Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Google+
On Stephen Abram's blog stephenslighthouse.com, he provides a link to 50 ways school librarians can use google+. The list offers a brief synopsis of each suggestion with a link to further information.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Picture Book Apps
Recently I was in a workshop where a small portion of the time was dedicated to picture book apps. One of the questions asked to the speaker was "where do you find good apps and how do you know they are good?" On Horn Book's blog, I came across an article which offers 8 criteria for a quality picture book app and a few recommendations. The criteria are:
- Is interactive but not too interactive
- Creates meaningful counterpoint between all parts of the app
- Makes use of the drama of turning the page
- Puts users in charge
- Is easy to navigate
- Provides a joyful and surprising experience
- Withstands repeated use
- Adds to or extends the original story.
One app I explored was Oliver Jeffers, Heart and the Bottle. This is one of the best picture book apps I have seen. It takes a beautiful heartfelt story and truly brings it to life. I highly recommend this to teachers, parents and teacher-librarians.
I then found a follow up: a look in to the process of creating a picture book app. Personally, based on the criteria from Horn Book, I do not find the featured app particularly appealing but it is interesting to learn about the process.
For reviews on book apps, I have been following Digital Storytime which reviews apps for children's books, and Smart Apps for Kids where a Dad reviews apps, with his kids, and posts recommendations and a daily free app. I like this site and am feeling very advanced for being one of the first RSS subscribers.
- Is interactive but not too interactive
- Creates meaningful counterpoint between all parts of the app
- Makes use of the drama of turning the page
- Puts users in charge
- Is easy to navigate
- Provides a joyful and surprising experience
- Withstands repeated use
- Adds to or extends the original story.
One app I explored was Oliver Jeffers, Heart and the Bottle. This is one of the best picture book apps I have seen. It takes a beautiful heartfelt story and truly brings it to life. I highly recommend this to teachers, parents and teacher-librarians.
I then found a follow up: a look in to the process of creating a picture book app. Personally, based on the criteria from Horn Book, I do not find the featured app particularly appealing but it is interesting to learn about the process.
For reviews on book apps, I have been following Digital Storytime which reviews apps for children's books, and Smart Apps for Kids where a Dad reviews apps, with his kids, and posts recommendations and a daily free app. I like this site and am feeling very advanced for being one of the first RSS subscribers.
Misuse of Technology
Recently I have heard two unrelated news clips on different aspects of cyber bullying. Daniel Radcliffe, in a recent interview, expressed concern for the popularity of social networking sites. His opinion is that, because of the 24/7 nature of the internet, high school students who are being bullied cannot get away from it and it is leading to an increase in teen suicide.
A rising phenomena in adolescent girls has been to post their picture with the question "Am I pretty or Ugly". Some of these pictures have more than a million hits. As you might imagine, the answers range from obscene to evil.
Although not late breaking news stories, they really started me thinking. What do we as educators, as parents, as members of society do to stop this negative effect of the new media age?
Some ideas for good citizenship are noted in this article from Mind Shift. Also, I recommend the website, Define the Line, by researchers at McGill University; a site which, according to Mind Shift, "was recently awarded a digital citizenship grant by Facebook to help further its work in creating materials to open dialogue about finding the line where joking crosses into negative or criminal behavior. The site includes videos and scenarios designed to enhance discussion of real-world digital topics."
(both news segments were on CKNW News 1130)
A rising phenomena in adolescent girls has been to post their picture with the question "Am I pretty or Ugly". Some of these pictures have more than a million hits. As you might imagine, the answers range from obscene to evil.
Although not late breaking news stories, they really started me thinking. What do we as educators, as parents, as members of society do to stop this negative effect of the new media age?
Some ideas for good citizenship are noted in this article from Mind Shift. Also, I recommend the website, Define the Line, by researchers at McGill University; a site which, according to Mind Shift, "was recently awarded a digital citizenship grant by Facebook to help further its work in creating materials to open dialogue about finding the line where joking crosses into negative or criminal behavior. The site includes videos and scenarios designed to enhance discussion of real-world digital topics."
(both news segments were on CKNW News 1130)
Tweet Tweet
On News1130 (Lower Mainland news radio station - February 3, 2012), a study was referenced about the increase in teen use of twittering.
It stated that with everybody, including Grandma, on facebook, teens were looking for new social media outlets. Some of the positive aspects of twitter from a teen perspective is the ability to have multiple accounts and the anonymity of the accounts. They also enjoy the limit of characters per tweet.
Esther was also thinking about tweeting and had this to say "Both Richardson and Maiers in our class texts discuss how to blog effectively for academic purposes. I think this is a discussion we need to have regarding tweeting. I remember being really turned off of tweeting when I was reading personal things about TL's I was following that I cared absolutely nothing about, like a leak in their roof or how tired they felt. Like the study suggests, I definitely prefer reading about relevant new information or being engaged in a dialogue." (see links for article)
My thoughts: Thank you Esther for the great lead in because, I can see a large amount of the teen population tweeting about bad hair days and nothing good to watch on tv...trivial things. Mind you if they are just tweeting with their friends then the subjects might not seem so trivial.
Now, I quite obviously (from my lack of knowledge) don't tweet so perhaps I am off the mark but, is it basically the same thing as a text message other than being sent to followers? If so, will texting become outdated?
Will facebook go the way of myspace? Did myspace go away?
It stated that with everybody, including Grandma, on facebook, teens were looking for new social media outlets. Some of the positive aspects of twitter from a teen perspective is the ability to have multiple accounts and the anonymity of the accounts. They also enjoy the limit of characters per tweet.
Esther was also thinking about tweeting and had this to say "Both Richardson and Maiers in our class texts discuss how to blog effectively for academic purposes. I think this is a discussion we need to have regarding tweeting. I remember being really turned off of tweeting when I was reading personal things about TL's I was following that I cared absolutely nothing about, like a leak in their roof or how tired they felt. Like the study suggests, I definitely prefer reading about relevant new information or being engaged in a dialogue." (see links for article)
My thoughts: Thank you Esther for the great lead in because, I can see a large amount of the teen population tweeting about bad hair days and nothing good to watch on tv...trivial things. Mind you if they are just tweeting with their friends then the subjects might not seem so trivial.
Now, I quite obviously (from my lack of knowledge) don't tweet so perhaps I am off the mark but, is it basically the same thing as a text message other than being sent to followers? If so, will texting become outdated?
Will facebook go the way of myspace? Did myspace go away?
Little Bloggers
In Richardson's book, he sites the NetDay News fact that "the fastest-growing age group for using the Internet is 2 to 5 year olds." (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, 2010, p. 7) For me this statistic was thought provoking. I can not decide if this is positive for society or not. I see many benefits to technology and negatives as well. How does this affect the traditional development patterns of children? Will their socialization suffer? Will some skills develop earlier and some later? What will it mean for Kindergarten students in the next few years entering the public school system? In the classroom I see that technology can be a true equalizer, allowing student to demonstrate their abilities in so many forms; I am really curious about the implications of this in society and education.
In his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001), Mark Prensky offers and amusing, insightful account of today's children.
Since technology is here to stay, join the evolution with some of these recommended apps for kids.
My son is in kindergarten and he has been using the iphone or itouch since he was about 2 1/2. Some of his early favourites were matching games and tracing letters. He then moved on to variuos puzzles and math games. Now, he explores ipads with a buddy class once a week. Some of the apps they have been using are: Teach me kindergarten (general), Alphabet tracing (proper letter forms), Bugs and Buttons (patterns and sorting), and, my son's favourite, Math Ninja.
In his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001), Mark Prensky offers and amusing, insightful account of today's children.
Since technology is here to stay, join the evolution with some of these recommended apps for kids.
My son is in kindergarten and he has been using the iphone or itouch since he was about 2 1/2. Some of his early favourites were matching games and tracing letters. He then moved on to variuos puzzles and math games. Now, he explores ipads with a buddy class once a week. Some of the apps they have been using are: Teach me kindergarten (general), Alphabet tracing (proper letter forms), Bugs and Buttons (patterns and sorting), and, my son's favourite, Math Ninja.
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