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An interesting discussion about the print phenomenon. Different sources from textbook publishers, bookstore owners and college student surveys all say that young people still strongly prefer print for pleasure and learning. This is a bias that surprises reading experts when the same group spend so much of the rest of their time on-line. "A University of Washington pilot study of digital textbooks found that a quarter of students still bought print versions of e-textbooks that they were given for free."

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.

"A new project is printing Braille picture books for visually impaired children. Each page turns the pictures from the original book into raised 3D shapes alongside traditional Braille text. "The advantage of 3D-printing is really about making one-of-a-kind objects,' says Tom Yeh, who heads up the Tactile Picture Books Project at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Later this year, Yeh's group will work with the National Braille Press in Boston to offer children a copy of Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin that has a page customised with the child's name in Braille."

A way for students to create a more professional version of their work. Works (stories/poems) can be published using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press student interactive.

Here is a masterclass from a teacher on how to print your Book Creator ebook and get a professional finish. This educator used the iPad but an android version of app is also available

"When the best new media tools are expertly selected and appropriately used with children, such tools can support and enhance adults' role in supporting development of the whole child, especially three-to-eight year-olds, the focus of this article. Used to complement rather than replace print, the finest ebooks, enhanced ebooks, and book apps (collectively referred to here as "ebooks") on the market put traditional picture book content in new containers that-like traditional print books-educate and entertain."

Character Scrapbook, produced by Scholastic, is a web resource that is a simple to use. It offers a reader's response activity that students can use to analyse any character in a book or story. The template allows them to include details and reflections about a character through text, but it also provides the students with an opportunity to create a visual representation of that character. Once created they can save or print it as a type of scrapbook. . It offers is a simple way to engage students and also offers an opportunity to help them form a deeper understanding of a book's character(s). Character Scrapbook could be utilized with fiction or non-fiction text as an individual, small group and/or even whole class assignment There is a detailed teacher's guide on the Scholastic site that has a detailed how-to as well as lesson extensions.

Character Scrapbook, produced by Scholastic, is a web resource that is a simple to use. It offers a reader's response activity that students can use to analyse any character in a book or story. The template allows them to include details and reflections about a character through text, but it also provides the students with an opportunity to create a visual representation of that character. 6. Ten accomplishments XX achieved. Once created they can save or print it as a type of scrapbook. . It offers is a simple way to engage students and also offers an opportunity to help them form a deeper understanding of a book's character(s). Character Scrapbook could be utilized with fiction or non-fiction text as an individual, small group and/or even whole class assignment There is a detailed teacher's guide on the Scholastic site that has a detailed how-to as well as lesson extensions.

"sources for free images and organizing them in such a way as to help you find what you're looking for. Here are the criteria we've examined: Subjects: Does a site focus on specific genres of images, or is it a mass collection of various image types? High Resolution: Lots of great image resources emerged in the pre-Web 2.0 phase, but it wasn't until bandwidth dramatically increased that allowed for the uploading of much higher resolution images suitable for editing and printing. License: The licenses vary extremely from source to source. Some are listed as Creative Commons (with variations on attribution and availability for commercial use), others are Public Domain, and still others have unique licenses that maintain copyright while allowing users to download or embed photographs. To better understand Creative Commons licenses, check out our post on Images, Copyright, & Creative Commons. Safety: Government sites and many specific subject collections are extremely safe for students to use. But before you start using one of these sites for student blogging, check out our safety note and examine the site to see if you find it appropriate for students. Some sites are terrible for filtering out inappropriate con"

"Makerspaces.com is made up of makers, geeks, educators, technology/stem leaders, library media specialists, librarians, school principals & superintendents, instructional technology specialists, edtech leaders, maker educators, makerspace operators, 3d printing enthusiasts, robotics club and so much more. Our mission is to bring makerspaces into the educational system, so we can bring the educational system into the 21st century. "

The role of the school librarian is to guide students and fellow educators through the intersection of formal and informal learning. The instruction the school librarian offers is integral to a well-rounded education. As educators and instructional partners school librarians are critical to teaching and learning in the school community. The school librarian plays a prominent role in instructing students, faculty, and administrators in a range of literacies, including information, digital, print, visual, and textual literacies. As leaders in literacy and technology, school librarians are perfectly positioned to instruct every student in the school community through both traditional and blended learning.

The infographic presents research highlights from all of Library Research Service's (LRS) school library impact studies. There are 2 versions available - one for digital viewing and one for printing.

"Regardless of the ultimate fate of the printed book, reports of the imminent death of the library as a physical entity seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Bookless digital public libraries are already starting to appear, the first in San Antonio, Texas, where lines of bookshelves have been replaced by e-readers, computer workstations, laptops and tablets. The simple truth is that, like Roald Dahl's character Matilda, people like going to libraries. Indeed, going to the library is like getting a pay rise, according to a survey conducted in 2014 by the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The survey, which attempted to quantify how happy different activities make us, showed that while dancing and swimming nearly always cheer us up, so does going to the library. "

"There's no doubt that the experience of reading online is different than reading in print, but does it affect comprehension? While several studies have found student comprehension and retention are lower on digital devices, could it be that students just need to learn the right tools to enhance their digital reading? Maria Konnikova explores the research and theories behind reading in her New Yorker column."

"Published to YouTube on 17 Mar 2015. Hear from Glenn O'Neill, Mt. Kuring-gai Public School's Principal, on how ScopeIT Education is bringing coding and 3D printing lessons to his students and many more around Australia"

"3D printing and hands-on learning opens up new worlds to some students"

"... turns any ordinary quotes texts into beautiful quotes picture for Facebook, Twitter header, Google Plus, E-Cards, Wallpapers, Pinterest, Posters and other print design."

First up is a tutorial on Jellybean Writer. The video is embedded below. Jellybean Writer is a free tool for creating picture books. Students can import pictures from their computers then write captions for each image. All stories can be saved online or downloaded and printed. If picture books are too simple for your students, they can skip using pictures and select one of the text only templates for the pages in their books. As you will see in the video below, teacher can create and manage student accounts in Jellybean Scoop.

"Florida's Polytechnic University is entirely digital and has no print books at all. This enormous facility promises to make 'many more books available for the students' in digital form."

From ReadWriteThink, the Trading Cards app could give students and alternative way to share what they understand about the characters and places from the books they have been reading. The fields/categories that can be documented include: fictional person, real person, fictional place, real place, object, event and vocabulary word. Each category has specific guiding questions to assist students. Space is limited so students have to be able to demonstrate their ideas succinctly and only include the most important information. The app is easy to use, has good "how-to" information, auto-saves and can be printed or emailed.

These field-tested recommendations are grouped into three main sections: Coding, Filmmaking, Tinkering, and 3D Printing. Making is all about trial and error; don't be afraid to experiment with these tools and encourage playful exploration by your patrons or students. As makers like to say, "If at first you succeed…you're probably doing it wrong."