We’re well into the medal count, but how awesome was that opening ceremony of the Olympic games and the celebration of children’s literature?
The appearance of J.K. Rowling reading Peter Pan and the spectacular duel pitting Mary Poppins against a 100-foot Lord Voldemort had us all a-Twitter. “I’d love to see the next U.S. Olympics celebrate Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott and other #authors à la #London2012,” posted Janice Harayda.
No less dazzling was the appearance of a lone figure at a keyboard: Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, who lit up Olympic Stadium with a declarative Tweet:
Last week also saw the passing of children’s author Margaret Mahy and astronaut Sally Ride.
“I never went into physics or the astronaut corps to become a role model,” Ride said in a September 2012 interview with the Harvard Business Review. “After my first flight, whether I had intended it or not,” said Ride, she realized she had become just that to girls, young and old alike. From there, she embraced being a role model because, she said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
The organization that she founded to help support kids’ interest in science, math and technology, Sally Ride Science, is among the Twitter accounts said to make you smarter, the first of our links of the week:
25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter | Mashable
A New Tool for Choosing a Creative Commons License | Free Technology for Teachers
Non-Techie Cofounder Learns Code, Builds New Site Feature in 6 Days | Mashable Business
RT @mtechman: love seeing what other lib’ns are thinking re spaces, non-institutional approach: Pop-up library/book cart/bookmobile/mobilivre, part II | Karen Munro, Learning Librarian
Can Kids Be Taught Persistence? | MindShift (via @dmlcentral)
MOOCs are really a platform | elearnspace
Friday Confession: I’ve Forgotten How to Read Adult Novels | Once Upon A Story
What to read after the Hunger Games flow chart (via SLJ Tumblr)
Privacy and eReading Part 2: Amazon, BN, Kobo & Sony | Dear Author (Via @TheLib)
Library receives 505-year-old book | SFGate.com
What Common Core Means for Publishers | Publishers Weekly
Landmark publication Weekly Reader to shut down | NYPOST.com
Minding your manners when sharing in social media | CNET News
Evolving Technology Gives True Voices to Children Who Cannot Speak | NYTimes.com
Pearltrees Comes To The iPhone, Goes Beyond Bookmarking And Adds Photos, Notes, Offline Mode | TechCrunch (Via @lbraun2000)
The Principle of Fair Use and Image Usage for Bloggers | Dear Author (via @100scopenotes)
About Kathy Ishizuka