Ebooks and education

Some years ago I took a course about  how to create my ideal ebook. I was helped by a  team of  educators who were  working with Shelly Terrell in an EVO session.

This experience online  marked my  CPD and I could see some great works and  learnt about the best tips .

Today I presented at Lend in Reggio Emilia  what we can call a summary of the best  ebooks and   the  platforms for creating ebooks. It is a long list of  tools which are changing our way of working and can help us develop our own  materials.

In the last two months I tried to find more  platforms but I also realized the  service might be  poor quality in terms of what they offerred.

The website which I created online is part of my  CPD and it contains links and  examples of what we mean by creating ebooks.   These can be  read online, have  links to other  sources, documents and can be downloaded too. Not all platforms enable you to do this.

Here is the link to the website:

https://sites.google.com/view/creatingandreadinge-books/home

The presentation online is based on the website and it contains many  examples of what you can do.

First of all, you will need to think about what you want to create.   Your  research will be  based on
the content, the images and the links you want to provide for assessing  sources

 

Ebooks and their use and creation in education- prof. Tiziana Angiolini Lend Reggio Emilia 20 aprile 2018 from TIZIANA ANGIOLINI


It is important  to plan and  to be able to try new tools. I feel that  more  teachers should   become aware of  what we can find online for free.  Not  only tools but also  materials created  by educators and  their learners.

Just check on line  what I have  shared in my website and presentation  at Lend in  Reggio Emilia.

Here is my video presentation to let you know that you  can manage.
 

A Story about Books

Books may change  your life.

I have always  been  a lover of books. They have become part of my life, like eating some icecream or having  a cup of tea  in the afternoon. Daily routines which can help me  dream, think and also  feel a bit  happier after some  bad days.



Books may be neglected by our  students but books can help us  grow and become better learners.

Here is a short story  I have  created by using  Google Docs and uploading it on a free  service  used for creating  ebooks.

Open



The free service is  Yoomag and  you  need to have an account before uploading your text.
In just a few minutes you can  create  a book that can be  viewed online.

As I would like my students to work on some topics I think that the tool could be used by them to create their  digital portfolios or  their  presentations online.

I will have to check the main features of the  service but I think that  I  will be able to help them  create their  work.

 

Microsoft and its learning Community

Right now I am doing some self-development on line by using Microsoft and its community.

Experience Bing in the Classroom https://t.co/AGOKKOtClt

— Tiziana Angiolini (@Virginiawoolf64) 2 aprile 2018

Online we can find lesson plans, information about  Bing  and we can also find and  share lessons


https://education.microsoft.com/find-create-and-share-a-lesson/lesson-plans/bing-in-the-classroom

Here is the recording of my page on Microsoft, I have a  free access to the account and I have just tried doing the main  webinars and courses   they are offering online:

Educators can achieve badges and  certificates once they have done the  activities.  It depends on your level and maybe you will need to repeat the test .

Badges and certificates can be shared and showcase what you have  learnt.
Here are just some of what you might get if you choose to work online

 

Easter Resources online

While searching online in the  last few days I came across these interesting  resouces which I am going to use or might use in class.
Some are images, visual input which can provide content for learning and speaking. Most of them are shared by educators  in their posts on social networks.

I am sharing them online as I feel that today free resources and  lots of documents can be used or adapted for any lesson plan dealing with the topic and also history and English lessons.

My Easter and Passover page https://t.co/Ft2iZphY7p "Passover and Easter are the only Jewish and Christian holidays that move in sync, like the ice skating pairs we saw during the winter Olympics." Marvin Olasky#edchat pic.twitter.com/VXA0Eum29i

— Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) 1 aprile 2018

How did the #Victorians celebrate Easter? They sent each other Easter cards, the more bizarre, the better of course, and when stamp costs fell drastically in the 1870s, sending mail a few times a day became a thing. @VictorianWeb @LCVSLeeds #EasterWeekend pic.twitter.com/6iCL035saP

— Evie Dunmore (@evie_dunmore) 30 marzo 2018

Easter in timehttps://t.co/gJy0b0S6Wj

— Tiziana Angiolini (@Virginiawoolf64) 1 aprile 2018

Anthippi from  Greece  shared her ebook created by using an interesting  app- I wish to thank  her as we have been doing a lot of courses online and she's suggested  useful  tips and ideas for enhancing our teaching:

Happy Easter Holiday with a short @writereaderapp Easter #EFL #ESL book https://t.co/IAafbIfwvr pic.twitter.com/jeG38nVPGM

— Anthippi Harou 💻 (@AnthippiHarou) 30 marzo 2018

Some quotes and  tweets can also help us reflect  as educators and  how to  help our  learners become   responsible citizens of  this world: here is one which I have found  " encouraging " and         " useful" for our  learners: we do teach  English and other  subjects but  we are  educators and  need to help  think  deeply-

“You may not have saved a lot of money in your life, but if you have saved a lot of heartaches for other folks, you are a pretty rich man.”
~Seth Parker pic.twitter.com/eiePnmjlfx

— Brad L. Brasseur (@brbrasseur) 30 marzo 2018

A lot of images with cards are available online and they can be used for describing images in English  language  lessons. Just check the source and provide the right credit.




Link to the  image on Wikimedia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AA_Happy_Easter._(36)_(NBY_420700).jpg

There are many more  resources online and teachers just need to focus on what  skills they  want their  students to enhance.



More Resources
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/resources/spring/

http://www.onestopenglish.com/teenagers/topic-based-materials/webquests/webquest-easter/552634.article

https://eslflow.com/cultureandcelebrationslessonplans.html