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D. S. Koelling

5 Myths About the 'Information Age' - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Ed... - 0 views

  • 1. "The book is dead." Wrong: More books are produced in print each year than in the previous year. One million new titles will appear worldwide in 2011. In one day in Britain—"Super Thursday," last October 1—800 new works were published.
  • 2. "We have entered the information age." This announcement is usually intoned solemnly, as if information did not exist in other ages. But every age is an age of information, each in its own way and according to the media available at the time.
  • 3. "All information is now available online." The absurdity of this claim is obvious to anyone who has ever done research in archives. Only a tiny fraction of archival material has ever been read, much less digitized. Most judicial decisions and legislation, both state and federal, have never appeared on the Web. The vast output of regulations and reports by public bodies remains largely inaccessible to the citizens it affects. Google estimates that 129,864,880 different books exist in the world, and it claims to have digitized 15 million of them—or about 12 percent.
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  • 4. "Libraries are obsolete." Everywhere in the country librarians report that they have never had so many patrons. At Harvard, our reading rooms are full. The 85 branch libraries of the New York Public Library system are crammed with people.
  • 5. "The future is digital." True enough, but misleading. In 10, 20, or 50 years, the information environment will be overwhelmingly digital, but the prevalence of electronic communication does not mean that printed material will cease to be important. Research in the relatively new discipline of book history has demonstrated that new modes of communication do not displace old ones, at least not in the short run.
  • I mention these misconceptions because I think they stand in the way of understanding shifts in the information environment. They make the changes appear too dramatic. They present things ahistorically and in sharp contrasts—before and after, either/or, black and white. A more nuanced view would reject the common notion that old books and e-books occupy opposite and antagonistic extremes on a technological spectrum. Old books and e-books should be thought of as allies, not enemies.
  • Last year the sale of e-books (digitized texts designed for hand-held readers) doubled, accounting for 10 percent of sales in the trade-book market. This year they are expected to reach 15 or even 20 percent. But there are indications that the sale of printed books has increased at the same time.
  • Many of us worry about a decline in deep, reflective, cover-to-cover reading. We deplore the shift to blogs, snippets, and tweets. In the case of research, we might concede that word searches have advantages, but we refuse to believe that they can lead to the kind of understanding that comes with the continuous study of an entire book. Is it true, however, that deep reading has declined, or even that it always prevailed?
  • Writing looks as bad as reading to those who see nothing but decline in the advent of the Internet. As one lament puts it: Books used to be written for the general reader; now they are written by the general reader. The Internet certainly has stimulated self-publishing, but why should that be deplored? Many writers with important things to say had not been able to break into print, and anyone who finds little value in their work can ignore it.
  • One could cite other examples of how the new technology is reinforcing old modes of communication rather than undermining them. I don't mean to minimize the difficulties faced by authors, publishers, and readers, but I believe that some historically informed reflection could dispel the misconceptions that prevent us from making the most of "the information age"—if we must call it that.
Darrin Schumacher

Book Project - 71 views

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    We are looking at setting up an online book review where the students read a book and then do an electronic book review. If you would like to be a part of this project please email me on schumacherd@gsis.sc.kr One of the aims of the project is to see what books students are Reading around the world and to encourage others to read a book that interests them. 
Tracy Tuten

Reading and the Web - Texts Without Context - NYTimes.com - 28 views

  • In his deliberately provocative — and deeply nihilistic — new book, “Reality Hunger,” the onetime novelist David Shields asserts that fiction “has never seemed less central to the culture’s sense of itself.”
  • Mr. Shields’s book consists of 618 fragments, including hundreds of quotations taken from other writers like Philip Roth, Joan Didion and Saul Bellow — quotations that Mr. Shields, 53, has taken out of context and in some cases, he says, “also revised, at least a little — for the sake of compression, consistency or whim.”
  • It’s also a question, as Mr. Lanier, 49, astutely points out in his new book, “You Are Not a Gadget,” of how online collectivism, social networking and popular software designs are changing the way people think and process information, a question of what becomes of originality and imagination in a world that prizes “metaness” and regards the mash-up as “more important than the sources who were mashed.”
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  • Mr. Lanier’s book, which makes an impassioned case for “a digital humanism,” is only one of many recent volumes to take a hard but judicious look at some of the consequences of new technology and Web 2.0. Among them are several prescient books by Cass Sunstein, 55, which explore the effects of the Internet on public discourse; Farhad Manjoo’s “True Enough,” which examines how new technologies are promoting the cultural ascendancy of belief over fact; “The Cult of the Amateur,” by Andrew Keen, which argues that Web 2.0 is creating a “digital forest of mediocrity” and substituting ill-informed speculation for genuine expertise; and Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows” (coming in June), which suggests that increased Internet use is rewiring our brains, impairing our ability to think deeply and creatively even as it improves our ability to multitask.
  • Steven Johnson, a founder of the online magazine Feed, for instance, wrote in an article in The Wall Street Journal last year that with the development of software for Amazon.com’s Kindle and other e-book readers that enable users to jump back and forth from other applications, he fears “one of the great joys of book reading — the total immersion in another world, or in the world of the author’s ideas — will be compromised.” He continued, “We all may read books the way we increasingly read magazines and newspapers: a little bit here, a little bit there.”
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    Highly insightful and developed argument for how Web 2.0 is changing how we process information, learn, and develop opinions. 
Martin Burrett

Book: Ten Traits of Resilience by @JamesHilton300 via @BloomsburyEd - 5 views

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    "This book is remarkable gem.  It is easy to read but offers great challenge and inspiring ideas in a carefully explained and encouraging way. The author draws on his experience, in an honest and true-to-life style.  He is open and honest and shares some of his worst experiences in a modest and humble style.  As I picked up the book I wasn't sure that resilience was the key feature of leadership that I would have highlighted - I think I would have wanted resilience in my top ten characteristics of good leadership, following other books and courses I've been on I'm sold on the benefits - but I was slightly surprised to find a book putting resilience at the heart.  Until I started reading, and quickly I was convinced."
Sarah Feldman

Spaghetti Book Club - 4 views

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    Reviews of books by children.
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    A great site where children can post books reviews, which can provide guidance on how to write reviews.
C CC

Book Review: The Little Book of The Autism Spectrum | UKEdChat.com - Supporting the #UK... - 2 views

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    A great book full of information for those wanting to understand Autism
C CC

Book Review - The Little Book of Laughter by Dave Keeling - 23 views

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    A great book reminding us that humour and laughter are key in the classroom
victoria waddle

Teen/YA book reviews - 43 views

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    I've been reviewing books for teens for several years, and I hope you'll have a look. These are mostly teen fiction, but there is also nonfiction, adult books that have teen appeal and hi-lo books for English learners and other working on reading skills.
trisha_poole

The Education of English Language Learners: Research to Practice (Review) | TCRecord - 18 views

  • In many ways, this book affirms what seems intuitive, and the cross-cutting themes that surface are not necessarily new. For example, “English Language Development needs to be explicit” seems self-evident and has been discussed in other sources. Where the value of the book lies is in its communication of how much we do in fact know.
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    A comprehensive overview of the book and a brief critical review at the end.
Diana Irene Saldana

Video Reviews by Kids, For Kids | Kids Movie Reviews | Kids Book Reviews | Kids Apps | ... - 58 views

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    Safe place for kids, 7-12 years old, to review a variety of sources: tech, toys and games, movies and TV, books and magazines, food, sports, pets, travel, obsessions, contests.
Martin Burrett

Book: Uncharted Territories by @Hywel_Roberts & @DebraKidd - 5 views

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    "In their new book, Debra Kidd and Hywel Roberts firmly place teachers, and ultimately their students, in a range of different locations, where the learning inhabits, offering a fantastically imagined context with prompts, ideas and illustrations helping exploration and discovery. In a fascinating resource book, which can be used in many subject areas, across most stages in schools, the authors break down each chapter destination (including a forest, castle, graveyard, ship, zoo, cave, theme park) into a story starter - introducing the location and providing provocative initial questions; key landmarks (either for primary or secondary aged students), a stopover - providing a more in-depth account of their learning journey; stepping stones - context based tasks provided to also prod your imagination, and; the bedrock - offering a debrief of the processes, helping teachers understand the justification of the processes undertaken."
Martin Burrett

Book: Making every maths lesson count by @MccreaEmma via @CrownHousePub - 4 views

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    "Making Every Maths Lesson Count is underpinned by six pedagogical principles - challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning - and presents 52 high-impact strategies designed to streamline teacher workload and ramp up the level of challenge in the maths classroom. Throughout this book, Emma McCrea (through extensive research and practice) explores how to manage mathematical misconceptions with practical ideas on many areas of the required curriculum. The six pedagogical principles mentioned above form the heart of the book, with metacognitive questioning given space in developing cognitive strategies with pupils. "
Martin Burrett

Book: The Arts in Primary Education by @Gigske via @BloomsburyEd - 1 views

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    "The Arts in Primary Education shows how resources already present in schools, such as picture books or the outdoor environment, can be used to develop a creative culture. With a focus on long-term initiatives including partnerships with art institutions and the training and personal development of teachers, the book also presents clear and accessible explanations of the benefits of integrating the arts across a school. Backed by research and evidence and complete with images and descriptions of artworks, this guide is ideal for helping develop a whole-school arts curriculum to enrich learning and raise attainment in all subject areas."
Martin Burrett

Book: MasterClass in Science Education by @DrKeithSTaber via @BloomsburyAcad - 5 views

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    "In his new book, Professor Keith Taber reassures practicing and training science teachers, as he explores a range of issues faced by secondary school educators and discusses strategies for teaching the nature of scientific knowledge, making practical work effective and challenging young scientists. Throughout the academic prose, Professor Taber reflects on the nature of scientific knowledge in science education encouraging creating narratives, challenging misconceptions, and exploring principles of constructive teaching. The book continues with exploring specific challenges, such as teaching electrical circuits to lower secondary school students, along with a chapter dedicated to supporting gifted students who excel at the subjects."
megan Heath

Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia - 6 views

    • megan Heath
       
      This a great site for your class to track the books they are reading and share reviews with one another.
    • jennifer burton
       
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    Share your thoughts and opinions on books you and your students are reading.
Martin Burrett

Book Review: Living Contradiction by @Sean_S_Warren & @StephenBigger - 2 views

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    PROS: An important book that questions an authoritarian school culture. The book grapples with both the philosophical and the pragmatic aspects of school culture. A resonatory self-examination of teacher identity and a significant contribution to the debate about how schools and classrooms are run. A survey of a wide range of related research that challenges the status quo on the effectiveness of punishment and authoritarianism as approaches to behaviour management."
Martin Burrett

Book: How to be an Outstanding Primary Middle Leader by @ZoeParamour via @BloomsburyEd ... - 1 views

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    "When Zoë's book came up for review I put my hand up to read it straight away. I currently work as a Primary Middle Leader (Literacy Lead and EYFSCoordinator) in a larger than average primary school in the North of England. In the last two years, we have undergone a lot of changes, both internal due to staffing and curriculum and changes and external as we have become part of the largest MAT in the city. This has meant an increase in responsibility and accountability, not only for myself but other middle leaders who I have had the chance to meet with."
Martin Burrett

Book: Vocabulary Ninja: Mastering Vocabulary by @MrJenningsA via @BloomsburyEd - 9 views

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    "Building a rich vocabulary, across the curriculum, is one of the main aims for most teachers. Not only does a rich vocabulary help to create strong writing skills, but also can help with improving access to all areas of the curriculum. In his book, Andrew Jennings explains why vocabulary should be a focus in your classroom, providing resources and inspiration to help optimise vocabulary learning. Resources include a focus on SPaG facts, key vocab words that support various popular primary topics, an etymology section to inspire pupils, and looking at various grammatical features that can help build a repertoire of rich vocabulary. Throughout, the book provides other resources that can be copied for classroom use, or be used to take home to help build vocabulary skills away from the school setting."
Martin Burrett

Book: Release your @inner_drive - 11 views

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    This book is aimed at teenagers, but could be used by teachers to start class or individual discussions about life issues. Book focuses and provides great tips to revise and prepare for examinations. Accessible, colourful infographics throughout make content digestible.
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