WordStash

A comment on my 2CoolTools blog alerted me to a flashcard game, WordStash [subheading: Half flashcard, half dictionary, and full awesome!]

I asked teacher librarians if this is popular with students or a useful study help and only heard messages like “thanks for alerting us to this cool new tool.”  WordStash is a cool tool for students who need to occupy their time after turning in their assignment or test — or for after school.  For that matter, this might have appeal for new iPad users and senior citizens who want to stay sharp.
Examples of favorite lists:
  • Top 250 most difficult SAT vocabulary words
  • Words to impress your friends
  • Biology vocabulary
  • U.S. State Capitals
  • about 200 lists in all
So, enjoy!  I see there is a teacher version.  And there’s more!

Teacher librarians also recommend:
  • Quizlet – free. 4 study modes: flashcards, spelling, learn, tests.  Audio in many languages. Very large collection!  
  • Memorize.com – create pages, memorize, share with others

Internet Librarian 2011

Love the annual Internet Librarian conference in beautiful Monterey, California. Wish it was held in August, not October at the beginning of the academic year. Once again, I can only attend one day — the day I’m presenting on behalf of the California Campaign for Strong School Libraries.  The session is a part of the Schools@Internet Librarian conference-within-a-conference.  Here is the promo:
E101 – Changing the Story: The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries
10:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Jackie Siminitus, VP, Communication, California School Library Association
Connie Williams, Chair, California Campaign for Strong School Libraries, California School Library Association
The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries is a public awareness campaign that seeks to inform the public and policymakers on the importance of a strong school library in increasing student academic achievement. The campaign promotes the new Model School Library Standards and works to “change the story” of what a school is. California School Library Association’s Siminitus and Williams showcase a number of major outreach efforts including an audio journal; bus ads; Illustrators Galore @ LIBRARY STORE; leveraging library vendors as advocates; plus how to design and offer their free, online tutorial for teens, “Tools2Create: Summer 2.0 Fun.”

Curriki for Open (free) Content for Educators

This week, Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, was the keynote speaker at Silicon Valley Education Fund’s ShiftED Conference at Foothill College.  Scott is a great presenter and loves to throw zingers at his audience.  He kept his audience spellbound and essentially put forth the case for why America’s educational system is broken, that there is not just a learning gap but a canyon.  We need to make dramatic changes immediately.

Scott sold his company to Oracle in 2010 and is now free to do as he pleases.  One of his passions is the concept of making it easy for educators to access free online lesson plans and other resources rather than spending precious money on new textbooks each year.  As he frequently points out, math has not changed so why keep evaluating and adopting and buying new math textbooks when resources could be better spent?  One of his top projects is Curriki, an online system created to support the development and free distribution of educational materials to anyone who needs them.  Curriki was first established in 2004, then became a tax exempt 501C3 non profit in 2006.

Curriki has lots of supporters from business and educational organizations.  According to Scott, the key is to compel teachers to take the TIME to upload their best work.  Seems to me there needs to be more incentives than just the desire to share.  What will that incentive be?  Recognition? A fun game? A way to win points of some sort? How about the option of special templates or branding/marketing tools?


Also, how can an educator or content contributor know if or how their lesson plans are being used?  Are analytics available to the content providers? I love the idea of open and free content available in the cloud, and the large number and quality of supporting organizations, but in a teacher’s busy daily life, something other than yet another email is needed to remind them to visit Curriki.  How about something fun?

I’d like to find time to sit in a workshop with elementary, middle and high school teachers and teacher librarian who can compare Curriki to Shmoop and California’s Brokers of Expertise.  

Scribbitt – Kids Create Books

Here’s a cool tool for teens who want to draw or make their own book.: Scribblitt.  The site’s subtitle is “Sparking Creativity”.  This is a good site to send kids after they complete a California School Library Association’s tutorial, “Tools2Create” or “TeenLearning 2.0“.

Google Alerts – Cool Tool to Monitor Your Top Topics

Are you eager to learn what’s new on a special topic, person, or place?
Do you wonder who is writing about you, your family, friends or favorite book?
Have you started a new project and wonder how or if your news release or other publicity is getting covered by the media?
Google has yet another new tool in Beta test called Google Alerts. 

Test it out by setting up an alert for a topic like “school libraries” or your name.  Google Alerts give you a bunch of examples.  Check it out.

  • Librarians could use this as a quick reference tool.
  • Students could use this as a way to see what’s new on their research topic.
  • The California School Library Foundation could get alerts on its new LIBRARY STORE by setting up an alert for “cafepress.com/csla”

 

Riding the Digital Trail: Creating Book Trailers – by Naomi Bates

Texas Library Media Specialist of the Year Naomi Bates created an online presentation (Presi) on best practices for creating book trailers (promotions, like movie trailers).  Naomi’s presentation is “Book Trailers: Making Students Want to Read.”  Well done!  See below.

Book trailers – Making students want to read created by Naomi Bates, Northwest High School on Prezi

PREZI is a popular presentation tool — try it and you’ll see it is more engaging than the traditional Powerpoint, and so much more accessible!

Pew Internet and American Life: E-reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months

Rush Brandis of the California State Library alerted librarians of a new Pew Internet and American Life Report on E-Reader Ownership. Here is an overview taken from the report:

Overview:
  • The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011  from 6% in November 2010.  E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook, are portable devices designed to allow readers to download and read books and periodicals.  This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults. 

  • Tablet computers—portable devices similar to e-readers but designed for more interactive web functions—have not seen the same level of growth in recent months.  In May 2011, 8% of adults report owning a tablet computer such as an iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Xoom.  This is roughly the same percentage of adults who reported owning this kind of device in January 2011 (7%), and represents just a 3 percentage-point increase in ownership since November 2010.  Prior to that, tablet ownership had been climbing relatively quickly.
The full report is at
http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP_eReader_Tablet.pdf

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

Here are a few fun sites to explore, thanks to the American Association of School Librarians. Lots of new sites. Good to see that the Khan Academy is listed. These and other good sites are what librarians need to have handy to recommend or demonstrate to teachers, teens, and parents. They are amazing.

Online “Filter Bubbles” – TedTalk by Eli Pariser

California Teacher Librarian Susie Goodin alerted California librarians to a TedTalk by Eli Pariser on the dangers of online “filter bubbles”.  The description states that as web companies tailor their services and search results to our personal tastes, there is a dangerous yet unintended consequence — we get trapped in a “Filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.  Pariser argues that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and for democracy.

This is particularly interesting for educators, given the high degree of Internet filtering in schools, thanks in large part to federal funding requirements under the E-Rate (Education Rate) program.

MediaFly

MEDIAFLY On Air is a free site that connects viewers to recent news of all sorts of topics.  In addition to online radio and podcasts, Mediafly lets consumers listen to their favorite podcast and radio shows from the major networks.   Go to MEDIAFLY.com and explore!

You can search by community picks, source or topic.  Here are two topics.

  • Education has a variety of sites, but they do not appear to be provided by the education community. TedTalks and GrammarGirl are options, for example. 
  • Technology has many popular technology shows, including GeekBeat.tv
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