Peer Review

Tutorial to Create Electronic Books Using Microsoft PowerPoint

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Reviewed:: Jul 26, 2010 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This tutorial provides easy-to-understand directions for instructors to set up and render books into electronic (digital) format for individual reading practice and assistance. The instructional format can be accessed as simple html text, or downloaded as a Word file or PDF document.
Type of Material:: The tutorial can be viewed as a web page, Word document, or PDF.
Recommended Uses:: This tutorial would be a great technology activity for a elementary school inservice. ESL teachers would also benefit from this tutorial. It can also be used effectively by parents or reading instructors for children and adults.
Technical Requirements:: Written for PC using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or later. Someone familiar with earlier versions of Powerpoint (e.g., those with menus rather than ribbons) may be able to translate the step-by-step instructions.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The goal of this tutorial is teach educators how to create an electronic book that they could use to support students' development of reading skills.
Target Student Population:: The target populations are students or adult learners with reading difficulties or who are new readers. It can be effective with very young children listening to books read aloud or adults using appropriate books to learn or improve reading skills.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Learners should have a general understanding of PowerPoint. The activity itself, should help them develop a deeper understanding of this tool. Capability to scan or photograph and upload digital pages should be available.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The author provides a strong rationale for why the product (an electronic book created with PowerPoint) is valuable to students. The step-by-step instructions, along with the annotated screen shots make it possible for non-technical teachers to successfully complete this tutorial.
Concerns:: The topics of fair use, public domain, and copyright should be addressed in this tutorial. Teachers who create electronic books using public domain resources would be able to freely share their work with other teachers.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: Teachers who use this tutorial to create an electronic book should have little trouble following the clear instructions. The project itself is one that teachers will be excited about because they can immediately use what they create with their students. Teachers may even want to have their own students create electronic books.
Concerns:: The abstract provided a good overview of the benefits to creating an electronic book. Since this is a technology-based activity, it would be helpful to provide technical-learning objectives that would be addressed during the tutorial.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Clear instructions guide the user through the steps to create an electronic book. The technical process could be complex, but graphic screenshots at every action help to keep the user on-target. The tutorial is available in three different file types which should make it accessible to most everyone. The annotated screen shots help learners understand which part of the window they should be focused on.
Concerns:: A big improvement would be showing the completion of each stage or step with a demonstration product as it is rendered.

Other Issues and Comments:: The author should consider creating screencasts to explain each of the steps. It would also be helpful to suggest alternative applications that could be used if PowerPoint 2007 for PC is not an option.
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