Digital Game to Help End Violence Against Women Lauren Barack - 09/28/2009
The Emergent Media Center (EMC) is using the world’s favorite sport to help impact attitudes surrounding the treatment of women.
More
Digital Resources: LOC Teachers Page Put to the Test By Shonda Brisco - 09/01/2009
Everything old is new again—and that's a good thing! If you've always wanted to collaborate with your history teacher using the Library of Congress (LOC) American Memory Project, but felt overwhelmed by the prospect of having to actually develop lesson plans and collect all of the digital material needed, then it's time to revisit the idea of teaching with primary sources.
More
Back-to-School Resources: Sites to ease the transition for teachers, parents, and kids By Gail Junion-Metz - 09/01/2009
At the Intersection of School & Home—Parent Corner school.discoveryeducation.com/parents Some kids look forward to the start of school—others are less than thrilled about it. On this site designed to help parents encourage their children, start at the “MotivationStation” for articles on various issues from academic performance to fitting in at school.
More
STEM to Grow in Libraries: Research project to get science content into media centers Lauren Barack - 09/01/2009
School librarians searching for a better way to broaden their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) resources for K–12 students may soon have some innovative help. Marcia Mardis, an assistant professor at Florida State University, is embarking on a three-year project to build an RSS-like feed that she says will search Web sites and online libraries, pluck specific images and o...
More
Site of the Month: First Day of School Icebreakers By Kathy Ishizuka - 09/01/2009
www.teachersfirst.com/firstday.cfm Ah, the first day of school. For students, educators, and parents alike, it’s a remarkable occasion, loaded with excitement, anticipation, and, yes, sometimes even a tear or two. To help get things off to a good start, the Web site TeachersFirst has created “First Day of School Icebreakers.
More
Pen Ultimate: For kids who take part in National Novel Writing Month—the acid test for would-be authors—it's no guts, no glory By Lauren Barack - 09/01/2009
Kathleen Kohl was penning 2,000-word short stories at 12 years old and by 13 set her sights on writing a novel. In a move gutsy enough for any would-be writer, much less a teenaged one, Kohl last year signed on for National Novel Writing Month, an online contest, of sorts, that challenges all comers each November to complete a 50,000-word piece of fiction over 30 days.
More
A 2.0 Toolkit: A hand-picked set of free Web programs to take to school this fall By Shonda Brisco - 08/01/2009
Regardless of the subscription databases that are available in your library, there's always a sense of professional satisfaction when you're able to access and utilize free software programs to create an entirely new way to engage your users or fulfill a need. For some librarians, 2.0 tools have become a major component of their instructional day, virtually a "must-have" within their profession...
More
Face-to-Face Goes Web 2.0: Enhance in-person events with these social tools By Steve Hargadon - 08/01/2009
Every year, right before NECC, I hold a free, one-day event for educators interested in using 2.0 tools called EduBloggerCon. This unique conference is organized by the attendees (the 2009 class pictured), who, using a wiki, sign up to lead a discussion of their choice. Sound like chaos? It’s not.
More
My First NECC: The big tech show still resonates for two first-timers Kathy Ishizuka - 08/01/2009
NECC, the big National Educational Computing Conference, has come and gone, but attendees, both in person and virtual, are still basking in the glow of all that sharing (bit.ly/dbGY5). School librarians Keisa Williams of Monarch Academy, a K–5 charter school in Oakland, CA, and Melissa Techman of Broadus Wood Elementary School in Albemarle Co.
More
Site of the Month: Library of Congress Teachers’ Page Kathy Ishizuka - 08/01/2009
www.loc.gov/teachers Most of us know the excitement that primary sources can bring to teaching. Photographs, maps, correspondence, and other original records that have survived from the past spark the imagination, and a staggering 13 million of these items have been digitized and made available online, thanks to the Library of Congress.
More
Never Too Young to Cite By Shonda Brisco - 07/01/2009
You've got to be kidding! Teach first graders how to do research? Teach second graders how to cite their sources? If it seems that teaching information literacy skills to elementary students is a little overwhelming (or even impossible), think again. Capstone has created an innovative new database designed for K-2 students that will make teaching kindergarten students how to perform library re...
More
Summer Fun: Web Resources By Gail Junion-Metz - 07/01/2009
Exploratorium Sport Science www.exploratorium.edu/sport/index.html Here kids learn not only about baseball, cycling, surfing, and the like, but also the fascinating science behind each sport, from how bicycle gears work to how the angle of a baseball bat can determine a foul ball or a home run. Created by: The Exploratorium Museum, San Francisco, CA.
More
It’s a Mad, Mad Wordle: For a new take on text, try this fun word cloud generator By Carolyn Foote - 07/01/2009
Nation. New. Common. Generation. These are among the most frequently used words spoken by President Barack Obama in his January 2009 inauguration speech as seen in a fascinating visual display called a Wordle. It’s simple, really. Just feed text of your choosing into the free online application Wordle, and with one keystroke you’ll have a graphic representation of your content, size...
More
The Buzz: Tools, Trends, and Gizmos 07/01/2009
Bringing Up the Rear at BEA BEA (BookExpo America) has come and gone, but there are still goodies to be had. A hint of things to come in publishing, namely digital delivery of content, HarperCollins offered downloadable ARCs (advance reading copies), including nine kids’ books on cards containing a pin number.
More
Mind the Time: Apps for Managing a Busy Schedule By Steve Hargadon - 06/01/2009
Web-based telephony, desktop video conferencing, and other digital tools make it easy to connect with people in real time. Virtual meetings have become standard fare, and the once arcane task of calculating time zones is now regularly performed in classrooms, where students and teachers collaborate with distant peers or welcome guest experts from around the globe.
More
The Truth About eBooks By Christopher Harris - 06/01/2009
Hold on tight, because I’m going to cover all the sensational statements made about eBooks in the following sentence. Print is dead and there will be no more books in our libraries within five years, which is a real shame because our eyes will suffer from straining to make out the miniscule print of an eBook as we try to manage the unwieldy device while settling into bed for a good read.
More
SLJ Reviews the Amazon Kindle 2 Ebook Reader By Jeffrey Hastings - 06/01/2009
Remember how the original Apple iPod suddenly made the MP3 player a must-have for music fans back in 2001? The Amazon Kindle 2 just might be the device that finally has ebook readership exploding in similar atomic fashion. While the first incarnation was undeniably impressive, the original Kindle was still a bit rough around the edges.
More
Social Media Specialists?: The use—or nonuse—of social tools sparks Twitterstorm By Lauren Barack - 06/01/2009
A recent firestorm on Twitter involved media specialists and education technology experts who considered whether librarians who don’t engage in social media are jeopardizing their careers not to mention student learning. “Can a media specialist do their job now if they are not also a social media specialist? I’m not sure,” Karl Fisch (on Twitter: karlfisch), director of ...
More
You Are There: No budget for travel? Try video chat. By Eric Langhorst - 06/01/2009
It was the sort of exchange that could only happen on a field trip. One of my students, noticing the unusual bow attached to Alexander Hamilton’s ponytail, asked our guide about the odd accessory. “That’s a bag wig,” replied Eli Lesser, director of education at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
More
The Buzz: Tools, Trends, and Gizmos 06/01/2009
Monopoly, Now Customized Monopoly has spun off multiple editions dedicated to cities and sports franchises, not to mention all the niche topics known to man—from cat lovers to Nascar. Now, the classic board game can really be tailored to your interests—using your photos. With Photo-opoly, simply add your pics to the game’s standard real estate spots.
More
