Riding the Digital Trail: Creating Book Trailers - by Naomi Bates

Texas Library Media Specialist of the Year Naomi Bates created an online presentation (Presi) on best practices for creating book trailers (promotions, like movie trailers).  Naomi's presentation is "Book Trailers: Making Students Want to Read."  Well done!  See below.

Book trailers - Making students want to read created by Naomi Bates, Northwest High School on Prezi

PREZI is a popular presentation tool -- try it and you'll see it is more engaging than the traditional Powerpoint, and so much more accessible!

Pew Internet and American Life: E-reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months

Rush Brandis of the California State Library alerted librarians of a new Pew Internet and American Life Report on E-Reader Ownership. Here is an overview taken from the report:

Overview:

• The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011  from 6% in November 2010.  E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook, are portable devices designed to allow readers to download and read books and periodicals.  This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults. 

• Tablet computers—portable devices similar to e-readers but designed for more interactive web functions—have not seen the same level of growth in recent months.  In May 2011, 8% of adults report owning a tablet computer such as an iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Xoom.  This is roughly the same percentage of adults who reported owning this kind of device in January 2011 (7%), and represents just a 3 percentage-point increase in ownership since November 2010.  Prior to that, tablet ownership had been climbing relatively quickly.

The full report is at

http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP_eReader_Tablet.pdf

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

Here are a few fun sites to explore, thanks to the American Association of School Librarians. Lots of new sites. Good to see that the Khan Academy is listed. These and other good sites are what librarians need to have handy to recommend or demonstrate to teachers, teens, and parents. They are amazing.

Online "Filter Bubbles" - TedTalk by Eli Pariser

California Teacher Librarian Susie Goodin alerted California librarians to a TedTalk by Eli Pariser on the dangers of online "filter bubbles".  The description states that as web companies tailor their services and search results to our personal tastes, there is a dangerous yet unintended consequence -- we get trapped in a "Filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.  Pariser argues that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and for democracy.

This is particularly interesting for educators, given the high degree of Internet filtering in schools, thanks in large part to federal funding requirements under the E-Rate (Education Rate) program.