Writing Term Papers with Cool New Digital Tools

Gr 6 Up—Maybe you and your students are familiar with apps like Evernote, SlideShare, Voki, and Dropbox. But how about Jing? Stupeflix? Cacoo, anyone? This up-to-the-minute series identifies and discusses dozens of new and evolving tools for developing, sharing, and presenting ideas. Polling apps and phone-based teleprompters give debaters a leg up on their opponents; web-based reaction timers make data collection easier during science experiments; and citation software organizes sources and formats a writer's bibliography automatically. These books excel in identifying apps and information sources but stop short of critiquing strengths and weaknesses, possibly because new digital tools are frequently updated and enhanced, meaning that any detailed review would quickly become obsolete. The books are also intensely text heavy, which seems at odds with their subject. A few screenshots are used as illustrations in each volume along with stock photos of teens in classrooms and adults making presentations. Not perfect, but a welcome addition.