I was doing some research, and I came across the news that Teens Don’t Tweet—as in teens Don’t Use Twitter.’ I started clicking through links, and discovered it’s a really hot topic.
Teen Read Week Registration Winding Down Teen Read Week registration ends next week! If you haven’t already, sign up today and take a stand for the importance of teen reading. After you register, check out the Teen Read Week website for activity ideas and publicity tools (including PSAs featuring Nancy Cartwright) to get attention for your celebration. TRW registration ends Sept. 18.
Make Sure Your Teens Voice Their Choice Teens’ Top Ten voting is in the final stretch, too! Teens can vote online at www.ala.org/teenstopten for their favorite books from the last year through Sept. 18. Then, tune in during Teen Read Week for a webcast announcing the winners, featuring Superstars and Divas from World Wrestling Entertainment.
Tech Poster Proposals Now Open YALSA will sponsor a poster session at ALA Annual Conference 2010 on Teen Tech Week! Show off your work in DC this summer. Proposals accepted through Oct. 16. Read our Tech Poster Session page for details.
After the jump, learn more about YALSA’s latest book, how to get your program or poster into the 2010 YA Lit Symposium, and how you can win an online course from YALSA!
Ed. note: This post from 2009 remains a perennial favorite for readers, but don’t forget to visit our extensive App of the Week archive for more suggestions on iOS and Android applications for teens.’
An article in a local newspaper recently touted the launch of a new iPhone application (iCommunicate) designed to help parents of autistic or developmentally delayed children. It sounded like such a wonderful tool, and it made me wonder if there were any apps out there (other than games) that might be useful for teens. I decided to do a little research and see what I could find. Read More →
This video highlights how the Technology for Young Adults Committee wants to transition to an Interest Group and what you can do to help.
There’s this closet at work that I’m starting to clean out because it needs it. It’s been kind of funny tracking down where things came from in the first place as one person invariably leads me to and there’s usually a humorous story attached to it at the end. We’re also busy at work spring cleaning in a sense in the way we think about using things-particularly technology equipment. We’re taking into consideration how teens use it and what our own processes are in order to make some changes.
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Last week I blogged about the teens I work with at a jail using Publisher. They used it again today and are making great progress on their flyers. Today, two actors from the theatre my library has a partnership with, had a follow up visit with the youthful offenders. Read More →
Today at the jail where I do outreach we worked with Publisher software. The group is designing a flyer that will be posted in the facility to let people know about a project they are working on. By using Publisher they learned how to focus the message of their project in an attractive way and to match the images to their topic. Once we got past the clip art search for ‘girls’ we were well on our way to having a product that could be posted. When a group of observers came to visit the library they were impressed with the guys ability to navigate the software. Read More →
For those who won’t be attending the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colorado, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will recreate the YALSA Mixer and Tech Playground in the 3-D virtual world, Second Life.
This interactive exhibit, which runs Jan. 9 through Jan. 31, 2009, features models of some of the gadgets being featured at the special event, which kicks off YALSA’s Teen Tech Weekâ„¢ and will be held Jan. 23 at the Hyatt Regency Denver, 8 – 10 p.m. Gadgets are displayed on platforms at ALA Island (61, 228, 35). You may need to fly to see all the platforms! A menu with locations is in the large column at the entry point.
Each gadget featured in SL includes an informational notecard with tips on incorporating the item into Teen Tech Week events. Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by YALSA and aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks, and videogames. The 2009 theme for Teen Tech Week is Press Play @ your library’®. Teen Tech Week is March 8-14, 2009. Read More →
I was at Target today and I saw and interesting “thing” that got me thinking about school supplies. Livescribe has created a pen that not only records audio, but if you are taking notes on the specal paper will be able to play back the lecture when you tap on your notes. There is a usb attached to the pen so you can copy your notes into your computer as a image or as a video that replays the notes you took while playing the lecture.
This sounds really cool, especially for students who stuggle to learn in traditional lectures. However the pen costs about $150, and the paper goes for $20 for 400 sheets. This seems very expensive for students to use. I would hate to loose one of these pens if I was 13. I’d love to see teachers provide classroom sets but until every student has their own personal computer I doubt smart pen will be on a school’s supply list.
Digital media players are being targeted by schools as potential cheating devices used by students. According to the article here, banning the players might be somewhat of a national trend even though using the devices to cheat is nothing new. The article mentions at the end that Duke University in North Carolina distributed iPods as part of the Duke Digital Initiative program. There are ‘iPod office hours’ where students can have their questions answered about how they can use their iPod as creative project material. The executive director Tim Dodd of the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke stated, “Trying to fight the technology without a dialogue on values and expectations is a losing battle.”
How does your school or library outreach to schools encourage these creative uses of technology for projects? Has anything you’ve done helped a classroom or a school reconsider the use of digital media players, podcasting, or even texting for assignments?
VOYA’s 10/06 article, You Know You’re a 21st Century Teacher-Librarian If. . by Joyce Kasman Valenza give some great ideas.
Posted by Kelly Czarnecki