Tuesday, August 31, 2010

ZooBurst




I apologize for not creating a post in so long. I've made myself a new-school-year resolution...;) I've just stumbled across something (or should I say twittered across something) that has fired up my creative juices. It is the COOLEST thing I've seen in a long time. And I've seen some VERY cool things through my GLN.

It's called ZooBurst. It is...

Are you ready for this???...

an Augmented Reality 3D Pop-Up Book Creator

Is that not the most amazing thing you've ever heard of?!?!? Talk about digital storytelling!!!

Let me point out some of its features:
  • it's free
  • the book can be rotated around with the mouse pointer
  • items or characters can be made "clickable" and once clicked a speech bubble pops-up
  • one of the newest updates allows the author to create voices for their characters through the ZooBurst audio recorder
  • authors can share books with readers everywhere if they'd like
  • books can be embedded in blogs
  • moderated discussion forums can be created for the books
  • there is a classroom management feature that allows teachers to have a protected environment for their students
  • teachers can moderate student work
  • students can be set up within the program by teachers without giving out personal information

And, as if that isn't enough, the most amazing feature of all is the capability of recording a reading of your story using a webcam that will allow you augmented reality capabilities.

Check out this video for a fantastic introduction:

And the following video shows all ZooBurst's newest updates:

Can't wait to see all the great things our students will do with this tool. Oh man, I wish I had a classroom!

Enjoy!