The read,write,think website created by the National Council of English Teachers in the U.K has established a DVD and CD cover creator. It is a fun and simple tool that allows users to type and illustrate their own CD and DVD covers or related booklets for liner notes and other information. Students can use the tool to create covers for books, music, and films that they explored as well as to create covers for media they compose individually or as a class. Students can use text tools to create their titles and notes, add shading to background areas of the covers and booklets, and draw original images to illustrate their covers and booklets. This is an educational tool that appeals to all students ranging from kindy to year 12.

What you need to use this tool

Internet access
Creativity
Printer
DVD or CD case

Simple steps to creating a DVD/CD cover

Go onto the readwritethink website
Click on ‘get started’
Begin creating your CD or DVD cover

SACSA Learning Outcomes Middle years, Yr8.

4.10- Controls and adjusts a variety of strategies for planning, composing, presenting and evaluating spoken texts for wider community audiences.

4.11- Controls, adjusts and compares a variety of strategies for locating and recording information and for reading, viewing and critically interpreting written and visual texts for specific purposes.

4.12- Uses, compares and adjusts multiple strategies for planning, composing and reviewing written texts.

This tool covers a wide variety of curriculum areas, as any learning area can use this tool as a way of presenting a students work. By creating their own DVD or CD cover students are able to personalize their finished product, rather than submitting a DVD or CD in a blank case. This tool enhances their ICT skills and allows students to familiarize themselves with different ways of presenting and submitting their work.

Click here for SACSA framework

ACARA

Phase 1 – The Australian Curriculum

English

Literature: Students learn to interpret, appreciate, evaluate and create literary texts such as narrative, poetry, prose, plays, film and multimodal texts, in spoken, print and digital/online contexts.

The CD/DVD cover creator supports the new Australian curriculum ACARA, by providing students with a means of presenting their work using a digital context.

Click here for new ACARA curriculum

For additional information visit the official website Readwritethink CD/DVD cover creator.

Features

Read,write, think DVD and CD cover creator has many features which include;

The tool is accessible on all computers.
Simple layout to easily navigate your way through the tool.
Basic templates for the front cover, spine and back cover.
Create you own unique drawings.
Different brush sizes to use when creating a drawing.
The user can apply both text and drawings.
An eraser tool to correct any errors of the users illustration.
A variety of font styles and sizes.
The user can add things like track listings, text on the spine of your CD label and title/artist information.
Alignment options.
No need for any personal details.
Available at any school with Internet access.
The tool is FREE and no downloading is required.

These images show what the next steps are after the DVD or CD cover has been printed. It is an un-demanding task for students to cut out their front cover, spine and back cover. The students need to glue the tabs together to join the three sections together then the cover is complete and ready to put into a case. This provides the students with physical learning as well as mental.

Potential

David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984)

Click here for official website.

In the diagram above are four different learning styles; social, creative, practical and intellectual.

The social learner works best by accomplishing hands-on methods, by using the read,write,think CD and DVD cover creator students are able to print their cover and physically assemble it together. Social learner are able to visual the end result and can discuss the learner process. To aid the social learner the CD or DVD covers can be created in pairs.

The read,write,think CD and DVD cover creator target the creative and imaginative learners as they are able to install their own ideas onto the covers. They can explore there imaginative and creative side by designing a unique cover that works to their strengths.

The read,write,think CD and DVD cover creator supports the intellectual learner, as they often flourish with organization and logic. The tool is experimental and sequential in its formatting.

This tool suits the practical learner as they are able to explore their technical learning and for see their goal.

Experimenting is the key for the majority of learners and this tool embraces a new and exciting way to experiment.

Potential, Barriers and Challenges

Barriers

The readwritethink CD/DVD cover creator does not allow the user to save. Therefore students must start and complete the task, with the cover printed in one session. This would be a difficult in a classroom, as there is an allocated time for each class. This would be very problematic if the computers froze or lost power as there is no way of restoring the work.
Images/photographs can not be uploaded onto this program.
The tools used for creating your own drawing are limited, as it is all free hand drawing, which is extremely difficult when using a mouse. Therefore it takes a lot of time to get an accurate or sophisticated drawing (the majority tend to look simple and child-like, which would not be suitable for higher education students.)
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Challenges

The tool is recommended for all students from kindy to yr12, however it may be too simple for older students, perhaps a more advanced program may be suitable.
Click here for ez CD/DVD cover creator

The link above is another CD and DVD cover program that is more suitable for higher education students, however it requires personal details,which is a concern in a school environment for student safety and identity. This program also must be downloaded and a payment is required.

A challenge for students that struggle to draw.
There are no instructions on how to use the tool, however it is simple to navigate your way through the tool and the tool box is basic.

Uses in the classroom

Exploring Hunter Vettori in the novel Jetty Rats, written by Phillip Gwynne.

Year 7-8

After reading Jetty Rats, students discuss the novel’s ending, then compose alternate titles and endings for the book, and design new book covers.

A CD diary of their school trip (fits with any learning area)

Year 7-9

Students have kept a voice recorded diary of their school trip, enhancing their oral skills and self-reflection. They must create a CD cover that reflects their school trip. Students can add titles on the back cover to show the chapters of their experience.

DVD cover of the school play (drama, english, art)

Year 7-10

Students have filmed and edited the school play, adding credits and titles. They need to create a DVD cover to market the school play to family and friends. This enhances students skills in advertisement and embraces creativity and originality. (Good fundraiser for the school, if the DVDs became available for parents to buy.)

Resources

Great teachers are teachers who never stop learning

CD/DVD Cover Creator