Using FlipSnack as a Research Scrapbook
I am collecting ideas for my big research project next semester – images, articles, journal articles, book recommendations, etc. and I wanted to find a good place to store all this information. So here I am trying FlipSnack, a free page flip software that enables you to create stylish digital flipbooks out of your PDF documents. You can use it to share or embed into your website or blog. Unfortunately that requires payment, so here I am showing you a picture of said e-magazine! Here’s the link (gosh, that sounds so archaic!)
How Does It Work?
Well, basically you need to have everything in a document FIRST, then convert is to PDF, and then you can upload it to FlipSnack. And voila! Your e-book, or e-magazine, is immediately e-published! A link is create for you to share via email or through social media. Please note: you may need to use the zoom slide at the top of the page to zoom into the detail.
How Does It Feel?
It feels great! It feels snazzy! It looks good! However, you need to pay more if you want to embed your FlipSnack into your blog/website, and ditto for embedding video or audio into the FlipSnack itself. Which is kind of why it appealed to me in the first place, the possibility for visuals AND interactivity at the same time. So feeling a bit let down by that now.
What’s the Teaching & Learning Potential?
There’s a lot. Create interactive assignments for your students. Have students create their own flippable magazines or visual, interactive stories. There is an Education subscription of $32/month or $144/year, that comes up a bit more expensive than the normal Premium package of $16-30/month. However, the Edu subscription has additional benefits such as being able to create student accounts, create groups, give and manage assignments, and so on. However, let me remind you that the basic package is totally FREE!
Are there any Alternatives?
Loads. Just Google it!
The most reputable offering comes from issuu
Flip HTML5 looks good, too.
Let me know if you have any ebook or ‘flipping’ book applications to recommend.