April 24, 2024

Amazon “Rapids” App Offers Kids Short Stories

Amazon’s new app for kids ages 7–12 brings them original short stores that unfold in snippets of chat style text on e-readers and cell phones.

STEAM, with an Emphasis on “A” | SLJ ISTE Webcast Series

This fall series, sponsored by littleBits, explores the education technology topics educators are talking about this school year, from virtual reality and STEAM to popular culture and digital literacy.

Email is the Key | The Digital Shift

Email is the absolute most important tool for digital campaigns. This is true because email is still fundamentally the key to the Internet. Your library’s biggest goal in digital and in-person strategy should be the acquisition of email addresses. I have found this to be true, time and again, from my experience managing digital strategy for the libraries where I have worked and from my experience running political campaigns with EveryLibrary.

Swift Playgrounds: Not Just Another Coding App |SLJ Review

Are your students budding coders? Apple has just released a sophisticated app for students serious about programming. Our review of Swift Playgrounds.

The Surprising Impact of Brain Games on Learning

Playing computer games designed to improve cognitive functions can increase students’ test performance more than traditional methods, such as one-on-one tutoring, according to a Yale study.

New York Libraries To Offer Wi-Fi Hotspots to Needy Students

New York City Schools partners with the city’s three library systems, Google, and Sprint to bring free, year-long Wi-Fi service to households without it.

 A NC Library Brings Wi-Fi Hotspots to Students in Need

Partnering with Sprint, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is allowing students who don’t have Wi-Fi at home to check out portable hotspots.

All About Escape Rooms

Can you find the missing scientist? Travel back in time to ancient Egypt? Escape room games use problem-solving skills to boost curriculum—and they’re fun. Play one here.

The Latest in STEM: Teens Team Up With the FDA

Learning to code, visiting the White House, and pitching medical apps “Shark Tank” style? Students in the aimHI Summer Incubator Program, a partnership between the FDA and Montgomery County (MD) County Library, did it all.

Hey, I Built a LEGO Wall! Here’s How.

An elementary school librarian quickly assembled an inexpensive LEGO wall with donated LEGO bricks, crowdsourced advice, and good humor.