As educators, we’ve learned to count on the research-based wisdom and guidance of Common Sense Media. Its a destination, always fresh with reviews of apps, video, books and more as well as advice for teaching with technology and outstanding curriculum. I recently sat down with Kelly Mendoza, Senior Director of Education Programs at Common Sense Education, […]
A true gift from SHEG: DIY digital literacy assessments and tools for historical thinking
December 20, 2017 by 1 Comment
You may remember Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) for its groundbreaking and utterly depressing report, Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Online Civic Reasoning. In the November 2016 Executive Summary, the researchers shared: When thousands of students respond to dozens of tasks there are endless variations. That was certainly the case in our experience. However, at each level—middle […]
Kudos Wall: for building that first portfolio
April 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment
We build portfolios in school. We use tools like Seesaw and Easy Portfolio. And yet, the onus is usually on the teacher or the librarian to get the ball rolling and sustain the efforts across grade levels. I wonder if the kids themselves get invested in the importance of safely beginning to build a footprint. […]
Allsides: Curating diverse perspectives (or looking at news from most sides now)
February 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Free people from filter bubbles so they can better understand the world and each other. AllSides.com mission It’s a search tool. It’s a conversation opener. It’s a bubble burster. Though I just discovered it, the news aggregator AllSides has been around for around four years as a platform that curates and uses crowd-sourcing technology to […]
MLA Style Center Launches with Sample Papers and a Practice Template
May 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Back in April, I wrote about the publication of MLA’s 8th edition and its significant shift in focus (Shifting into 8th (On MLA’s new edition). The simplified approach is a response to the increasing mobility of digital texts and to what Tim Parks calls “an element of fetishism” that has “perhaps crept into what was […]
By any media necessary
August 19, 2015 by 3 Comments
Intensely political years present rich opportunities for teaching and learning. As we enter the 2015/16 school year, I suspect we’ll see a bounty of resources to aid in the teaching of civic engagement and media literacy. One highly engaging, high quality resource high school and university instructors, and especially librarians, will want to grab right […]
LinkedIn: an underused K12 search tool?
March 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
For a variety of reasons, filters included, social search tools are underused in schools. We usually encourage use of our subscription databases and share effective strategies for leveraging search engines like Google, but in my experience, Twitter, Scoop.it, Pinterest and other tools also offer rich opportunities for learning, discovery, sharing and searching. While LinkedIn is […]
Newseum Education’s Digital Classroom
November 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Newseum in Washington, DC has long been one of my favorite places to take students. The interactive museum, dedicated to media and journalism, now offers a Digital Classroom and you’ll want to add it to your go-to spaces for high quality, standards-based, document-driven instruction. Focused on historical inquiry, media literacy, critical thinking, document analysis, […]
Mt. Alvernia: the journey to iCentre
June 7, 2014 by 1 Comment
I am nearing the end of my visit to Australia where I was honored to speak and offer a MasterClass at EduTECH 2014. Among the nine strands offered was the K12 Library Managers Congress where I met and reconnected with movers and shakers who are rethinking library, engaging learners, and inspiring each other. I hope […]
Fall decorating: a round-up of smart (and free) posters
August 26, 2013 by 6 Comments
Every year, as we move back into our libraries and classrooms, we search for meaningful, inspiring, attractive visuals to fill our display cases, to grace our bulletin boards, to embed on our websites. Many of you have already experienced this, but if not, I must warn you of the dangers of searching Pinterest boards for […]
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