historic thinking skills and ends with students designing their own DBQs for inclusion in a class published iBook.

During the last few classes we have had 45 min sessions in the Mac lab (only a few students have their own Macs with iBooks Author). Students have arrived with their prewritten text, source material, images and YouTube video links. They used a total of about 2 hours of lab time to complete rough drafts their chapters. They shared their chapter files with me and following class, I compiled their chapters into a single iBook. Link to a PDF version 27MB pdf.

I’ve arranged to have the iBooks draft file loaded on to iPads for the students to use. In Class 14 we will proof and peer review our chapters and take one last trip to the Mac lab to use iBooks Author to do a final version. After the final edits, I’ll upload to iTunes. Net result – a student publication in just a few hours of lab time (with all research and writing done in advance)

Update Exploring History: Vol II is now available free at iTunes

Exploring historyii

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Class 10: Hosting #sschat / Get Started with iBooks Author

page 288 of Baltimore and Ohio employees magazineWe’re very proud that our EdMethods class has been selected to host #sschat on the Twitters – Nov 3, 2014 4-5 PM (Pacific) That night is election eve ’14 and our topic will be very timely – “Teaching Politics, Controversy and Civic Engagement.” For more on our chat questions click here.

After the Twitter chat raps up, we’ll spend some time debriefing on the experience.

Class DBQ iBook
Next up, we’ll get started with our iBooks Author training. Over the next few weeks we will use our DBQ projects to create a collaborative iBook. As a group, the class will review each other’s work before inclusion in the iBook collection of DBQs. Each student (or team) will contribute one DBQ in the form of a book chapter. It will include the project reflection as a way of introducing the DBQ.

Technical aspects
The iBooks will be designed using iBooks Author in the Mac lab. Students will bring digital versions of their DBQs to the lab – including all image and sound files, text files, citations and URLs. Here’s a quick guide to managing your files to get ready for iBooks Author: Get Started with IBA

Note: YouTube videos will be added to the iBooks using ibooksgenerator. All you need to have is the URL of the video.

For more see:

Assignment:

Next week we will have a visitor from the Classroom Law Project who will share law-related educational resources and guide us through a mock trial activity.

  • We will argue the case of Vickers v Hearst (443kb PDF) so be sure to read the case in advance.
  • To “learn the rules” read this guide Mock Trial Rules of Evidence (185kb PDF).
  • If you have never participated in a mock trial you may wish to look at this material that explains the various roles of attorney and witness  The People v Carter (2.4mb PDF)

Image credit: page 288 of “Baltimore and Ohio Railroad employees magazine” (1912)

Identifier: baltimoreohioemp01balt
Title: Baltimore and Ohio employees magazine
Year: 1912 (1910s)