Information Searcher the newsletter for the Internet and curriculum/technology integration in schools
vol.19, no. 4
Inanimate Alice: Born Digital Laura Fleming, School Library Media Specialist Understanding and integrating new literacies related to the production and consumption of digital content has become essential for education in this digital age. Media and technology are helping to shape the way stories are produced and consumed. Becoming ‘screen literate’ as Kevin Kelly of the New York Times suggests is now an essential skill. By definition, transmedia storytelling is a nonlinear mode of reading, writing, viewing, and participating that spans across multiple media platforms. The reader becomes a part of the delivery of the story, demanding participation rather than just consuming content. The leading example of this transmedia phenomenon is the born-digital story Inanimate Alice. Written by award winning author Kate Pullinger, directed by digital artist Chris Joseph, and produced by Ian Harper, this transmedia story introduces us to Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her digital imaginary friend, Brad. Unlike most digital content being used in education today, Inanimate
Alice has not been adapted from another medium. It is not a traditional text-only story, which has then been recreated and enhanced in digital form. Rather Alice was conceived, written and created entirely within the digital domain. The multimedia episodes are interactive and use a combination of text, sound, images, and games to tell the story of her life. The media itself becomes a part of the story when Alice herself becomes a video game animator, and the reader is invited to play a game in order to progress through to the next stage of the story.
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This captivating form of storytelling exemplifies reading and learning in the 21st century. Students are connected and engaged with text because the literary elements come alive. The viewer is tasked with multiple actions all of which add to the immersion into the piece. The simulated multi-tasking environment is suggestive of a computer game requiring the reader to solve puzzles before being able to access new portions of the text. They fully understand what it is like to walk in a character’s shoes. In the words of a young learner encountering the Continued on page 3
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PROCESSING NOTES
from the editor
Hurray for School Libraries! The American Library Association (ALA) recognized five libraries for offering cutting-edge technologies in library service. Two of the five recipients are from the school library field, Boston College High School’s Corcoran Library in Boston, MA and Genesee Valley Education Partnership School Library System in Le Roy, NY. The recognition, which is presented by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), has been showcasing libraries that are serving their communities using novel and innovative methods since 2009 and this is the first time two school library organizations have been chosen to receive the recognition.
The Corcoran Library is “meeting students where they are’ through their mobile initiative designed to showcase their online resources through mobile sites and apps optimized for mobile searching. BC High School adopted a new cellphone policy that allows students to use their cell phones for research purposes in the library. Librarians orient students to the new mobile resources through the iPads and students’ smart phones. The aim is to foster an understanding of how these digital tools can enhance student information literacy experience. Genesee School Library System addressed two needs of rural schools with its crowd sourced WEBOOKS: improved access to digital content and way to do this
at a time of devastating budget cuts. The library system created a Drupal website that allowed librarians across 22 school districts to pool together a portion of their individual library materials aid, while maintaining control over spending through a participatory selection process. By purchasing together, the system was able to purchase more e-books that each would have been able to afford individually. We need to see more examples of innovative, cutting-edge services in school libraries. Read more about these projects at http://ala.org/ offices/oitp/cuttingedge and let them inspire you to meet the needs of you students and faculty in innovative ways!
Project ENABLE: Effective Library and Information Services to Students with Disabilities
Project ENABLE (Expanding Nondiscriminatory Access By Librarians Everywhere), funded by grants from the U.S. Institute of Museum & Library Services, provides high quality, comprehensive, and free train-thetrainer professional development to school librarians nationwide to help them develop and deliver
effective library and information services to students with disabilities. In summer 2011, we provided faceto-face professional development to 35 teams of educators (school librarians, special educators and classroom teachers) from New York State. In November 2012, we launched a comprehensive, multimedia, freely accessible training Web site (see below). An IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Continuation Grant is allowing the expansion of face-toface workshops nationally this summer 2013. Recruiting has begun for three-person teams (librarian, general educator, special educator), as well as fifteen, school
library faculty from graduate school library programs, to attend a four and a half day workshop on the Syracuse University campus either June 22-26 or August 5-9 in 2013. Applications and detailed continued on page 24
Main Menu Features Inanimate Alice Project ENABLE Digital Tools Columns Processing Notes The Pipeline Apps in a Snap Cyber Sites
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3 story of Alice, “After the first episode, I was burning with curiosity to see and read the other episodes in the series. Finally I finished episode 4 and felt like I had just fell off the building like Alice. The story is heart-pounding, exciting, and adventurous.” An often used and effective strategy for presenting Inanimate Alice to students is to ‘immerse them in the genre’. From just the Inanimate Alice homepage, students can preview the text and begin extrapolate the elements of story. They can determine that Alice is the main character, have predictions about why she is described as Inanimate, and can draw conclusions about the setting being the country name for each episode and changing as the story unfolds. Students can draw upon their preexisting knowledge of story and draw parallels between chapters from traditional text and episodes from a digital story.
At the beginning of episode one, we first meet Alice at the age of 8 years old. The text and the participation in the story directly reflect Alice’s age and the level of her own technological skills. In the background we hear an electrostatic sound that helps us infer how Alice is feeling at the beginning of the story. Music begins on the third screen and continues through the rest of the episode, conveying a feeling and a tone for each scene in the story. As the story unfolds, readers are introduced to Alice’s Ba-xi and are required to interact with it to continue the narrative.
Prior to each episode, a brief introduction is given on how to read the story, which includes directions on advancing and participating in the narrative.
We use her Ba-xi to take photographs and on it meet Alice’s digital friend Brad. The scene below depicts the climax of episode one when Alice and her mother find her father who
they had been searching for. The mood and tone of the story is apparent because of the colors and style and further enhanced by the music playing as the scene unfolds. In this screen shot you can see the
text as it displays on the screen as well as a ‘table of contents’ that develops as each episode progresses. The highly participatory nature of Inanimate Alice gives us powerful insight into the future of reading and the power of transmedia in education. Designed from the outset as a story that unfolds over time and on multiple platforms, the online episodes are available on all devices capable of running Adobe’s Flash Player. As Alice’s journey progresses, new storylines will appear on additional platforms providing more details and insights, enriching the tale through surprising developments. Inanimate Alice is a global story that people from around the world can both easily access and connect with. The episodes are available in five different languages. The Inanimate Alice Facebook page is a
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4 Why is this Important for Us as Teachers of Reading and Writing?
vibrant community in which teachers, parents, and students can go to share their success stories, enthusiasm, and reactions to the story. For example, Deputy Principal from Australia, Alison Kemp shared with the group that Inanimate Alice has grabbed her students in a way that means she can deliver a quality literacy program that has all of them searching for meaning, examine levels of comprehension, and deconstructing the writing. Alice has created a network of learners around the world by creating opportunities for students and educators to collaborate and connect. Ian Harper, the producer of Inanimate Alice believes that transmedia storytelling is the perfect bridge from conventional to technologybased learning. The technology engages even the most reluctant of readers and has enabled these
To be effective consumers of transmedia content, students need to have a firm understanding of narrative structure. An understanding of characters and plot is essential in understanding the form a story takes. Teaching students how to deconstruct text will increase their understanding of story and allow them to reconstruct and repurpose it to generate their own content. Drawing upon what students already know about story is an effective technique when building this new literacy skill-set. In the case of Inanimate Alice, a minilesson can be taught on what is known about learning about characters in traditional texts (i.e. character thoughts, actions, external character traits, internal character traits, characters reactions to problems and
what elements are important for learning about characters in a digital story such as music, sounds, visual images, games, and puzzles. Direct instruction on how to read a digital story allows students to have a much deeper level of understanding about Alice as a character. For example, students may understand that the static sound in the story is there to help convey the tension Alice is feeling. Through the music in the story, students will able to determine the tone and mood- feeling uneasiness and happiness at various points in the story. Controlling the ba-xi makes students feel like they are Alice and they can see things from her point of view. Learning how to effectively weave digital elements into their understanding of story, students are clearly more connected to Alice as a character. Resources Inanimate Alice: http:// www.inanimatealice.com Inanimate Alice Facebook Page: http://www.facebook/ inanimatealice Inanimate Alice Education Pack Registration: http:// inanimatealice.com/ education/ iteachregistration.html Issuu One of Alice’s School Report Magazine: http:// issuu.com/inanimatealice/ docs/ alices_school_report_new
challenges, dialogue). Then stretching thinking to include
Issuu Two of Alice’s School Report Magazine: http:// Information Searcher
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THE PROJECT PIPELINE
making the Internet connection in the classroom
Heather Daniel, Library Media Specialist, Wall Township Public Schools, Wall Township, NJ
Book Clubs and Beyond As I browse the list of books I have compiled throughout the year, I look forward to 3-day weekends and vacations to sit down to enjoy them. I am also eager to engage in online collaboration with others reading the same novels to deepen my understanding and broaden my perspective as a reader. The opportunities for literaturecentered social networking continue to grow, as does the potential for meaningful classroom applications, curricular integration and extended student learning. This article highlights tools that will support educators in engaging their students in meaningful, online collaborative book club experiences to help them grow as readers, learners, and thinkers.
Tools for Educators BookClubIt* http://www.bookclubit.com/ BookClubIt is a book club management tool that educators can use to create and manage virtual classroom book clubs. Registration is free and set up is easy. Clubs can be public or private; the private option is ideal for classroom applications. Online
meetings and customized discussion topics offer educators an easy to use platform for engaging student exchanges. Google Groups* https://groups.google.com/ Google Groups’ online environment can be used as an
effective tool for the creation of virtual book clubs. In February, 2012, a new Google Groups interface was released. The enhanced features include the ability to: “organize discussions in one place, use rich-text editing to customize posts with fonts, colors, and images; use photos, nicknames and automatic translations to Information Searcher
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6 share thoughts with the world; and use keyboard shortcuts and a streamlined design.” Educators can create online and email groups for students to engage in discussions about a topic, respond to questions and answers, participate in virtual meetings, and read group posts through email or the online interface. Good Reads* http://www.goodreads.com Goodreads, with over 8,500,000 members from around the world, is dedicated to helping readers find and share great books and their love of reading. Members can find and add books to their shelves, create trivia about books, generate lists of the best, post their own writing, and form online groups and book clubs. Readers can also locate and browse the shelves of others with similar reading styles determined by an algorithm that evaluates readers’ books and ratings. LibraryThing* http://www. librarything.com/
LibraryThing, “the world’s largest book club,” allows users to browse others’ libraries, exchange book recommendations, access free early reviewer books
from authors and publishers and enter and tag up to 200 books for free, an unlimited number for $10.00 per year, or $25.00 for life. LibraryThing also makes custom recommendations based on other library authorities’ “collective intelligence.” The “Talk” forum system enables users to create public or private book groups.
rate and discuss books online, interact and learn form authors, and participate in online book groups.
Shelfari* http:// www.shelfari.com Shelfari, by Amazon.com, “is a gathering place for authors, aspiring authors, publishers, and readers, and has many tools and features to help these groups connect with each other in a fun and engaging way.” Members can build virtual bookshelves, explore the shelves of friends,
aNobii* http://www.anobii.com/ “The word anobii comes from Anobium Punctatum, the Latin name for the most common bookworm,” an apt name for this community of readers to “shelve – find – share” their love of books. Members of aNobii can categorize, track, and log their reading in their online libraries; locate readers with similar reading styles; explore popular and newly reviewed books; and share via reading groups, book clubs, and discussion forums.
weRead* http://weread.com “Whether you love classics or popular fiction; whether you love Dickens or Dan Brown” this online virtual bookshelf and community invites members to share and discover together. Members can find other readers with similar tastes, share ratings and reviews, take quizzes, and join book clubs and discussion boards. Information Searcher
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7 Camp Read-A –Lot http://www.campreadalot.org/ If you are a teacher or librarian looking for your own virtual summer reading experience for professional development, Camp Read-A-Lot may be for you. Virtual campers must register via the Camp Read-A-Lot web site, and then join the Ning. Campers read the books for their grade level’s core list and write short book reviews to enter on the Ning as individual blog posts. In addition to the booklist books, campers choose another book with potential for use in the grade level’s curriculum and enter a review for the selected book. Virtual campers must participate in the online forums for
Just for Kids readerGirlz http://readergirlz. blogspot.com/2009/08/best-teenbook-club-online.html Launched in March, 2007, in celebration of Women’s National History Month, readergirlz was cofounded as a non-profit volunteer organization by YA authors, “The Divas”: Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, Justina Chen,
and Janet Lee Carey. This social media project’s “mission is to promote teen literacy and corresponding social each book. Camp Read-A-Lot is sponsored by MELSA Metro Public libraries, an alliance of 103 public libraries in the seven-county Twin Cities metro. The cost for participation is $30.00, and 19 CEUs will be earned at the completion of the camp session. * It is suggested that educators create private student groups to ensure secure environments for their classes.
program has donated over 30,000 new YA books to under-served teens. The readergirlz blog provides YA news and reviews from both industry professionals and teen readers. The “postergirz” advisory board nominates worthy titles to correspond to “The Diva’s” monthly themes, showcasing strong female protagonists.
Guys Lit Wire http://guyslitwire. blogspot.com/ Young adult male readers will enjoy Guys Lit Wire, a resource that “exists solely to bring literary news and reviews to the attention of teenage boys and the people who care about them.” New posts are
service” and has been awarded the National Book Award for Innovations in Reading. The readergirlz book drop
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8 guaranteed every Monday through Friday. Posts and highlighted titles are uniquely written for the male audience. The category guide offers titles organized by theme or topic and will appeal to readers that enjoy specific genres. Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com http://www.teenreads.com and http:// www.kidsreads.com The Book Report Network (http:// www.tbrnetwork.com), “a media company comprised of a growing number of web sites that provide original book content,” is parent to several engaging web sites for student readers, including Teenreads.com and Kidreads.com. Teenreads.com targets readers aged 12 to 17. Students can access reviews and excerpts of YA literature and adult titles also appropriate for the YA audience. The portal includes: · Cool New Books: a highlight of new releases; · Word of Mouth: a forum for students to talk about their reading; and · The Ultimate Teen Reading List: with more than 400 book suggestions, author interviews, biographies, contests and monthly polls.
KidsReads.com targets readers aged 6 to 12. Students can read book
guides, participate in contests, read advice on running a book club, and access blogs and interviews with other groups, authors, and booksellers. Stacks for Kids http://www.scholastic.com/ kids/stacks/index.asp
reviews and excerpts, vote in reading-oriented polls, and participate in online contests. On a side note, educators will also want to visit ReadingGroup Guides.com, which provides extensive resources to support book clubs with over 11,000 registered book groups. Members have access to over 3000 discussion
Scholastic’s site, Stacks for Kids, provides a portal for students to create individual profiles and interact with each other to discuss books and reading. Still in its beta version, as of May 2012, some of the features are in development and feedback is encouraged. A “Stack Back Message Board” is set
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up for users to submit their opinions to Scholastic, to share favorite aspects and suggest improvements. A student can establish a profile, called “My Stack,” in which he or she creates a personal avatar and a personal collection of widgets. This personal collection can include quizzes, games and activities. Additional character and series widget options are in development. Registered users can earn rankings by participating in message boards via posts, views, logins, and minutes online. Requirements must be met for each category before being promoted to the next level. There are nine levels in total, beginning at “New to the Community” and ending at “Super Contributor.” Students can make friend requests and post “Shout-Outs” messages to each other’s profiles using prewritten messages and friendly icons. A moderated “Live Chat” feature is available for special Stacks events. The polling feature allows students to create a poll for their peers and view moderated results on their profile page. Avid readers will love The Ink Splot 26
blog, a “daily source for breaking news and juicy behind-the-scenes tidbits on all things book related” including trivia, spoilers, and author and celebrity interviews. Scholastic also offers the “Summer Reading Challenge.” This free summer-long program is designed to motivate students to engage in recreational reading. Students log their reading minutes to help set a new “Scholastic Read for the World Record.” In addition to logging their reading minutes, students can play reading-related games and chat with other readers. In 2011, students from all around the world logged 64,213,141 reading minutes. In2Books - ePals http://in2books.epals.com/ ePals, a “tried and true” collaborative exchange portal, offers the award winning In2Books, a program that “promotes ambitious literacy learning in grades 3-5 by having students engage in authentic reading and writing experiences with adult pen
pals” coupled with genre-centered literacy instruction in the classroom. The In2Books curriculum includes carefullychosen, high quality, and diverse books aligned to the common core standards. There are several tiered components of the program. Students are matched with adult pen pals and write “Getting to Know You” letters to one another. Students then study five genres (Realistic Fiction, Social Studies, Biography, Traditional Tales and Science) and select one book from each genre to read during the school year. Participating students and their pen pals then exchange online letters about significant themes of the book while teachers reinforce concepts with correlated instruction in the classroom. Schools must contact in2Books to determine cost and availability. The sites highlighted in this article can serve as tools to inspire the love of reading, engage students in critical and thoughtful dialogue about literature, and foster relationships with peer readers. Through the integration of virtual reading exchanges, students’ “voices” are heard, perspectives are broadened, and understanding is deepened with lasting value beyond the classroom. Social networking continues to evolve and provide academic networking opportunities for students to
connect and collaborate in ways that transform teaching and learning through online book clubs and beyond.
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APPS IN A SNAP
free tablet apps for the library and the classroom
Heather Moorefield-Lang, Education and Applied Social Sciences Libraria, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA Carolyn Meier, Instructional Services Librarian Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Creative Arts Finger Sketch: This visual arts app will let users create sketches with a few strokes of their hands, fingers, or stylus. Change strokes to include styles like sketch, fur, long fur, simple, web and more. Finger Sketch is a wonderful tool for artists young and old. Designs from this app can be saved with the iPad screenshot buttons (home and power). ** Let students use Finger Sketch to draw out their reactions to the latest book or story that you have read. Sing Eno: For the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, Sing Eno is the English National Opera’s third Pocket Workshop for singers. This
app offers a series of warm-ups for singers to go through to warm up their body, voice, and mind. Mainly aimed at high school to college age students, this can be a wonderful app for students and educators alike to use for vocal work. ** Introduce Sing Eno to your music or chorus teachers they will love it. iMotion HD: Create awesome stop motion films with iMotion HD. It can be used with photographs, cartoons, claymation, science experiments, any type of movie where time lapse is the element. Can be used with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. ** Create stop motion cartoons with student drawings. Book commercials can be created with this style as well. Be as creative as you like.
introduces students to art and artists from ancient art to modern times. There is a lite version of iPaintings that gives the user access to thousands of paintings and a full version for $1.99 that will fill in the gaps. Between the two there are 67,000 pictures to view on this app. Every image shows the art and introduces the artist. Search by art piece, artist, or time period. (Warning some art does have nudity, which is common
iPaintings HD: This app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
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11 depending on the time period) **While reading a new book find art or artists to introduce to your students. NPR Music: Originally NPR music for the iPhone, now NPR has come out with an Application for the ipad. Create a library of music, interviews, and more with the NPR Music app. Live music can be streamed from over 100 public radio stations. Search artists in the directory that covers over 5,000 musicians, bands, and singers. This is not just music but reviews, radio interviews, performances, and news. Users can also customize a playlist. **Create a new playlist everyday for class or for your library, a new genre or artist for students to listen to everyday. DrumKit: 5 drums, 4 cymbals and 2 pedal sets. Students can practice rhythms by tapping on the different items. Different themes and kits can be purchased and the professional version will let you record your tracks and play along to your iPod library. **Let students use this to add to presentations, try
new rhythms, and let their creativity run wild. Ear Trainer Lite: Geared for the music student, this app will help students with chord identification, chord progressions, scales and interval comparisons. There are previews of the different exercise with a short description. The exercises are progressive and statistics are kept for each one. As an added bonus, you can even play the piano! ** Would be a good app for individual use or could be used in a whole music class exercise. Smithsonian: Developed for the iPad and the iPhone, this app will allow you to view short clips and full episode videos from the Smithsonian Channel. While you can choose to watch episodes from the weekly schedule, it is much more fun to use the “Create your channel” option. This choice opens in the interactive Story Space that allows you to choose from a variety of topics and then put together a playlist from videos on the topic. ** High quality videos on a
variety of topics will make this a valuable app for any level classroom.
Groovebug: This app works with your music library to create a multimedia magazine for all of your favorite musicians. It links you to a biography of the musician from Wikipedia, you can follow tweets about the author, plays music and videos by the musician and one of the best features suggests music similar to that particular musician. You can search by individual musician, genre or period. Contains information about musicians from Bach to Beyonce.
MOMA: The Museum of Modern Art in New York created mobile apps that allow users to take a virtual tour of the “Abstract Expressionist New York” exhibit . Videos of the artists are included along with information about each painting. Stunning visuals and ease of use make this a favorite of many.
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CYBERSITES
curriculum related web sites for educators
Laura Warren-Gross, Librarian, Naple Street Magnet School, Kalamazoo, MI
Health and Fitness As part of a literacy initiative at my school, I have been working with the Physical Education teacher to provide resources that she can use to get her students reading and thinking critically about her subject area. This started with books on sports and health topics and I’m working to extend it to include websites that might be helpful in teaching kids about health and fitness related topics. Included are websites that highlight healthy living information such as nutrition, physical activity, diseases and disease prevention, the body, and relationships. From these sites, kids can play games, take quizzes, read about healthy living, and get advice from experts. Choose My Plate http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ From the United States Department of Agriculture, Choose My Plate is a nutrition and healthy living resource for people of all ages. The website includes healthy eating tips, calorie information, and the MyPlate diagram, as well as information on physical activity and weight management. Kids Health http://kidshealth.org/ Kids Health from Nemours is a non-profit website that seeks to take the “doctor speak” out of health information so more people can easily understand it. There are Information Searcher
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13 sections for parents, kids, and teens and the information is factchecked regularly by a team of doctors. Kidnetic http://www.kidnetic.com/ Kidnetic includes fun recipes for kids, as well as games for kids to play. There is information about how the body works and how proper nutrition helps fuel a healthy lifestyle.
BAM! Body and Mind http://www.bam.gov/ BAM! Body and Mind from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a website for kids to learn about diseases, food and nutrition, physical activity, safety, their lives, and they bodies. There are games and quizzes, as well as an activity calendar that kids can personalize. Also included is a guide to help teachers incorporate BAM! into their classrooms.
PBS Teachers: Health and Fitness http://www.pbs.org/teachers/ classroom/3-5/health-fitness/ resources/ PBS Teachers provides fun and interesting health and fitness resources. There are videoenhanced lessons and activities for grade levels (PreK-12), including such fun topics as how to juggle, how to do a handstand, and how to walk a tightrope. Kids are bound to love these healthy activities. NFL Play 60 http://www.nflrush.com/play60 NFL Play 60 is the National Football League’s campaign to get kids active for at least 60 minutes per day. There are resources for both kids and adults to encourage physical activity. Schools and communities can also get involved Information Searcher
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14 in the Play 60 movement through this website. London 2012 Olympic Website http://www.london2012.com/ With the London Olympics coming in the summer of 2012, students will be fascinated with sports they may not have seen before and the elite athletes that compete in them. The London Olympic website will feed their curiosity with complete information about the games and the athletes. Girls Health http://www.girlshealth.gov/ Girls Health from the United States Department of Health and Human Services provides a website designed for girls to find health information. From the body, fitness, and nutrition to safety, relationships, and bullying, this is a site that answers the questions girls have about their healthy lifestyles. Get Sweaty http://www.getsweaty.com/ Get Sweaty is a website for kids to workout, track their fitness goals, earn points for free prizes. This site was created by two “formerly chubby” adults who now value physical fitness. They have a team of advisors which includes two doctors and a physical education teacher. The President’s Challenge https://www.presidentschallenge. org/index.shtml The President’s Challenge promotes and good nutrition as a pathway to a healthy lifestyle. There are resources to help educators, families, and kids know where to start, as well as to keep
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15 them motivated on their fitness journey. Food and Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/default.htm The United States Food and Drug Administration provides a wealth of information about the safety of food, drugs, medical devices, vaccines, cosmetics, radiation, animals, and tobacco. There is upto-date information on many topics, as well as information about safety recalls. Healthy Children http://www.healthychildren.org Healthy Children, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, provides health information for families for all stages of a child’s life. Topics include Healthy Living, Safety and Prevention, Family Life, and Health Issues. Other great features are the “Ask the Pediatrician” and “Symptom Checker” links. That’s Not Cool http://www.thatsnotcool.com/ From Futures Without Violence, the Ad Council, and the Office on Violence Against Women, this site educates tweens and teens about drawing the digital line. Students have constant access to one another through testing, instant messages, and social networks. That’s Not Cool helps teens understand what to do if they feel pressured, disrespected, or controlled by others through these mediums. Love is Respect http://www.loveisrespect.org/ From Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Helpline, Love is Respect offers teens a safe online space to learn about healthy relationships. Teens can learn about dating basics, find out if they might be experiencing abuse, read Information Searcher
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16 a blog about teen dating issues, take relationship quizzes, and get help with their dating and relationship issues. National Institutes of Health http://www.nih.gov/ The National Institutes of Health website includes a section on child and teen health. Topics are indexed from A-Z and each article is informative, including helpful contacts for foundations and organizations where additional information and support may be obtained. Playnormous http://www.playnormous.com/ Through interactive stories and games, Playnormous works to teach children about healthy nutrition and physical activity. Included are healthy recipes, games, stories, and information for educators and parents.
CDC Kids’ Quest: On Disability and Health http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/kids/ index.html From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this website provides seven quests to help students better understand certain health conditions that they or a student they may know might have. The included quests are ADHA, Autism Spectrum, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Hearing Loss, Mobility, Tourette Syndrome, and Vision Impairment.
Teenage Health Freak http://www.teenagehealthfreak.org/ Dr. Ann McPherson and Dr. Aidan Macfarlane, authors of Diary of a Teenage Health Freak series, have created this website to provide health information to teenagers. Both frank and informative, topics Information Searcher
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17 include alcohol, the body, drugs, relationships, feelings, illness, sex, smoking, and weight and eating. Teens can also email a question through the “Ask Dr. Ann” link. Nourish Interactive http://www.nourishinteractive.com/ Nourish Interactive is a website that allows children and parents to learn about nutrition. The content includes games, nutrition tips, recipes, and printables. There is also information for nutrition educators.
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Digital Tools to Support the Common Core Transition Pam Berger, Editor Forty six states, the District of Columbia and three territories have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards, an initiative to establish common educational standards in mathematics and English/language arts across the United States. All states have begun or will shortly begin to transition into using them in classrooms this school year. As you can imagine, this is a herculean effort; implementation involves raising awareness, building resources, and aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessments. This will take more than just the standard one-day workshops taught in isolation for true implementation to occur. A key feature of the common core is the building of conceptual understanding from kindergarten through 12th grade which means that teacher collaboration within and between grade levels will be a necessity. To accomplish this we need to build curriculum consensus, share strategies and practices developed and reflected upon by teachers. As Michael Fisher, an ASCD consultant and educator, points out in his blog “I think it’s important to understand, though, that the standards themselves are not going to solve America’s education problems. I’d like to offer that learning is not about these standards. It is not (primarily) about the coming more rigorous assessments. It’s about
conversation. It’s about consensus. There’s never been a better time than right now for teachers to understand the Curriculum Design process. Curriculum consensus is the way out of this mess. If the stakeholders can agree to some critical pieces then we start building equity in instruction and can reach the attained curriculum—because we designed it that way. We have to understand how the standards relate to content, skills, and assessments.” The adoption of the commoncore standards provides an unprecedented opportunity for teachers and librarians to meaningfully collaborate with their peers. As schools move their students toward the same educational goals, it makes
sense for teachers to share ideas, instructional strategies, and reflections in real time. Engagement in meaningful conversation with fellow educators will provide teachers with support to understand and implement the standards and the opportunity for librarians to take a leadership role in creating these learning environments. In a recent Education Week article, Common Core Thrusts Librarians Into Leadership Role, Barbara Stripling, the president-elect of the American Library Association, and a professor of practice in library science at Syracuse University believes, “The common standards are the best opportunity we’ve had to take an instructionalleadership role in the schools and
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19 really support every classroom teacher substantively.” Educator learning communities are nothing new, but, in the context of the common core, they will open new doors and provide greater opportunity for interaction between educators who previously did not have a purpose or means for collaboration. Online learning communities can provide a space for teachers to come together as peers to navigate standards implementation. With the common core new to everyone, discussing and establishing new practices will be crucial to student success, and the ideal platform for this discussion is the online learning community and what better place is there for it to start than the school library? Our standard social networking tools such as instant messaging, blogs, wikis, Skype, Twitter and Facebook are all contributing to the local and national common core conversation but there are also new Web 2.0 tools that offer opportunities for communication, collaboration and organization of common core information and resources. Online learning communities that provide a defined space for these tools are starting to appear, following on the coat tails of Blackboard and Moodle. There are too many tools to cover in this article (see sidebar for additional award winning sites) but here are some to get you started with your schools’ Common Core learning community. Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com Wikispaces is a free web hosting service. A wiki is a space on the Web where you can share work and ideas, pictures and links, videos and media — and anything else you can think of. Wikispaces give users a visual editor and a bunch of other tools to make
sharing all kinds of content as easy for students as it is for their teachers. Wikispaces are used for: student portfolios where each student cultivates a unique online space to showcase their best work, and teachers assess performance as it progresses; professional development where education professionals come together to plan events and share best practices in a flexible, accessible, easy-to-update online resource;
project-based learning where student groups collaborate on projects that address real-world questions, and share their findings with a real-world audience; curriculum planning so that classroom schedules and lesson plans can be tweaked from any computer or mobile device — and reused and re-purposed from year to year; distance learning so that students and teachers share a flexible educational space that’s accessible anytime from anywhere in the world.
archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking.” Teachers and students use blogging for different purposes; often is to showcase individual student work by enabling them to publish texts, video clips, audio clips, maps, photos and other images. Blogging can contribute directly to improved writing
abilities and classroom blogging can enable students to engage with audiences beyond their classroom walls by using blogs as personal journals, diaries, to publish their storywriting, and editorial responses to news events.[Researchers have also documented teachers using
Edublogs http://edublogs.org “An edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs
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20 student blogging to promote creativity and self-expression. VoiceThread http://voicethread.com VoiceThread is a totally webbased application that allows you to place collections of media like images, videos, documents, and presentations at the center of an asynchronous conversation. A VoiceThread allows people to have conversations and to make comments using any mix of text, a microphone, a web cam, a telephone, or uploaded audio file. It runs inside your web browser, so there is no software to download, install, or update.
learning environment. It is designed to complement classroom instruction Edmondo and engage students in http://edmondo.com online Edmodo, a private, online activities, collaborative learning community, is assignments designed to get students excited and and engaged about learning in a familiar discussions environment. On Edmodo, teachers that allow for can continue classroom discussions deeper online, give polls to check for participation student understanding, and award inside and badges to individual students based outside the on performance or behavior. It’s a free and safe way for students and teachers to connect and collaborate.
classroom. Teachers can: allow your students to participate on their own time with an easy-to-use platform; enrich their curriculum with multimedia, publish results of the discussions so students can see tangible
outcomes of their participation, access detailed student participation reports that make grading easy and give every student a voice.
Collaborize Classroom http://www.collaborize classroom.com/ Collaborize Classroom is a free online collaborative education platform that allows students and teachers to engage in an online collaborative Information Searcher
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21 Vialogues https://vialogues.com/ Vialogues create time-stamped video discussions (vialogues) from YouTube or uploaded video with the ability to add polls, surveys, and multiple choice questions to discussion. Vialogue leverages videos for learning by adding group interaction as part of the viewing experience. Individuals watching a specific video can create vialogues, which are focused discussion environments that include comments time-coded to different parts of the video. In learning environments, teachers can post comments to scaffold the video content or to perform formative assessment of student understanding. They can also elicit questions about the video from students and engage in conversation asynchronously. As a result, videos can be used more effectively as a complement and/or supplement to face-to-face instruction. Vialogues can also be used in a variety of other contexts, including coaching, mentoring, and collaborative editing/feedback of content captured on video. Diigo http://diigo.com
Diigo is a social bookmarking website which allows users to tag web-pages. Additionally, it allows users to highlight any part of a webpage and attach sticky notes to specific highlights or to a whole page. These annotations can be kept private, shared with a group within Diigo or a special link forwarded to someone else. The name “Diigo” is an acronym from “Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff ” and
can be installed on your browser tool bar.
Symbaloo http://symbaloo.com Symbaloo is a visual way to navigate the Internet, a visual bookmarking website. Touch or click on icons to get quick and easy access to your daily personal online life or simply use it as a kick start to find knowledge from experts on any subject you can think of. You can create pages yourself with all your bookmarks, or websites you use for a specific Information Searcher
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22 subject. With the Symbaloo bookmarker, you can easily add the website you are surfing on to your Symbaloo page, just by clicking the extra button that appears in your FireFox browser. LiveBinders http://livebinders.com LiveBinders is a bookmarking tool that uses the analogy of a threering binder to collect resources, organize them neatly and easily and share them. While you are browsing the web, you can add web pages directly into one of your binders or a new binder in your account by clicking on the LiveBinder It link. This way, you can add pages without having to go to the LiveBinders site. It is a quicker and easier way to add web pages to your binders.
be used by teachers and students to collaborate on presentations with multiple users having access and the ability to edit the same
Prezi http:// prezi.com Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software and storytelling tool for exploring and sharing ideas on a virtual canvas. Prezi is distinguished by its Zooming User Interface (ZUI), which enables users to zoom in and out of their presentation media. Prezi uniqueness comes from its ability to allow users to zoom in and out rather than follow sequential path such as what PowerPoint does: “When one is faced with Prezi’s blank infinite canvas, it makes you stop to think about the overall structure of the presentation; and the zooming capability makes you think about the hierarchy of the ideas that compose it.”Prezi can
Each child node can be linked to other child nodes. As the user navigates (changes focus) from node to node, a root path traces the path back to the home node. In a typical implementation, only child and ancestor nodes are displayed. When the user browses, nodes appear and disappear, and the layout rearranges to fit. Similar to other concept mapping tools, SpicyNodes allows authors to display visual thoughts and links between information, and publish an information map for users to browse.
presentation. Prezi allows students to construct and present their knowledge which appeals to different learning styles.[ Spicynodes http://spicynodes.org SpicyNodes is similar to mind mapping or concept mapping. It displays a central node, orbited by related (child) nodes.
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23 Edistorm http://edistorm.com Edistorm is an online sticky note collaboration tool, which enables users around the world to connect to a shared wall where they can add, comment and vote on ideas. Each sticky note can be text, photos or videos and can have its own comment thread. Using “dotmocracy” style voting, each user can vote by placing dot(s) on their favorite ideas. Just like sticky notes, Edistorm has a playful aspect that makes it fun. Whether teams are working with a blank wall or a custom template, they have the flexibility to structure their collaborative work based on their unique processes in wither a synchronous or asynchronous collaboration. When the team is not in a live session, Edistorm is there 24/7 for each team member to share, refine and decide on its best ideas.
Users can connect the elements on their mind maps or let them each stand on their own. For visual learners Spider Scribe could be a great way to organize information. Students can upload pictures about a subject then organize them into a sequence or pattern that explains a concept or event. Spiderscribe http://spiderscribe.net Spider Scribe is an online mind map creation service. Spider Scribe can be used individually or be used collaboratively. The unique aspect of Spider Scribe is that users can add images, maps, calendars, text notes, and uploaded text files to their mind maps.
“The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning”
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has taken a leadership role in helping school librarians and classroom teachers to learn about new and relevant Web 2.0 tools. “The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning” honors websites, tools, and resources of exceptional value to inquiry-
based teaching and learning as embodied in the American Association of School Librarians’ Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. The Top 25 Websites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, webbased sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.” But in addition to identifying which of the hundreds of web tools that are created each year are the best to support student learning, they provide added value by 1. Organizing the websites into relevant catagories such as media sharing, digital storytelling, manage and organize,
content collaboration, etc. 2. Offering tips to jump start ideas on how to effectively use the tool in the curriculum, and 3. Aligning them to the AASL’s Standards for 21st Century Learner. A few of my favorites from the 2012 winners’ list are Stixy, Vialogues, Wiggio, Spiderscribe and Inanimate Alice which is our lead artilce. Check them out, they’re innovative, interactive and most important, support student learning. http://www.ala.org/aasl/ guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/ bestwebsites
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Project ENABLE continued from page 2 information for these workshop opportunities are available on the Project ENABLE site (http:// projectenable.syr.edu/WORKSHOPS/ Applications). The workshop curriculum will expand upon the same curriculum areas addressed during the 2011 summer workshops, integrate content from the training Web site, and incorporate collaboration and hands-on learning experiences (e.g., assessing accessibility of a library design, using legal standards, assessing lesson plans using UDL standards, etc.). The Project ENABLE training Web site targets educators, but this training is believed to be beneficial to public librarians, academic librarians, parents, administrators, instructors supporting diverse learners, and pre-service librarians and teachers. To participate in the Project ENABLE training, register for free at http:// projectenable.syr.edu to engage in
five interactive, selfpaced learning modules, jampacked with useful information in a variety of formats (text, video, photos, graphics, audio over PowerPoint and more). This organic site is constantly adding more information and ideas for librarians. We are currently working on adding information for practitioners, administrators, and supervisors who may be interested in using Project ENABLE content to provide face-to-face workshops and sessions to their colleagues and employees. This will include workshop outlines, face-to-face exercises and activities, handouts, and other materials that facilitate this type of teaching and learning.
or practicing librarian. Just click on the pink Login/Register button in the top right corner of the home page. Registration is required, but everything on the site is free for you to use as much as, and when you need it. After registering, you will have access to your personal information, any notes you take, and any test scores or certificates you receive just by viewing Your Profile. We welcome your feedback and questions at any time. Contact us at cdl@syr.edu. Dr. Ruth V. Small, Ph.D., Laura J. & L. Douglas Meredith Professor and Founding Director, Center for Digital Literacy
Visit http://projectenable.syr.edu to register for the Project ENABLE training to make a difference in your school or community, as well as develop your personal growth as a future
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