Jumping Jack ....Flash!

My latest course is on Cognitive Tools. As part of our work, we are looking at Learning Objects, and will be designing a Flash project for our group work, and a second Flash project for our individual project. Great! Except for one small detail, I don't know flash about Flash.

My EDUC 892 blog has some good tutorial links, and I've been working through them to bring myself up to speed. I'm very intrigued by the many features Flash has going for it.

Our group project is going to be a learning object to teach Grade 5 students about BC habitats. Something similar to the Langara Wetland Project. (But maybe not so slick!) As for my own Learning Object...stay tuned...I'm still trying to come up with a brilliant idea.

Bibliography woes? Try Zotero!

The battle against plagiarism continues: I happened to stumble across "Zotero" today. It has so many great features. While at first glance it seems like another Google Notebook or Deli.cio.us, it has a great way of building your set of references so you can quickly generate a "works cited" page, or bibliography. I think that I need to show my high school students this Firefox add-on. They might be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to "do the right thing" when it comes to giving credit. (BTW, the home site has a number of other interesting tools to explore.)

Mapping out your fav author.

One of the things I like about LibraryThing, is the way it connects you with readers and novels that you are likely to enjoy. Once you've begun entering in some of your titles, you can look to see who else has your picks, and then you can browse their selections to see if anything grabs your fancy. LT also has a "Suggester" that takes a title or author and tells you "if you liked that, then you might like this."

Just this week, I came across an interesting twist on the "Suggester" that uses a very cool interface: The Literature Map. What's great, is that you simply type in an author's name, and the site generates a name cloud of similar authors...names that are close are most similar. (...although, that may be up for argument!) It's a fun way to explore literary connections, in a "six-degrees-of-separation" kind of way. Take a look.

Your own "relevant" place

I spoke to a student-teacher about using a current event to "jazz up" class discussions and spark student interest in science. But where would she get a good source of articles?

I suggested she could use an aggregator to pull together science items from a number of news sites. That way, all she needs to do is check one site, her own, and she will have it all at her fingertips. There are a number of ways to do it, for example, iGoogle lets you add news widgets, among other things.

Find some aggregators here. And here's a good explanation of how it works.

"What do you read everyday?"

This was the question a colleague asked me the other day, and got me thinking about the role of my library website. Can (or should) my site be more than a placeholder for my library's existence on the web. Should it be more than a convenient place to find the on-line catalog? Can it ever be "relevant" in the lives of my high school students?

One way might be to make a concerted effort to blog on the site. The best example (if you'll pardon the pun) is Dr. Charles Best High School and the library (blog) site created and managed by the TL, Judith Comfort.

The other way is to look for fresh, current content that is updated daily or hourly. RSS and customizable newsfeeds give us that ability. I guess I'm going to have to think about what my library site needs... For now, it gets a Feedzilla widget. (Top World Stories.) We'll see how that goes.

Close encounter of the eBook kind.

So, are you ready for the next step in reading evolution? There's lots of hype around the ebook, even though we've been talking about it for a few years now. The Times has a recent article on the success of these gadgets. With the advent of e-Ink, cool interfaces and good infrastructure support (ie Kindle), I think we may be seeing more of these types of gizmos in bookstores everywhere in the near future.

My own recent eBook experience happened as a result of an accident with my Palm TX. A couple of weeks ago, the darned thing stopped working. I wasn't able to reset or recharge, and so it needed replacing. When my new Palm (another TX) arrived, I reloaded all my software, along with an app called "PalmPDF". I had installed this program many months ago, but could never get it to work.

Well, lo and behold, it's working now. I quickly downloaded a couple of freebee eNovels and eComics as well as Lessig's "FreeCulture" (available as a free PDF download.) Lots of fun!

Now, I know the screen is not very big, but the resolution is pretty good, and until a better, inexpensive option comes along, I'll be reading e-versions of whatever I can get my hands on. I'll be interested to give it a try with some digital papers as well. (i.e. the 24 Hours and the 24 Heures dailies)

As a side bar, many of the readings for my Masters are PDFs. (This could be very handy indeed.)

Building your library "on the fly"!

Do you sometimes feel that the pace of information technology is so quick that it is hard to keep up? Just when you think you've got your head around some brand new "tech thing", there's an even newer "new tech thing" on the horizon. (blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, paper-mills, mashups....and so on.) I was presenting at a "winter tune-up" for teacher-librarians, and the topic was "Building Your Library Website". After the workshop, one of the TLs said to me that she felt like she didn't have a moment to stop and think, that things seem to be moving so fast. I replied that it reminds me of the commercial where the workmen build the plane while it is in flight. Funny clip, and in some ways, too true!

In some strange way, I find it all very exciting. There are so many new things to learn and try that I can never say that my job is boring! ("Pass me my parachute.")

On a similar topic, but with a divergent viewpoint, read Patrick Welch's observations about his school's addiction to gizmos.

Graphic Novels and Philosophy

Who says that graphic novels (and comics) can't tackle more "serious" subjects. My son sent me a link to a site that, among other topics, has an episode entitled "Dungeons & Discourse". I thought I'd mention this link because my Masters' course has been delving into a more philosophical approach to learning, and it seemed very appropriate.

Just "Google" it?

A listserv that I belong to sent me a link referencing a study commissioned by the British Library.

The study is interesting, especially in its conclusions about the "Net Generation." For all the talk about the sophistication of our young people, and their supposed techno-savvy-ness, it seems that, like in many things, they need some instruction! (Go figure.)

Perhaps there is a role for teachers and teacher-librarians after all.
Here's a quote from the article published in "Library Journal".

• A new study commissioned by the British Library and JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) says that the "Google Generation"—youth born or brought up in the Internet age—is not particularly web-literate, and their research traits—impatience in search and navigation and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs—are becoming the norm for all age-groups.
  

I must say that this has been my experience working with students at the high school level. While many kids are avid users of IM and Facebook, and some are experienced gamers, when it comes to putting together a good search, they are often at a loss how to begin. (An Elementary level colleague recently reported the same thing!)

Instead of libraries being a thing of the past, maybe our work has just begun!

Bio Lit Crit

I just finished reading "Madame Bovary's Ovaries". The authors (Barash and Barash) lead the reader on a delightful journey through many of the classics of literature. The twist is that they approach each fictional character as if they were real people, driven by Darwinian imperatives. Why was Othello so jealous? Genes explain everything!

Open Source Textbooks

I was reading through some of my listserv messages today and I came across this post commenting on the "Open Textbook" movement.

"Imagine textbooks adapted to many learning styles and translated into myriad languages. (Today, language barriers prevent many immigrant parents from helping their children with their homework because the texts are only in English.) Imagine textbooks that are continually updated and corrected by a legion of contributors. (Today, Pluto remains in the list of planets in the nation's science textbooks, and who knows how long it will take for it to be removed.)" (Bringing open resources to textbooks and teaching.)

This made me think about the changing nature of "print" media in today's world. I was just reading an article by Illich (The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind.) for one of my classes. One of his points is that the permanent nature of print "fixes" ideas, songs, thinking in such a way as to freeze them in a moment in time. Some classical philosophers objected to writing because they saw it as a curse not a blessing. (This is ironic of course because it is thanks to writing that any of their ideas survive to the present day...but I digress.) What is interesting about the Open Textbook model is that "print" is no longer print in the same way. A published work can be adapted, modified, edited, clarified ad infinitum. Pluto is no longer a planet? Make the edit, and move on.

Choose? You choose!

I've been reading "The Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz. (The link will let you read the first few pages of the book.) Right from the first page, I was hooked. Barry develops his thesis that, although we are conditioned to think more choice is better, in fact, it turns out that too much choice is a real impediment.

In particular, his concept of "satisficers" and "maximizers" makes so much sense. Our overwhelming number of choices can actually paralyze us! Fascinating reading.

Transliteracy - Reading 2.0?

For the new year, I suggest checking out "First Monday", a peer-reviewed journal on the Internet, about the Internet.

An article in the December 2007 issue ("Transliteracy: crossing divides.") discusses a new take on literacy which the authors define as “the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks". There are some interesting implications for teachers, librarians and authors in this article.

I was also intrigued by what the authors refer to as a ‘transliterate lifeworld’. A lifeworld is described the fusion of one's physical environment and subjective experiences that make up an individual's everyday life. A perfect example is the intersection of the two worlds of cat and cat owner (same space, but different ways of using it), or the meaning of "my kitchen" to a chef on the one hand and a mechanic on the other. (Read the article!) It makes me wonder how the physical worlds I share with family, or colleagues, or students might in fact seem very different from my own lifeworld perspective.

For more on transliteracy, you can also check out this site.

CLACs Rule!

I just finished reading "The Story of French" by Nadeau and Barlow. This is a great book for francophiles and francophones, packed with all kinds of interesting details about the development of the French language and its continued existence today. It has quite an optimistic take on the future of the language as well, especially with the support it is being given by la Francophonie (despite our increasingly anglophonic world.)

Aside from all the other fascinating tidbits in the book, one particular section jumped out at me. Nadeau explains that "La Francophonie" has set up 213 CLACs around the world. These small libraries - CLACs (Centre de lecture et d'animation, in English they would be called a "Centre for Reading and Community Activity") - were inspired by Philippe Sauvageau, the head librarian of Quebec's National Assembly Library. His goal was to develop small libraries of 2,500 books that would also offer internet access, games, movie screening rooms and sound systems. As a result of his vision, 17 countries now have CLACs, each costing only 40,000 euros apiece.

What is exciting about the concept of a CLAC, is that it can be set up relatively cheaply, and it quickly becomes a hub of community life. According to Nadeau, the presence of a CLAC dramatically increases the literacy level in the area it serves. Quelle bonne idée!

What are you reading?

Are young adults reading? Are we doomed because all kids seem to be doing is Facebook and texting? As classes wind down (and students wind up) in the week before Christmas break, I've had a chance to circulate a bit and ask students what they are reading. I'm always a little surprised to discover that maybe things aren't as dire as I thought. Of course the Golden Compass is popular right now, but so is Eclipse, and the Time Traveler's Wife, and Dan Brown, and Oprah picks, and lots more!

I was even more gratified when I stumbled across the Cool Reads website. (It was recommended to me by another TL.) Developed for and by young adults, the site reviews books for 10 to 15 year old "set" . The reviews come from all over the world. It even lists star reviewers (those who have had at least 30 reviews featured on the site.) You can pick from a number of genres including suspense, biography, time travel, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, and war, among others. It's a great resource for teachers and students alike. What I really like is that students can post their own reviews.

If you want to know what kids are saying about books, and what titles they are reading, Cool Reads is the place to visit.