Technology

Tinkerers of all ages are flexing their creative muscles during the Summer of Making and Connecting, a global project geared to empower digital crafters and match people with maker activities, online or on the street.

Calling all performance-inclined library media specialists. Think you can pull off a song about what librarians do—as a rap? Flocabulary, creator of multimedia K–12 lessons to a hip-hop beat, wants you.

Mackin Educational Resources, national distributor of PreK–12 books, ebooks and digital resources, has announced a new partnership with Hachette Book Group (HBG), beginning this month. As part of the deal, HBG’s entire catalog of more than 6,000 eBooks will be available to Mackin customers, on and offline, through their school’s exclusive MackinVIA platform.

Rachel G. Payne, coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library, offers advice for parents.

ClassDojo, the free application for recording and managing student behavior, has been updated. As of today, ClassDojo sports a new “Class Sharing” feature, allowing multiple teachers to communicate more easily about their students’ behavior and collectively foster behavioral development.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has just launched an updated version of its free Teen Book Finder app—which debuted in June, 2012—to include all of the books the association honored in 2013. The first of its kind, Teen Book Finder gives teens, librarians, parents, and young adult literature aficionados access to YALSA’s recommended reading and award-winning titles from the past three years.

What child can resist a book or app about animals? Incorporating vocabulary-rich texts and gentle environmental lessons, these apps will also find favor with teachers and parents.

A new age of scribe is emerging, notes Joyce Valenza, who, in her latest blog post, considers the craft of sketchnoting and its role in enhancing the conference - and classroom - experience.

Our favorite apps this month include a tribute to Ludwig Van Beethoven’s 'Ninth Symphony,' and a rhyme based on a classic children's song. If summer's lovely weather hasn't got you humming, these productions will.