Although kids today say they enjoy reading just as much as their peers did in 2005, they’re actually reading far less each day because they’re busy doing other things, says a new study by the National Literacy Trust, a UK-based literacy charity.
What to Do When Kids Aren’t Allowed to Read Digital Books in School
By on September 16, 2012
Pat Scales, chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and SLJ columnist, regularly fields questions on banned library materials. But “this is the first I’ve encountered in which a book’s format has been censored,” she writes.
SLJ Reviews | Multimedia Storytelling Platform Meograph
By on September 13, 2012
New storytelling application Meograph helps users create uniquely dynamic, interactive projects, incorporating Google Maps and Google Earth to generate a story time line, which can be enhanced with images, video, text, audio, and links for more information. SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings walks us through the platform in his video review.
Touch and Go Lives!
By on September 13, 2012 Leave a Comment
After a brief hiatus during the transition to our new website, our app reviews are back—with a few changes. First, you’ll notice they have moved from School Library Journal’s blog roll into a column, pushing out in our Extra Helping enewsletter. Archived reviews can be found on the SLJ website under “Blogs and Columns.” However, to ensure you receive all of our postings, be sure to add “Touch and Go” to your RSS feed.
Assess Your School’s Connectivity on the Nonprofit Site Education SuperHighway
By on September 11, 2012
All the tech programming in the world means nothing without the adequate infrastructure to support it. Now anyone—from teachers, administrators and librarians to students—can log on to the site Education Superhighway and have their school’s connection speed analyzed within minutes.
A Geek’s Back-to-School Wish List
By on September 10, 2012
Elementary school librarian Amy Blaine did a little online window-shopping and picked a few practical—and not so practical—items to take her throughout the day.
The post A Geek’s Back-to-School Wish List appeared first on The Digital Shift.
The Best Back-to-School Video Ever | Links of the Week
By on September 7, 2012
Who needs coffee? If this bit of inspiration from teacher Colby Sharp doesn’t jump-start your day, nothing will. This among a mix of resources and links to mark the start of a new school year.
The post The Best Back-to-School Video Ever | Links of the Week appeared first on The Digital Shift.
Edmodo Gets an Upgrade
By on September 5, 2012
Social learning platform Edmodo is debuting some new features, just in time for the start of school. Responding to user feedback, the company has streamlined the ability for teachers to connect and access content and revised some existing tools, including centralizing group functionality.
The post Edmodo Gets an Upgrade appeared first on The Digital Shift.
Video: Playing with the Augmented Reality App IMAG-N-O-TRON
By on September 4, 2012
Seeing is believing. Pages of a picture book literally come to life in this demo of the augmented reality app “Imag.N.O.Tron,” a companion to The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, the Oscar-winning film, app, and book by William Joyce.
The post Video: Playing with the Augmented Reality App IMAG-N-O-TRON appeared first on The Digital Shift.
News Bites: Join Candlewick’s ‘We Believe in Picture Books’ Campaign
By on September 4, 2012 Leave a Comment
On August 31, Candlewick launched a yearlong video celebration of picture books in honor of their 20th anniversary. Every day for 365 days, as part of the We Believe in Picture Books campaign, Candlewick will offer a video shot by authors, illustrators, staff, and friends, sharing what picture books mean to them, recommending a favorite story, and more. Librarians and teachers are welcome to post these videos on their own websites to share with students. You can also submit your own video to the publisher in which you informally talk about your favorite picture book, what the format means to you, or why it matters.
Online Bookclubs are Facebook for Booklovers!
By on September 3, 2012 Leave a Comment
This summer, I taught a professional development class for our staff. The goal? To each read two novels and one nonfiction book that we could enthusiastically recommend to our students this year. What we ended up with was a lot more than we’d expected, and it’s worth thinking about offering a similar class at your own school.
September 2012 Reviews: Best of Apps & Enhanced Books
By on September 3, 2012 Leave a Comment
The following reviews first appeared in SLJ’s column Touch and Go. After each review, you’ll find the date it appeared. Online, there are links to related resources, a trailer (if one exists), and a “purchase” button. Please note that later versions of some of these titles may now be available. Visit Touch and Go for additional reviews, commentary, and interviews with people in the field.–Daryl Grabarek
The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My. Tove [...]
SLJ’s Best of Apps & Enhanced Books August 2012
By on August 31, 2012
Apps involving monsters, both real and imagined, are among the digital publications examined in School Library Journal’s app review column Touch and Go.
Hot Topics for Teens and Tweens: Financial Literacy and CyberSmarts
By on August 30, 2012 Leave a Comment
Rosen Digital has just announced the launch of two new digital resources for middle school and high school students: Financial Literacy, an online database for economics and personal finance; and Teen CyberSmarts, an interactive ebook program that teaches kids about digital citizenship and cyber safety. Both programs have been specifically designed to support Common Core learning standards. And SLJTeen readers have a chance to evaluate both of these for free through October 5, 2012.
Travis’s Excellent (Ereader) Adventure
By on August 30, 2012
In this month’s cover story for School Library Journal, Jonker, an elementary school librarian, documents the launch of an ereader lending program in words and pictures. This article is adapted from a series of posts at Jonker’s blog 100 Scope Notes, which is moving to SLJ.com.
Now with Apps, Curation Board Learnist May One-up Pinterest for Education
By on August 30, 2012
Learnist, a new curation tool that’s been gaining traction among educators, including librarians, has expanded its social learning platform to mobile, with apps for the iPhone and iPad released today.
Making the Most of Video in the Classroom | Cool Tools
By on August 28, 2012
From Vialogues and SynchTube to TED-Ed, free tools for hosting conversation around videos.
Our Favorite Tumblrs: LJ and SLJ’s Tumblrs-in-Chief Share Choice Follows with a Library/Literary Flair
By on August 24, 2012
So many fun Tumblrs out there, not the least of which—dare we say—are our own. House Tumblrs-in-chief, Chelsey Philpot, associate editor, SLJ Book Review, and Molly McArdle, assistant editor, LJ Book Review, share a few of their favorite sites.
Make-your-own-ebooks platform: Aerbook Maker
By on August 19, 2012
SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings test drives Aerbook Maker, a new platform for creating your very own tablet-ready graphical ebooks.
Brain Hive Goes Live: On-Demand Ebook Service Rolls Out to K–12 Schools
By on August 16, 2012
Pay-as-you-go ebook service BrainHive is now available to schools. Titles offered include a range of fiction and nonfiction from publishers including Random House, Charlesbridge, Lee & Low, and Lerner. Carolyn Foote, district librarian, Eanes ISD in Austin, TX, calls it an “out-of-the box and creative pricing model that sets a new standard.”
