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Google has pushed out a pretty cool demo, which invites you to collaborate with some of the greatest writers of all time. Kind of. A "famous writer" will start typing and then it's your turn. Once you've typed in the next line, the writer takes over. It's kind of fun.

"It's something to consider as we continue to look for ways to share our knowledge in what is increasingly a classroom-centered ecosystem with classroom-accessed digital resources. It's also a kind of power shift … not a loss of power, but a different kind of power. There's something about being in the teacher's own classroom that puts you right where the learning is without the learning being disrupted by moving to a lab or library. And that's powerful."

"In a digital world, the question is not whether you will leave a mark. The question is, "What kind of mark are you leaving?"" The content of MyFootprintSD is designed to make students cognizant of their digital footprint. In that way, it helps students be aware of what is safe and what is risky when using the web or other digital communication tools. In working through it, students will grow aware of how far these kinds of tools spread into their lives and how large the effects of their use can be (for better or for worse). Lessons and activities are explained here for educators but directions are included on the students' portion of the website as well. Elementary, Middle school, and high school

" a little macro that pulls the cost figure from each item's record, adds them all up, and provides a total. We present it in kind of a cutesy context, but the intent is to show people how much they save by using the library. Check it out:"

The Art Project is a collaboration between Google and 151 acclaimed art partners from across 40 countries. Using a combination of various Google technologies and expert information provided by our museum partners, we have created a unique online art experience. Users can explore a wide range of artworks at brushstroke level detail, take a virtual tour of a museum and even build their own collections to share. With a team of Googlers working across many product areas we are able to harness the best of Google to power the Art Project experience. Few people will ever be lucky enough to be able to visit every museum or see every work of art they're interested in but now many more can enjoy over 30 000 works of art from sculpture to architecture and drawings and explore over 150 collections from 40 countries, all in one place. We're also lucky at Google to have the technology to make this kind of project a reality.

"Our job as teachers is to draw our students attention to the fact that copy-paste culture is destructive and that appropriate citations and crediting back the sources, if ever we are allowed to, are two important things we always need to invoke as we are dealing with both digital and non digital content.  I have an entire section in this blog packed full of resources, tools and tips on how to teach your students about copyright, check it out here to learn more. Today, I am sharing with you this wonderful flowchart I come across in digital inspiration. You can use it with you students to teach them about the kinds of images to cite and how to do so."

"This kind of feedback loop-wherein an error that appears on Wikipedia then trickles to sources that Wikipedia considers authoritative, which are in turn used as evidence for the original falsehood-is a documented phenomenon."

"Prior knowledge is an essential part of the meaning making negotiated between interlocutors. In classrooms, too, students' prior knowledge is a key factor in students overall achievement and performances. Most often, those lacking this kind of knowledge always lag behind the rest. There are actually several ways teachers can determine how much prior knowledge students have in store before debuting a discussion or a lesson. The visual below created by Mia from anethicalisland outlines some very practical ways that you can use in your class to check for students' previous knowledge. Check it out"

"Stop focusing on the futile: making the haters like you. Focus on people who like you. Spend time cultivating relationships with those who like you and perhaps they'll come to love you (and you them.) Focus on helping and serving others and being kind. Choose to ignore those who may be speaking negative about you - that can quickly become paranoia. Usually people aren't even talking about you at all - I hate to tell you what I tell myself - you're not that important.  Keep perspective and keep to your task."

addthis_pub = 'ALAMarketing'; 152 pages6" x 9"SoftcoverISBN-13: 978-0-8389-0886-0Year Published: 2004Libraries eager to serve the underserved teen-to-twenty-year-old market can make the library a cool place to hang out. All it takes are zines, according to the author, young adult librarian Julie Bartel. Zines and alternative press materials provide a unique bridge to appeal to disenfranchised youth, alienated by current collections.For librarians unfamiliar with the territory, or anxious to broaden their collection, veteran zinester Bartel establishes the context, history, and philosophy of zines, then ushers readers through an easy, do-it-yourself guide to creating a zine collection, including both print and electronic zines. While zines have their unique culture, they are also important within broader discussions of intellectual freedom and the Library Bill of Rights.Teen and young adult librarians, high school media specialists, and academic, reference, and adult services librarians will uncover answers to questions aboutthis new and growing literary genre:What is a zine and how does a library zine collection work?What are the pros and cons of having a zine collection in the library?When promoting zines, what appeals to patrons and non-library users alike?What is the best way to catalog and display?Where can libraries get zines and how much do they cost?Bartel shares these lessons and more from a major urban library zine collection, as well as a comprehensive directory of zine resources in this one-stop, one-of-a-kind guide.Table of ContentsFiguresPreface Part I: Philosophy, Arguments, and Background1. Welcome to the World of Zines 2. Zine Culture 101 3. Intellectual Freedom, the Library Bill of Rights, and Zines 4. To Collect or Not to Collect: The Whys and Wherefores 5. The Salt Lake City Public Library Zine Collection Part II: Zine Collections: A Do-It-Yourself Guide6. Getting Started 7. What Do You Do with Them Once You've Got Them

" Beyond Google - AddThis Posted by Mr. Byrne at 2:12 PM Labels: Google, Internet search, teaching technology, Teaching With Technology, Technology Integration, web search, web search strategies 5 comments: SIS Media Specialist said... Geesh Richard, another great resource; like your posts are not enough. Many, many thanks. I have followed your blog for about a year and have learned SO MUCH. I understand you are from CT. Any chance we can get you to the joint annual CASL/CECA (Connecticut Association of School Librarians and Connecticut Educators Computer Association) conference next year? October 24, 2009 10:35 PM Mr. Byrne said... Yes, I am originally from Connecticut. In fact, I went to CCSU for freshman year. I'd like to come to CASL/CECA. Can you send me an email? richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers Thanks. October 25, 2009 6:47 AM Linux and Friends said... Thanks for the amazing document. I am aware of a few of the resources listed in the document. However, many of the others are new to me. I will definitely check them out. November 2, 2009 9:45 PM dunnes said... I visited and bookmarked four sites from this post! Thank you for the great resource. Students want to use Google rather than stick to the school library catalog, but they need more instruction on how to do this. I have seen too many children search with ineffective terms, and then waste time clicking on their random results. November 8, 2009 12:38 PM Lois said... Beyond Google is a great resource. I wish I had your skills for taking what you learn and putting it together as you do. I love reading your daily blog. November 15, 2009 10:04 AM Post a Comment Links to this post Beyond Google: Improve Your Search Results http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/10/beyond-google-improve-your-search.html While working with some of my colleagues in a workshop earlier this week, I was reminded that a lot of people aren't familiar with tools

Anyone who wants to sync documents, websites and notes between their devices will find Evernote just so useful and user friendly. It's kind of like cataloguing your entire computer's contents and the ability to access them from all of your devices.

Teacher Libranian resources for using Web 2.0 tools

This wiki was created for school library media specialists by Dr. Donna Baumbach and Dr. Judy Lee, University of Central Florida. The purpose is to provide information about some of the new web-based tools (Web 2.0) and how they can be used and are being used by school library media specialists and their students and teachers. Much of the information--including identifying a need for this kind of information--is the result of a survey conducted in 2008 of over 600 school library media specialists about their knowledge and use of web-based tools in library media programs.

"Collect all kinds of images, videos from over 30 video sites, slideshare presentations, scribd documents, pdfs, links, rss feeds and much more."

All kinds of tips for creating, writing and publishing.

"The age of austerity has not been kind to libraries, and in many places they are the last ''storefront'' that still tries to put books into the hands of readers. Treating them like a captive market to be exploited is a huge - and potentially fatal - mistake on the part of publishers. If publishers wanted to get something truly valuable out of libraries, they could do no better than to help create a free, open alternative to Overdrive that gives them the data they need to compete with the e-book retailers and frees the libraries from their expensive circulation-management burdens."

Less than twenty years after the Karmel reforms one of their architects looked back in dismay at what had been wrought. "We created a situation unique in the dem­ocratic world," Jean Blackburn pointed out in 1991. "It is very important to realise this. There were no rules about student selection and exclusion, no fee limitations, no shared governance, no public education accountability, no common curriculum requirements below the upper secondary level... We have now become a kind of wonder at which people [in other countries] gape. The reaction is always, 'What an extraordinary situation.'"