K12 Learning 2.0

After looking over our baker’s dozen of choices, I decided to try Mixbook  – books in all formats are fascinating.  Using photos from a media conference I attended, I created an account and actually created My First Book in Mixbook.  I loved the variety of layouts available, all the background choices, the ability to add stickers as well add text to the book I created.  One of the coolest features of this tool is the AutoMix feature – where the tool itself mixes all the photos you chose plus adds different page layouts for you.  If you’re not happy with how the book looks, click AutoMix and viola, you can have a different look to your book.  Probably the best feature is the Undo or Null button……..you can make a change, decide you don’t like it, click the Undo button and you’re back to what you had.  Very cool feature that I used frequently.  The user can share what they’ve created with others as well as pay a reasonable fee to have the book published.

I think this would be a great tool to use with students of all ages.  Definitely for Language Arts – students could choose images from appropriate social networking sites (e.g. Flickr) and add their own text to these images.  Or they could take digital phots (e.g. letters of the alphabet, number of items, geometric shapes) and create a book with their own words.  It would be appropriate for all content areas – explaining a concept, creative writing.

Users can share what they’ve created and have others add images/text to the book – a great collaborative tool for teachers working on projects across the nation/world.  The finished product could be shared beyond the school setting – with proud family and friends.