Create Your Own Book in Wikipedia

Wikipedia has just introduced a "Book Creator" function which allows users to compile any selection of Wikipedia pages into a single book, which can then either be downloaded as a PDF file or printed as a physical book.  The feature is remarkably easy to use; a quick video tutorial run-down can be found here.  While the video emphasizes a physical book as the final product, creating a PDF file is even easier.

Essentially, the user activates the Book Creator feature.  This adds a Book Creator toolbar to the top of all Wikipedia pages.  To add a page to a book, simply click "Add this page to book," navigate to the next page to be included and repeat.  When the user is done adding pages, he can view the book, sort the pages, add chapter headings, and a book title.  When he is done organizing the material, he just clicks the "download" button to download the completed PDF book to his computer.  From there he can either print it or distribute it electronically.  The final product even includes a title page and table of contents.

How might this prove useful in the classroom?  Here are a few suggestions.  I'm sure that teachers might come up with many more.

• Teachers can assemble resource material "textbooks" for their students.  This might be a textbook on famous artists for a visual arts class or historical events for a history class.  This might prove particularly useful in cases where the teacher has provided students with many assignment choices.
• History teachers who wish to discuss a current event which is requires substantial background information to understand could quickly assemble the necessary background material so that students  could have a fuller appreciation of the historical context of the event.
• Distance Ed teachers could use this to distribute research/background material, particularly in those cases when they have students who need a printed copy (eg Hutterian students).
• Students could easily assemble their own packages of research or study materials.  This would be particularly helpful for students who may not have Internet access at home.
• Teachers could assign students the task of putting together information packages on a particular topic (travel destinations, schools of architecture/design, ...) and share these with their peers.

Wikipedia books may be the ideal solution to those times when, as a teacher, you need to provide a class with some information, but it's not practical to take them to them all to a computer lab.