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A new Harvard study examines US students’ attitudes towards technology in schools. Although 78 percent own cell phones, activating them in schools is restricted, which frustrates students. Students also express frustration with school’s limited WiFi access, Internet filtering, monitoring, and the push to embrace tablet computers.
As education technology has evolved, so, too, have the kinds of digital tools that school librarians use with their students. More than 750 school librarians responded to SLJ’s survey, representing K–12 public and private schools across the country. According to the data, they make the most of what they have, learning one day and sharing that knowledge the next.
EducationSuperHighway is launching a comprehensive national effort to upgrade broadband access in America’s schools, funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Startup:Education organization, the Gates Foundation, and several other groups.
The Internet offers today’s youth unprecedented opportunities to connect with peers and seek knowledge in almost any area of interest—and libraries are uniquely positioned to play a central role in this learning, according to Mimi Ito, professor and cultural anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine, and principal investigator for the new education model Connected Learning.
The Internet offers today’s youth unprecedented opportunities to connect with peers and seek knowledge in almost any area of interest—and libraries are uniquely positioned to play a central role in this learning, according to Mimi Ito, professor and cultural anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine, and principal investigator for the new education model Connected Learning.
Has the maker movement taken hold in your library yet? Starting a maker space is easier—and less costly—than you may think. Technologies such as robotics, digital video production, computer coding, and 3-D printing may garner the most attention, but traditional activities instill the same spirit of invention, collaboration, and critical thinking of the maker phenomenon.
The Kansas City Public Library, MO (KCPL) developed its new Software Lending Library, a remote desktop system that will enable patrons to “check out” and use software applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Excel on their home computers or laptops.
echnology education provider Treehouse announced Treehouse Education Library Aid, a new pricing plan that offers small or demonstrably cash-strapped libraries discounts of up to 50 percent on subscriptions to its collection of step-by-step online courses on website design, computer programming, app development for Android and iOS devices, entrepreneurship, and other topics.
What could your library do with gigabit broadband? If you don’t have a list of innovative ways to use an Internet connection 10 or 100 times faster than the current norm, start making it now.
The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) this month will unveil Connect at Central, a new 12,800 square-foot digital commons in the system’s main library. In addition, as a beta tester for OverDrive, SAPL will be experimenting with an installation of the company’s new OverDrive Media Station (OMS) interface on a ruggedized kiosk that could be deployed in public areas outside of a library.
