Distance learning is arguably one of the most difficult environments for student engagement. When many talk about distance learning vs. online learning or distance learning vs. hybrid learning they seem to forget that these kinds of distance learning look different for every classroom and these differences require custom strategies and options for projects. You may have virtual calls with your students regularly to check in on them, you may have them communicate with each other via email or chat and you may simply assign work and have them reach out to you with questions.

There is no official rule book for how to keep distance learning students engaged and there isn’t a ton of guidance on how to successfully execute distance learning so, what do you do?

The key to keeping distance students engaged is to choose fun projects that your students can get excited about while they are learning from home like publishing a book with their class!

Studentreasures offers online publishing through Scripsi, a free online book publishing program. Your students can write, illustrate and edit their book pages online and become more confident writers!

Make sure that you share this comprehensive all-in-one guide with your students and their parents to ensure that they understand the online publishing process.

If your class is in-person, your students have the benefit of collaborating with you and their classmates every day. This means that you have the opportunity to choose lesson plans and projects like creating a published classbook that nurture this collaboration and build skills that your students will use for the rest of their lives!

Publishing a book together, no matter where a class is learning, gets your students inspired to write and create some of their best work - this is especially true for in-person classrooms.

There is something truly special about seeing your students’ faces light up when they receive their published classbooks. This type of project is something that they will treasure in their memory forever.  

Publishing In-Person Made Easy

Paper kits are great for in-person learning and the physical pages can be easily distributed in class.

Bonus! We make publishing on paper a breeze with templates from our Template Library. Simply choose a template you like and print directly onto your kit. To use templates choose one of our blank kits (options B & D). Don’t forget you’ll still need to design your Cover, Title, Dedication and ‘About The Authors’ page!

It’s one thing to get your students’ attention, but to truly engage them? That’s when the real magic happens. Choosing highly engaging and exciting projects like creating a classbook teaches your students about the writing process with a rewarding end result that is both affirming and inspiring.

Your students’ faces will light up as they become published authors and create a professionally bound book just like the ones they would find in the library. As your class works on their books, you will also see them build connections with one another. Connections that can be challenging to establish when learning happens on rotating days or when half of the class is remote and the other half is in-person.