Peer Review

StoryWeaver: Creating (CC-BY/OER) Multicultural/Multilingual Children's Stories

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

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Overview:: StoryWeaver by Pratham Books is an open source, CC-BY-4.0 platform where you can read, create, and translate children's stories into 15+ World Languages. StoryWeaver's objective and mission is to create a multicultural/multilingual repository of children's books that can be freely accessed by children, educators, parents, and students worldwide using mobile devices, laptops, and computers.
Type of Material:: Development Tool
Recommended Uses:: Incorporate into developmental language lessons. Incorporate into second language lessons Incorporate into teacher ed classes where aspiring ELL teachers can experience learning material in another language. Use as a supplement to traditional ESL texts or as a recommendation for foreign language students.
Technical Requirements:: No unique requirements.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Allows students, teachers and parents to download Open Access books at levels 1-4 and read in a selection of languages. The site can be used to translate materials from one language to another. Teachers can create new materials by using the tool provided on the website. This site would be useful for language learners.
Target Student Population:: There are two target student populations: ESL students and students beginning to learn a foreign language, reading levels 1-4.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Javascript must be enabled on the device.

Rating:
Strengths:: The site presents well designed Open Access stories along with illustrations that can be viewed on the student device (mobile or computer). It includes an area for material contributions accompanied by easy to follow video tutorials of how to do this. The material offers multilingual choices including several Indian, East Asian, African and European languages. It includes books using other alphabets as appropriate (Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, etc.)
Concerns:: None. There is a wide range of books, in many languages.

Rating:
Strengths:: Provides students with illustrated stories covering a host of languages to help students improve their reading in their own or other languages. making for effective lessons in language learning. Downloadable books in a wide choice of languages allow students to increase their reading facility in a language that might not be their native tongue.
Concerns:: None. There are many languages offered, and the illustrations and text are clear and in color.

Rating:
Strengths:: The website is very easy to use. Images are large, typography is well integrated, colors are bright & inviting and a professional page layout makes it simple to access the information. Just click on the language and reading level and you will be presented with multiple stories. You must have an account to be able to contribute.
Concerns:: None. The books can be read on screen or as a download.

Other Issues and Comments:: No login is necessary to read the stories online yet they can be downloaded, added to a "bookshelf," shared, and translated only with a login. The site provides easy links to share on Facebook, Twitter.
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