Five Tools for Creating Multimedia Textbooks - A Comparison Chart

Anyone who has gone through the laborious process of trying to select a textbook knows that the perfect textbook doesn't exist. That said, thanks to some fantastic software and online tools we can now come closer to creating textbooks that are ideal for our students. Including video and or audio in a textbook can go a long way toward helping students recall information. I still wish that the Algebra II textbook I had in high school had video tutorials in it. The five tools featured in the chart embedded below provide good options for creating multimedia textbooks. A Google Docs version of the chart is available here.


This is the seventh comparison chart in the series of PDFs that I have been creating in the hopes that they provide people with a quick way to select the best tools for them. This little project started because I am often asked to recommend "the best tool for X." Unfortunately, it is difficult to definitively state that one tool is the best because there are so many variables to account for in making that judgement. The age of your students, the technology that you have access to, your instructional goals are all factors that can influence what the best tool is for you. What's best in my situation and what's best in yours can be quite different. Hopefully, these charts will help you select the best tools for you and your students. The other charts are linked below.

Seven Alternatives to Google Image Search - Comparison Chart
11 Free Mind Mapping Tools Compared In One Chart
5 Timeline Creation Tools Compared - Chart
Nine Popular Student Response Tools Compared In One Chart
5 Web-based Audio Recording and Editing Tools Compared - Chart
5 Tools for Creating Multimedia Quizzes - A Comparison Chart