IBA short from Holland High Video on Vimeo.
Can’t find a textbook to match the way you want to teach your class? Why not create your own? We will look at how iTunes U and iBooks Author can be used to create and distribute material to either supplement what you already use or as a textbook replacement.
Used to create interactive multi-touch books for iPads
Check out my collection of links and resources. I've been presenting on iBooks Author for a few years now.
Only runs on a Mac. However, you can create the content you will use on any computer. Then you just need a Mac to bring it all together. Once you have your stuff together You could use any of the Macs in Computer Lab B.
Creating Open Interactive Books - This is the manual created for a workshop that Tony DiLaura and I run. It is an iBook so open it on your iPad.
iTunes U can be a great way to distribute content to students in a school like ours that is using iPads. You can deliver videos, audio, and many of the documents that you create on your iPad. With the release of iTunes U 2.0 you can now create and update courses from your iPad as well. Courses you create can be Public and viewable by anyone on the internet or they can be Private. Private courses are only viewable by you and your students.
If you are planning on creating videos for your students I would recommend using iTunes U to distribute them to your students. In the past I’ve also recommended YouTube for this. Now that all of our students will have iPads I’m chaining this recommendation. With YouTube students must have an internet connection to view content. With iTunes U students will have the option of either streaming your videos or downloading them.
This gives them the option to download the videos they may want to watch and then allow them to view them later when they don’t have an internet connection. So, they would be able to watch on their way to a game or at home even when they lack an internet connection. You can also upload videos to YouTube, but you should definitely use iTunes U.
There are some important things you'll need to keep in mind when setting up your course:
You will need an image for the course thumbnail. This must be at least 600x600 pixels
If you are working on a Desktop or Laptop you must access the Course Manager through an up to date version of either Safari or Google Chrome. Internet Explorer will not work.
If you are writing a longer post you should "copy" the contents of the post before you Save Draft or Post. I've had it boot me out while typing and so lost my work in the past.
When working on your iPad you will use the Apple ID associated with your App Store account, not your iCloud account.
When creating your course you must decide whether it will be In-Session or Self-Paced. You can not change this later. (if absolutely necessary I might have a work around)
You do not have to inform me that you've created a course to use with your students. However, if you don't you will be limited on the number of students you can add and you will not be able to make the course public. All I need is your Apple ID so I can add you to our School Site.
On a computer goto: https://itunesu.itunes.apple.com/coursemanager/
On an iPad open the iTunes U App and click on the Plus Sign next to "Catalog" in the upper left corner.
Below are videos that are also present in the Falcon Professional Development iTunes U course I sent you in the summer of 2014. I've included them below as Youtube videos.
Course Creation
Create Posts and Add Content