LucidPress For Class Newspaper

LucidPress was presented by me as an option for seventh grade students to create a collaborative newspaper. Collaborative in the sense that all students across multiple classes have different responsibilities ranging from report to writer to layout to tech.  The students immediately recognized the features that would prove valuable in a class creation.

LucidPress Has Effective Features:

• Google Drive Integration:  this is it!  Students write articles in Google Drive and share it with the students who are in charge of layout.  Students who are designing the layout of the paper can connect LucidPress with their Google Drive account.  The article immediately appears in the newspaper with the options of changing the design.
• Templates:  There are enough templates to start to resemble Microsoft Publisher.  Since we are a Google Apps For Education school, Publisher as been eliminated.  Now it is back in some form!
• Collaboration:  Multiple students (in this case the designers/layout specialists) can work on the same newspaper.
• Publishing:  Multiple methods for publishing including instantly on Twitter & Google Plus via a link.  I like how the published item is a flip book format.

Listen to what the students say!

LucidPress Tutorial

Impact On Students:

• Collaboration:  Multiple students designing a LucidPress publication.  Multiple students contributing to the LucidPress publication through their Google Docs creations.
• Creativity:  While templates do exist, the blank publication is available as well.  Students need to make decisions on design, placement, colors, texts, and publishing.
• Critical Thinking: Students must decide so many facets of the design.  Layout of the design continues to be a critical thinking skill.