Book Creator: Transforming Education through Digital Book Creation

Book Creator is a digital tool that helps students become creative problem solvers through the creation of digital books. Initially, it started as a private self-publishing tool for rising authors. However, since 2017, it has turned its focus almost entirely toward serving the K-12 market. The company partners with Google for Education to deliver a highly accessible and open-ended experience for students and teachers in the classroom. Book Creator’s advantages come from its open-ended, collaborative nature, encouraging creative approaches to assignments by offering a blank canvas that does not prescribe how tasks should be completed.

Book Creator, a self-publishing tool, aimed to shift its focus towards serving the K-12 market and enhance student engagement by unlocking their creativity. The company wanted to provide a platform where students and teachers could collaboratively create and publish ebooks and learning materials. However, with a small team of 13, they faced the challenge of reaching millions of students and handling high-variability workloads. Additionally, they needed to comply with strict data access management requirements including GDPR in the European Union and FERPA/COPPA in the U.S. The company also wanted to rapidly develop new features while reducing the complexities of storing data and scaling access to it.

Book Creator partnered with Google for Education and built its tool using Google Cloud solutions including App Engine, Compute Engine, and Firebase. This partnership improved accessibility through Chromebooks and other service offerings. The serverless approach to IT provided by Google Cloud’s cost-effective tools helped Book Creator build a cloud-native app with instant scale and powerful compute options. Firebase enabled the company to rapidly develop new features while reducing the complexities of storing data and scaling access to it. Book Creator now uses Compute Engine VMs to manage high-volume functions and serves its API server on App Engine. This allows the company to focus on code while the platform handles scale and security. Google Cloud solutions also provided the necessary security controls to comply with strict data access management requirements.

• The partnership with Google and the use of its cloud solutions have significantly benefited Book Creator. The company has been able to focus on delivering exciting, innovative solutions to students, while the platform handles scale and security. The use of App Engine to handle high-variability workloads and Compute Engine for highly intensive computations has allowed the company to focus on code. The company also uses a range of APIs to further enhance student engagement. Its placement in the Chrome Browser and on the Chromebook App Hub has enhanced its visibility and adoption. The company has also been able to comply with strict data access management requirements, keeping information protected and available for teachers, students, and administrators.

• Enhances scalability to handle variable workloads depending on demand

• Supports creation of 24 million books annually

• Enhances visibility of app through Chromebook App Hub