Digital storytelling is an exciting new way to engage with students and bring their stories to life. With the increasing popularity of digital tools, teachers now have the opportunity to use apps that make it easy to create engaging and captivating narratives. Here are 5 must-have digital storytelling apps for any teacher’s toolbox. These apps can help teachers collaborate with students, foster creativity, and inspire learning in a fun and unique way.
Book Creator
The Book Creator software is a remarkable tool that allows users to unleash their creativity by making and publishing their own eBooks, storybooks, or any other form of the book they choose. With adjustable themes, a sizable collection of photos and symbols, and the option to include videos and audio recordings, the software is a veritable gold mine of tools that make the book design process easier. For teachers and aspiring writers, the app is a blessing. Digital storytelling works perfectly with it.
Book Creator Features
Some of our favorite features include:
Create using themes and templates
Save time and enhance creativity with our collection of professionally designed templates linked to academic themes across the curriculum. Fun, engaging, and user-friendly.
Experience the magic of AutoDraw
No artistic skills? No problem. Draw your desired object and let artificial intelligence suggest from a vast library of professionally drawn shapes. Fully integrated into Book Creator in collaboration with the Google AI team.
Boost creativity with AppSmash
Embed various types of content such as Google Maps, YouTube videos, PDFs, and more in Book Creator. Access numerous third-party app integrations via the App Store, including Canva, Bitmoji, and 3D models.
Build your class library
Sign up at app.bookcreator.com to receive a free library with 40 books. Create your library and invite your students using an invite code. Organize and share your books easily.
Listen to your books
Switch between edit and read mode effortlessly with Book Creator’s interactive reader. Listen to your books in any language and have words highlighted as they’re read.
Sharing
Students can publish books to their online classroom library. Each student will get a unique, secure URL for their book that can be viewed on any device. (Add sample)
Share the eBook: Export as an ePub file and you can share it with your favorite cloud app, classroom management tool, or by email. You could even publish it to the iBooks Store.
Print your book as a PDF file to create paperback books.
Book Creator Cost
Book Creator has three packages
Starter: Free for individual teachers
Premium: $12/month or $120/year
Schools & Districts: Volume pricing discounts
Why we love about Book Creator
For the past 10 years, we’ve been using Book Creator in our classrooms for digital storytelling. There is no other app or website that even comes close to Book Creator’s level of convenience and functionality, but it’s the community that holds it together. Countless teachers enjoy collaborating and sharing tips regarding Book Creator.
Bloxels Edu
Bloxels is an amazing program that lets users create their own video games. To make the game creation easier, the software uses real-world blocks to stand in for various game elements including characters, obstacles, and power-ups. The software will then transform these blocks into digital game parts once users scan them using the camera on their device. The software enables game makers of all ages and levels of expertise to realize their greatest gaming ambitions. Bloxels provide educators a unique approach to integrate digital storytelling into the classroom.
Bloxels’ Features
Build Your Own Game
Get ready to unleash your inner game designer and create your very own video games with just 8 simple blocks! Each block has its own unique gameplay trait, and some can even be configured to make them even more exciting. With Bloxels, the possibilities are endless.
Draw and Animate
Are you an artist at heart? Then get ready to flex your creative muscles and craft your own pixel art tiles to create a game that’s uniquely yours. And the fun doesn’t stop there! You can also animate a cast of characters to bring your game to life in a way that’s totally personalized.
You’re the Game Studio
With Bloxels, you’re not just playing a game – you’re the game studio! You get to be the artist, writer, designer, and director of your very own video game. Create stunning art, animations, and backgrounds to design your game’s world exactly the way you want it.
Creativity Powered Up
Bring your characters to life with special powers like speed, flight, fire, and magic! With Bloxels’ Character Builder and Character Lab, you can draw and animate your pixel characters and customize them with super cool abilities that’ll take your game to the next level.
Share with the World
Once you’re done creating your game, it’s time to share it with the world! Publish it in the Bloxels Arcade and let other members of the Bloxels community play and enjoy it. And with thousands of other games to play, you’ll never run out of fun and exciting things to do.
Asset Packs:
Not sure where to start? No worries – Bloxels has got you covered with themed asset packs that are chock-full of ready-made art, characters, and backgrounds that you can use in your games. You can mix and match, use them as-is, or edit them to your heart’s content. And with new assets being added to the app regularly, the fun never stops!
Bloxels Cost
There are two Bloxels variants: Bloxels and Bloxels Edu. Individual users can get Bloxels for $3.99/month or $19.99/year. Bloxels Edu offers classroom and school accounts.
Why we love Bloxels.
Since its release in 2013, we have been utilizing Bloxels for game development and digital storytelling. Our students fashion their games inspired by readings, projects, and retro classics. Bloxels is a seamless solution to introducing game design sans coding expertise.
Puppet Pals 2 School Edition
By enabling users to create their own animated movies, Puppet Pals School is a fantastic piece of software that encourages users to unleash their inner animator. The application allows users to record their voices, choose from a range of characters, settings, and items, and then use those recordings to create their own unique stories. Youngsters who want to hone their skills in digital storytelling and utilize animation to express their creativity will find it to be the ideal tool.
Puppet Pals 2 Features
Simple Animated Movies:
Choose a location and some characters and start animating by simply moving your character across the screen with your finger.
Tons of Characters:
Over 70 actors from all across history to chose from. Mix and match the actors or add your own head to the actor’s body.
Sharing
When you finish an animation just click share and your video is downloaded to your camera roll.
Puppet Pals 2 Cost
Puppet Pals 2 School Edition cost $5.99. It is a one-time payment.
What we love about Puppet Pals
Puppet Pals 2 is a super simple and silly-looking app. Young and old students will have no trouble picking it up and bringing their stories to life. We love that parents and teachers won’t have to spend any time teaching their kids how to use the app or which features to use. The best way for students to use this app is to discover all the fun features on their own.
Minecraft Education Edition
Minecraft and Minecraft Edu are wildly popular video games that provide users with the opportunity to build and explore virtual worlds. The games come loaded with a range of tools that make it easy for users to create their structures, landscapes, and even machines. Minecraft Edu is tailor-made for use in educational settings, and it includes features that enable teachers to create lessons and assessments within the game. Surprisingly, Minecraft Edu is one of the best apps for digital storytelling in 2023.
Minecraft Edu Features
Minecraft Education Edition has a ton of features specifically created for teachers and students. Let’s take a look at a few stand-out features that will help teachers and students get the most out of Minecraft.
Immersive Reader
Keep students focused on the game, not the words, with this feature that translates game content into audio. It’s a great way to enhance the learning experience and make it more accessible for all students.
Classroom Mode
Keep your Minecraft world under control with the companion app that lets you see a high-level map view of the world, a list of students, and the ability to teleport them. You can even communicate with them through the chat window to keep them on task.
Code Builder
Teach coding with ease with this in-game coding experience, introduced in the 1.7 release. With just a press of “c”, students can start building their own Minecraft creations and learn coding concepts.
Special Blocks
Create a customized learning environment with these unique blocks. They allow you to preserve structures, control visitor access, and section off areas for buildings. These blocks are specially designed for educators and world creators to help make lessons more interactive.
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
Provide additional guidance for your students with NPCs. These characters can act as a guide in the game, provide instructions, and even include web links to additional resources.
Cameras, Portfolio, and Writable Books
Capture evidence of learning with ease! These features let students take screenshots, document their progress, and keep track of their projects. It’s a great way to track their progress and provide feedback.
Chalkboards
Communicate learning goals, provide additional information, and give explicit instructions within the game with chalkboards. They come in three different sizes – Slate (1×1), Poster (2×1), and Board (2×3) – and can be a great tool for any lesson.
In-Game Library
Keep lessons organized and easy to access with the in-game library. It allows you to categorize lessons and worlds, making it easy to find the content you need. It’s a convenient way to keep your Minecraft lessons on track!
Minecraft Edu Cost
Minecraft Education Edition is available at a discounted rate of 5 US dollars per user, per year (or local currency pricing) for eligible educational institutions. If you are not part of an eligible institution, the cost per user per year is 12 US dollars (or local currency pricing).
What we love about Minecraft Education Edition
The educational version of the game Minecraft is more than simply a game. It offers a singular chance for students to explore a wide range of courses in a secure and engaging setting because of its interactive and collaborative approach to teaching. The options are boundless, ranging from constructing and designing to solving problems and exploring. To make learning engaging and effective, teachers may use Minecraft Education Edition to design courses and exercises that are specific to the needs and interests of their students. Minecraft Education Edition delivers a smooth and natural experience for educators and learners alike thanks to its user-friendly design and accessible resources. Hence, if you’re a student searching for an engaging method to study or a teacher looking for new ways to educate, consider using Minecraft Education Edition.
Stop Motion Studio
Stop Motion Studio is an amazing app that enables parents and teachers to help their children or students create captivating stop-motion animation videos. With a variety of tools provided, users can customize their videos according to their preferences and add music and sound effects. This app is perfect for anyone who wants to explore various animation techniques and express their creativity in a unique way.
Stop Motion Studio Features
The free version of the Stop Motion Studio app has enough features to create a basic stop-motion movie. However, if you want to make cool-looking movies with all the bells and whistles, I recommend buying the premium version for a one-time price of $5.99
The following features are only available in the premium version.
Add Facial Expressions to Lego Figures
If you have ever seen a stop-motion Lego movie on YouTube you know this feature well.
Remote Camera
Using a remote camera is one of the most important features. When making a stop-motion movie the most important tip is to keep the camera steady. With this feature, you can set up your phone on a tripod as a remote camera, and use an iPad or another phone to take photos and edit on the fly.
Green Screen
Using Chroma Keying or Green Screen, you can change the background of your scene to make any of the figures you capture fly or appear wherever you please just by changing the background image.
Movie Effects
There are many amazing visual effects you will be able to access to completely change the look of your video. Add an extra touch of creativity by adding beautifully designed foregrounds, backgrounds, movie masks, and fade transitions.
Title and Credit Scenes
Stop Motion Studio has dozens of incredibly designed titles and advanced cards ready for you to choose. Or use the visual editor to design your own. Its typographic features let you craft a title that fits your movie perfectly.
Masking Tool
The final feature I will share is the masking tool. Did you ever wonder how the ever-so-small Lego men in your favorite stop-motion movie fly? It’s due to the use of the masking tool. It’s easy to use on a light string that created objects that appear to be up in the air.
Stop Motion Studio Cost
Stop Motion Studio offers both a free and paid version, with the paid version offering a suite of premium features. In my humble opinion, the paid version is where the real magic happens. For the affordable one-time fee of $5.99, Stop Motion Studio delivers tremendous value and is well worth the investment. I highly recommend upgrading to the paid version. Trust me, your creative endeavors will thank you for it!
What we love about Stop Motion Studio
Encouraging even the most camera-shy children to take center stage can be a daunting task, but fear not – stop-motion movies are a delightful and universally loved alternative. With the user-friendly Stop Motion Studio software, crafting your own animated masterpiece is a breeze. For those concerned about cost, fret not – a free app such as iMovie offers simple yet powerful video editing tools to bring your creation to life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, digital storytelling is revolutionizing the way teachers engage with their students and bring their stories to life. With the rise of digital tools, there are now 5 must-have apps for any teacher’s toolbox, including Book Creator, Bloxels Edu, Minecraft, Puppet Pals 2 School Edition, and Stop Motion Studio. These apps not only foster creativity and inspiration but also enable real-time collaboration and sharing. Of all the apps, Book Creator stands out for its convenience, functionality, and the strong community it has built over the past 10 years. Bloxels Edu is perfect for introducing game design without the need for coding expertise, while Puppet Pals 2 School Edition lets children express their storytelling and animation skills. As we continue to explore the potential of digital storytelling, these apps will undoubtedly pave the way for exciting and dynamic new learning experiences.
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