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"Finding new tactics for teaching digital citizenship to older studentss is difficult because most educator resources don't stray far from the traditional Thou Shalt Not approach. That's what prompted me to look for my own resources. In doing so, I came up with a three-pronged approach that engages my students in discussions about digital citizenship rather than patronizing them."

Good article about Makerspaces (& STEM /STEAM) and schools. The discussion puts perspective into the equation. The authors talk about three values of student learning and empowerment: agency, authenticity, and audience and these are used as a basis for decisions about what happens in classrooms. I like the last few sentences. "Defining making in education in terms of tools, spaces, or disciplines is insufficient. Learning through making is a philosophical approach that can affect classes across the curriculum and schools across the globe. It's time to change the paradigm."

This visual encyclopedia is created by the publisher DK. It is new, so somewhat limited but they have plans to grow. I see it as useful for younger students, ESL students and special education students. The site is easy to use and has clear categories. It also offers other sections: What's New?. Videos. Quizzes. Fun Facts. Galleries. Another section called My Space will also be added. Teachers may create an account and access a lesson planner. The DK Online World Desk Reference may also be of interest. You need to create an account to use it which takes seconds to do. This site "explores topics in physical and human geography for every country in the world, and practices critical-thinking skills

Good infographic on plagiarism. It would be a useful document to use with students to teach them about plagiarism: what constitutes an act of plagiarism and the different types of copyright violations that can occur. The image is not free. You read it online as large version by clicking on the image but you will need to purchase it if you want a copy to put up onto a wall. If you are looking for what web tools are available to help detect plagiarism this list is a good place to start.

An interesting, annotated list of books for reading aloud to students

This Scrabble Wall is one of nine done by an artist. It is beautiful, large and expensive. The idea offers us a very cool "word wall" application. I wonder if a project for our VCAL boys would be to create something that offers similar play/word opportunities for our library. A game board that could be used for play or for messages.

An annotated list of tools that have application in schools. They are not oragnized in any particular way. Many I know but there are some new ones here that sound interesting.

"Most teachers know what close-reading is. The part that I found most interesting the seemingly alien idea of technology promoting patient reading. Apps, for example-how on earth can a tablet or an app or an iPad or headphones or some other gadget help with the focus, patience, curiosity, and will to sit with a text and make sense of it? It seems like the opposite would be more likely. And that's certainly possible. There is no "truth" here. In one setting with one student in one kind of classroom, technology could overwhelm the fragile interaction between reader and text. In others, it could catalyze the reading process like never before. But that's a matter of design. Of strategy. Of context. At one point, books were considered "technology" during a move from oral storytelling to written record. The same with certain kinds of binding, the printing press, and so on. Throughout history, reading has been altered by technology."

"One of the essential parts of the digital citizenship I have been long talking about in this blog is about digital footprints. Students need to know that whatever they do or create online leaves behind a trail or digital breadcrumbs that others can trace. This "others" can be anyone from prospective employers, to college admission boards, anything you do online should be vetted by a critical lens and if "you don't want your parents to know about it then better not do it"." There are also a few things you can do to limit some damage.

"Photos For Class makes it easy for students to quickly find copyright-free images that are automatically cited upon download." This will be a useful tool for helping to teach my students about being good digital citizens and understaning more about cpoyright and creative commons licensing. I also want them to correctly to cite sources and in the easiest way.

"Part of a series devoted to facilitating proper student internet interaction in the classroom. This classroom might be 1 to 1 or might be using technology to leverage student centered learning. In this post I would like to discuss ten important ideas to consider when using internet resources and tools in the classroom."

This year Marchetta is appearing as an ambassador at the Emerging Writers' Festival She says "I felt very nurtured in the early days by writers such as John Marsden and Isobelle Carmody and I've always found it important to follow their example". This interview takes her back to the original novel and focuses on celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Looking For Alibrandi."

An interesting article comparing the ways in which we read in print and onscreen. The author discusses the results he gathered between 2013 and 201. He obtained data from 429 university students drawn from five countries (the U.S., Japan, Germany, Slovenia and India). The students in my study reported that print was aesthetically more enjoyable, saying things such as "I like the smell of paper" or that reading in print is "real reading." What's more, print gave them a sense of where they were in the book - they could "see" and "feel" where they were in the text.

"Today's students require strategies that support their acquisition of knowledge, allow them to save their notes across devices, permit them to search through vast quantities of information, and share their learning with the rest of their community. Before blaming a device-either the pen or the laptop-we need to identify what is best for individual students by considering what I call the four S's of note taking. Does the system students are using: 1. adequately support the students' learning needs? 2. allow students to save their notes to multiple locations? 3. let students search for salient points? 4. permit students to share with peers and teachers?"

"The 7th edition of the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report was released last month. Scholastic presents the results of a survey, managed by YouGov, of 2758 adults and children. This biannual report is, I think, one of the best windows into what families are doing and thinking when it comes to kids' reading. I'm in the process of going through the material and there are certainly causes for optimism overall. However, one of the major  findings hit me hard: The Decline by Nine". Author discusses some results and how she intends to overcome them

AI Experiment where a neural net tries to guess what you are drawing

OCLC's Angus Cook's blog post on great library conference keynotes in 2013

OCLC's Angus Cook's blog post on great library conference keynotes in 2013 http://t.co/L4Yy836O9E - OCLC ANZ (OCLC_ANZ) http://twitter.com/OCLC_ANZ/status/425388162743934976

"10 activities to use with any nonfiction book or other informational text. The goal was to get kids more engaged in reading. They are simple but effective and could be adapted in a variety Of ways.

This simple website does one thing: tells you what books to read based on the book you input in the search field. Students can get frustrated when selecting their own reading material, making reading more stressful than it needs to be. Give your students access to this website when choosing a new book; they'll be excited to see what comes up and feel more confident with their choices.