Main Features
ZooBurst is a free website (with the option of paying for upgrades) that helps you create digital 3D pop-up books. Images from the website’s clipart gallery can be added to the book or other images can be uploaded to incorporate into the book to “pop-up” off the pages. Each image and text has the capability of adding a clickable hyperlink. The book is capable of being inspected and rotated from any angle while building the book by the author and also while viewing the book by the reader. There is an expanded text feature for each page and also an audio recording feature to add voices and sounds. There is also a “webcam mode” to view the digital books which requires the reader to have a webcam. The experience of the “webcam mode” is referred to as “augmented reality” by zooburst.com. The images of the pages are superimposed with a screenshot of the viewer. The augmented reality mode allows the reader to interact with the images by using simple gestures to digitally turn the book’s pages. The digital pop-up books can be viewed on the website using a hyperlink (see my creation below), or embedded into other websites pages.
Level of Difficulty
This website is pretty easy to use and navigate through however it is extremely time consuming to create one book. Sign-up for the website is required in order to create books (but the basic account is free). The clip art, as far as the ones I chose from the website, were not the greatest quality images. I opted to upload several pictures instead of using the clipart available.
Classroom Application
I could definitely see a teacher using this website as an option for students to create a digital pop-up book to present research from a long term project. Since it only requires an e-mail and is free, it is easy to sign up for. The website also has a “classroom management” feature for teachers, which allows them to set up a protected and safe online environment for students where they can share usernames, passwords, personal information, etc. without the threat of online predators.
Conclusion
I tried building a book of my own on Taxonomy in Biology (click here to view it: http://www.zooburst.com/book/zb03_4edab1ea28a99). It was fun at first to play around with all the different features and to view the finished digital pop-up book product, but it became extremely time consuming. This website definitely encompasses several aspects of the “participatory culture” that we live in right now. “Technology has made it easy for everyday people to take media in their own hands; create, share, express themselves, archive, appropriate, remix and recirculate content” (Henry Jenkins). Overall, I would probably use this as an optional presentation outlet if students chose to utilize it.
ZooBurst seems really cool, I could definitely see myself using this as a teacher. It definitely seems like it has a place in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Rahila,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this interesting digital tool! This would be great in a social studies class, where I could have students create their own historical books using ZooBurst. Tools like this allow students to learn about media literacy through production, while also helping content knowledge to come alive through creative expression!
I really liked the idea behind your tool reading your analysis. But when I went to the website to look view what you created I kind of thought it would look a little cooler. I thought there would be better, crisper graphics, that just popped off the page. The final product did not remind me of those cool popup books I grew up.
ReplyDeleteMany of the pop ups had white background, I wish they were more like 3d looking structures.
Also, I remember we had interactive pop up books where you could pull levers and things throughout the book, they should add that to this web 2. tool to kick it up a notch.
Hey Rahila,
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty cool! I really liked the book you created. It is also easy to access so it can easily be viewed by students and used as a study tool at school or at home. I do think the graphics are a little pixilated, but you get the idea. It also seems like creation of a book is easy and your suggestion application seems right on!
Hi Rahila,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this tool. This is perfect for enabling students to create a lively book. I can surely use this in my Spanish classes to create books. Students can create their own stories and liven things up with this probram