There are times in an instructional designer’s life when the game changes and Apple has just changed the game-again. This time it is with their iBook Author. Those who are considering an elearning situation, should consider using this new tool. The ability to interact with the content built in iBooks is amazing for all types of learners. Integrating audio and video right into the iBook allows the learners to integrate with the content.
Anyone who needs a workbook, textbook, manual. job aid, even a magazine, or newsletter should consider this type of learning aid. I will be getting mine soon.
This amazing new [FREE] app iBook Author allows anyone to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.
This application has the ability to drag and drop text, images, graphics, video, movies and more into the template. Apple’s Widgets add Multi-Touch magic to books with interactive photo galleries that bring images to life, engrossing 3D objects you can’t help interacting with, animations that burst off the page, and more.
Another beautiful thing about iBooks Author, it lets you create books that people with disabilities can read and experience. The table of contents, glossary, widgets, main text, and more are built to automatically take advantage of VoiceOver technology. Add accessibility descriptions to any widget or media — including movies and quizzes — so even those with vision impairments can use them.
And you can publish it to the iBookstore or iTunes U or share it with anyone with an iPad.
Why is it not simple and clear how to auto-trigger or onClick “arm” a text box to playback an audio file
Simply put: in an iBook Author children picturebook, how can one easily set-up a READ TO ME or CLICK-TO-READ iBook version? It seems you have to design complex, invisible widgets.. All media widgets seem to always be visible and demand manual user PLAY click..
Any thoughts/tips?
Hi Ari,
Within iBooks, when media is inserted an obvious ‘Play’ button [which is a simple arrow button] will appear for the reader to click and play. To my knowledge, currently there is no way to change the ‘Play button’ to ‘read’ as text such as ‘CLICK-TO-READ or ‘READ TO ME’ instead of the Play button itself.
You can customize the ‘Title’ of the media, so it could say
‘CLICK-TO-READ’ or whatever you desired which could act as a visual clue to ‘click’ the ‘Play Button’.
iBooks also makes the insertion of any media easy by simply dragging the media into the iBook layout. Thumbnail images, for the media, can be changed as well.
Hope that helps.
Mary
right Mary, all that is clear, complete with the visible, clickable PLAY arrow, but can the media widget be made invisible and AUTO PLAY upon page turn or text appearance? There may be a way to set up animation in Keynote and import it, but I am not sure how “animation” or sequence-play imported from Keynote into iBooks Author works, what resolution and screen layout is kept, etc.
Ahh, I see what you are trying to get to. I do not think iBooks is at this stage just yet and I think the work-around within Keynote may do the trick….I’m just not sure if that would do it.