Have you heard of the MI Open Book Project? The project is entering it's second year this fall. If you are an educator, especially a Michigan educator, then this post is definitely for you!
What it is:
The project is funded by the MDE and the materials are created by Michigan educators for all educators and students. The purpose of the project is to create OpenEd Resources (this means that the materials are FREE for everyone to download and use!) for all educators, students, homeschoolers, and interested individuals to use. The textbooks are created using iBooks Author software. Once completed, they are rendered, uploaded to the iBooks store, and then they're ready for download. Android and computer users can also download these books. The beauty of iBooks Author is that the books can be exported as ePub and PDF files!
Why is this important?
It is important because it is a high-quality, Michigan based solution to the need that teachers have to incorporate meaningful social studies content into their classrooms. The books are interactive, which means that they allow students to highlight and take notes, take quizzes on what they've read while still inside the book, to view geographical features inside Google Maps or Google Earth as they are reading!
Another reason this project is important is because the digital nature of the books allows for differentiation among student ability groups, as well as providing supports for students that have special needs. Many devices will read the text aloud for students that struggle with reading. You can't do that with a paper text book! Free, interactive social studies texts help us as teachers reach our students in deeper, more meaningful ways than we have before.
Another reason this project is important is because the digital nature of the books allows for differentiation among student ability groups, as well as providing supports for students that have special needs. Many devices will read the text aloud for students that struggle with reading. You can't do that with a paper text book! Free, interactive social studies texts help us as teachers reach our students in deeper, more meaningful ways than we have before.
If you want to know more, please visit the MI Open Book Project by clicking on the photo at the top of the post. The books from the first year have been finalized and are being uploaded shortly. Let's revolutionize learning by becoming creators and sharing content, FREE content, with other educators that are in as much need as we are!
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