Hear how Book Creator came to the rescue for a school in South Africa which lead them to winning a national competition.

As a teacher with access to a 1:1 iPad program, I have been utilizing Book Creator for the past four years to enhance my classroom instruction. During a peer coaching session, the "iPad coordinator" introduced me to the app, and I quickly recognized its potential for creating and sharing engaging lessons. Moreover, I realized that Book Creator could serve as a platform for my students to showcase their work, fostering creativity and boosting their confidence.

The initial project

I recently embarked on a project called "Let's Build a Zoo" with my students, which aimed to teach them about area and perimeter in a fun and engaging way.

The project emphasised the importance of planning, coordinating, and collaboration. At first, the students worked independently for a week, and then they were assigned to groups.

Throughout the project, the students also had the opportunity to learn about spreadsheets and formulas, as well as engage in block coding with the Sphero Ball mini.

Every year in South Africa, the Excellence in Education Awards competition recognizes innovative ways of using Apple Technology to enhance classroom learning.

I was thrilled when a group of my female students presented an outstanding project, which prompted me to nominate them for the competition. As their mentor, I provided guidance and support throughout the process, and I am proud to say that their hard work paid off.

Going above and beyond

The girls dedicated a few weeks of their break/recess time to extra work, where they designed and built an impressive 3D model of their hand-drawn zoo.

The project required them to follow strict guidelines and requirements to ensure that each animal had an appropriate enclosure. The students were able to bring their imagination to life and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through this project.

The project requires either a video or eBook application and because it was such a technical project, I realized that we would need to include a combination of video, audio, images, and hyperlinks to adequately explain it.

Fortunately, Book Creator came to our rescue, allowing us to easily and quickly add all these elements to our eBook. What's more, the collaborative features of the app-enabled my students to work simultaneously on the book at school and at home, saving time and increasing productivity.

Competition winners

A team of international judges sifted through the entries and we made it into the top 3. The awards were hosted digitally using Zoom and we ended up winning the competition!

I couldn't be more proud of what the girls achieved and below is the submitted project:

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Wesley Renton

Wesley Renton is an ICT teacher (ex-grade 7 class teacher) at Stirling Primary School in East London, South Africa. He took over the role in the computer lab at the beginning of 2020, just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic! By being forced into remote teaching in his first few months, he was required to learn a lot of new tips and tricks and spent many hours honing his technological skills.