Siena Project, Phase II

1. Describe your thoughts on using technology (i.e. eBook creator, the website, and translator) to help you work with non-English speaking future students.  Don’t just say it was great…provide details to these items. A) Describe the strengths and B) Describe the challenges.
2. Describe your thoughts on the quality of your eBook as it compared to your Italian middle school students....disregard the fact that you may not be able to read the Italian.
3. Describe another way you could use student eBook publishing to support learning for your future students.i.e. How else could you use iBooks Author – (or some other eBook publishing tool) to support learning of some content.Be specific…provide an example!
4. Describe your thoughts on this specific learning experience.i.e. What did you like about it? What would you change? etc.
5. Feel free to add photos (screen shots) of your eBook (not required).

1. Before this, I had never used eBook creator before. It was challenging at first because I had to learn the programs and the tricks to it. Once I became more familiar with it, I was more comfortable with using the eBook creator. I have used google translator quite a bit when I try to translate my English to Dutch, so I was familiar with how to change it from English to Italian. Even though it does not always translate 100% correctly, it is a great way to get your thoughts and ideas across so that the non-English speaking students can understand what you are trying to say. 

2. While I was unable to read what they wrote, I thought they were good quality eBooks. The pictures they used really helped me understand what they were talking about in their book. I feel that my book had more writing and descriptions of the pictures I used then some of their eBooks. However, it was easy to view and understand what their book was about, and they chose good pictures to go a long with it.

3. For my future students, I could use the eBook publishing to help with language arts. It would be a creative way for students to create a project, such as a book on a place, person, or a fiction story. It really allows students to be creative and use their imagination. It also provides the students with an opportunity to use technology rather than writing a story in a journal. 

4. I really enjoyed this learning experience. It allowed me to explore a part of technology that was unfamiliar to me. Now that I have learned it I can use it in the future for myself or for my own students. I also learned a lot more about my hometown than I knew before starting this. I liked it because I was also able to learn about another culture and collaborate with students who live half way around the world. At this time I cannot think about anything that I would change with this project.