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Sales of interactive e-books (digibooks) are increasing globally, due largely to their portability and the fact that they facilitate learning in a more personalised manner; their low cost, sustainability and multimedia content are also invaluable. The anticipated result of this project was increased knowledge and understanding of how to make and use digibooks for use in teaching and learning across a range of subject areas. Longer term it was expected that this project would result in the production and use of digibooks by teachers and pupils for educational purposes. The schools involved in the project are: Dollar Academy, Scotland, an independent, co-educational day and boarding school, IMB Brugges, Belgium, IES Francisco Giner de los Rios, Spain, and IIS De Amicis, Italy, which have pupils from varied backgrounds and with varied abilities, and V. gimnazija, Zagreb, which has many pupils with high educational aspirations. At least 10 teachers and 25 pupils from each school were directly involved in producing digibooks and widgets and many more (approximately 600) staff and pupils received training in widget production.The aims of this project were to explore, assess and facilitate the use of (digibooks) for teaching and learning in a range of subject areas across our schools and to produce and use our own digibooks and a resource bank for use in digibook production by other teachers. The objectives were to: explore the various types of digital books (ebooks and iBooks) and associated software and to investigate both their use for teaching and learning purposes, and their transferability (e.g. the use of iBooks on Windows systems); provide access for a large number of pupils and teachers to digibooks and to resources for creating and personalising their own digibooks; develop a website containing these resources for use in schools; trial the resource bank in the various partner schools; make the outputs available to other schools and teachers in a variety of forms and to run a dissemination event and possibly a webinar in which we trained others to make their own digibooks. The objectives were all met. The main activities were: e-books (Android and Windows) were compared with iBooks (Apple Books or just Books) in terms of ease of production, editing and use including transferability; we compared the different types of ebook-creating software available; we trialled the use of webinars as a training tool and as a tool for dissemination. Teachers were trained at an international meeting in the production and use of both types of digibook and of widgets of various types. Pupils and staff collated resources for use in a resource bank. At an LTT meeting in Spain, teachers trained pupils in making widgets and digibooks using these and other resources. Staff and pupils at each school collated resources (photographs, music, videos etc) and uploaded them into a central resource bank. Staff also started to produce digibooks for use in their own subject area. A website was constructed and these resources were uploaded onto it alongside training manuals for the use of eBooks, Books and widgets. Non-project staff at the schools and teachers from other schools were trained in widget production at workshops. Many pupils are now using digibooks/widgets made for the project.The incorporation of 'fun' activities into books and into lessons via the use of widgets facilitates learning in an interactive manner.Project meetings were held at which teachers liaised, discussed and evaluated progress to date, and planned further work. Staff and pupils from all 5 schools ran widget workshops for over 100 pupils and staff from the Italian school. A widget training webinar was also run from the meeting in Italy for pupils in Scotland. Over 700 pupils were trained in total.The final product is a website (www.erasmuspublish.co.uk) on which training materials are available, alongside digibooks produced by all of the partner schools and training manuals for using Kotobee, Books and Bookwidget. Longer term benefits: The digital skills of participants improved significantly. Teachers cascaded training to other members of staff and pupils at their own schools, and to teachers from other schools, and continue to do so. Work on digibook/widget production and on integrating widgets, digibooks and the associated pedagogy into the partner schools' curricula, is continuing, supporting digital inclusion. E.g: IES F. G. de los Rios is using Google classroom to assign widgets to students for homework, and over 70 students are using an ebook made for the project to study Economics; V. Gimnazija is involved in trialling new experimental curricula and teaching strategies (including digital technologies) for the local government; an award of £500 has been given to fund the production of an ebook and widgets for use in the Support for Learning and Home Economics departments at Dollar Academy.
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