Truth be told I created this out of personal interest.
I travel…a lot!
One of the issues with travelling is that it removes me from my son. It also creates a scenario where I am unable to complete our nighttime routine which is beyond important. While I am away, my son really misses when I read to him. For this reason I decided to design a way which would rectify the situation no matter the destination.
I used Makey Makey, copper tape, and Scratch (online block coding site) to make this possible. There are several ways this can be completed so please iterate and complete this if it works for you.
Who can this work for?
- Any parent
- Anyone travelling often
- All students including: ESL, IEP, Etc
- For those learning a new language
Can’t I buy books like this?
You can absolutely purchase books which perform this function but then you are paying per book. I wanted to create an environment where this can be done with everyday favourite stories. You then have the option to do this for multiple books without spending a fortune. There is no limit how far you can take this. You can simply retell the story or perhaps provide insight with more difficult concepts. You can examine any narrative with greater detail by adding voice elements. You can even create your own story together!
Here’s how:
- Take any book you would like to make interactive
- Add copper tape (I simple added copper tape to the back of the book so I don’t ruin any pages. You can the option to have one piece of tape represent one page of text within the book but I elected to have one piece of tape represent two pages of text.
Back of Book w Copper Tape
- Use Scratch to code your voice. Please view tutorial video.
4. Connect your Makey Makey to copper tape. Please make sure you have the correct alligator clips setup in the right order so the story reads as it should. Please don’t forget to attach a ground wire within the “Earth” portion of the Makey Makey.
Makey Makey connected to Book
5. Finally, when everything is attached and Scratch is open on your computer please tap the copper tape and remove your finger in order to here the story.
Here is the video in action.
As always please reach out if you have any questions.
@dtangred
DT