Cartoons and Comics

As educators and librarians we have a responsibility to educate our students with the most engaging activities available.  So many tools are available to help us engage and reach out to all of our students.  A great tool to incorporate into our lessons is the use of cartoons and comics.  The possibilities are endless and the benefits are many.
We are constantly competing with the digital world for our students' attention.  So why not join the two.  I explored several sites that help students and teachers create cartoons and comics.  I was hooked!  Check out my creations below.

Toondoo
http://www.toondoo.com

The comic above was created with Toondoo.  Toondoo offers a free account for personal use and offers several pricing plans for educators and students.  This site is amazing!  I was immediately able to set up my account and create my first toon.  It was very easy to save, the variety available to create your toon is amazing.  My students would definitely enjoy creating their own toons.

Pixton
http://www.pixton.com

Pixton is another great source to use with your students to create comics.  The website offers easy set up, videos to help get you started and examples to follow.  The site is visually appealing and easy to navigate through.  I created my comic with ease and enjoyed the process.  There are many choices for creating your comic.  Saving my comic was easy and it offers a variety of options to publish the comic.  I can't wait to demonstrate my comic to my students.

MakeBeliefsComic
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com

MakeBeliefsComic is a great resource to use with students of all ages.  What I really love about this particular site is that you don't have to create an account to use their site.  I feel this is a kid friendly, visually appealing site that will encourage the students to use their creativity.  I created my comic easily, many choices are provided to create the comic, and you can easily save and share your comic.

Overall, I really enjoyed ToonDoo, Pixton and MakeBeliefsComic.  I brainstormed ideas on how my students can utilize this fun, creative and education tool.  For my 3rd grade students I can put them into collaborative groups and assign them vocabulary words to incorporate into their comics.  The comics can also be used to demonstrate the main idea of the story of the week.  Summary, character traits and cause and effect can also be demonstrated with the use of the comics and cartoons.

Books, libraries, and the changing digital landscape

Zickuhr, K. (2013, November 12). Books, libraries, and the changing digital landscape. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/12/books-libraries-and-the-changing-digital-landscape/

"The internet revolutionized how people connect with information, shifting our interactions from atoms to bits. Now the devices by which we access digital content have shrunk in size and grown in power, putting the tools to find and create content in our pockets. Amidst this constantly evolving digital landscape, America’s libraries are trying to keep pace with the latest technological changes while still serving the needs and expectations of more traditional patrons. "

Our libraries are now moving forward to incorporate 21st century tools and services for the public.  E reading is on the rise.  From 2011 to 2012, the percentage of people reading ebooks rose from 16% to 23%.  The reasons to read varies by different age groups but include:  reading for work or school, reading for pleasure, to keep up with current events, and to research topics of interest.  People who visited a library last year still go to borrow a book or browse the stacks.  46% of people visited the library to use a research database.  77% of Americans say the it is very important for their library to offer access to computers and the internet.  With the increasing use of ebooks and technology, the librarians roles are evolving too.  Librarians are asked to provide information and guidance for computers, internet, data bases and media.  Americans still want their library to offer quiet spaces for study, activities for adults, teens and children, and availability of ebooks, apps and kiosks with information.

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Teens & Technology: Understanding the Digital Landscape by Amanda Lenhart

Lenhart, A. (February, 25 2014).

Teens & technology: Understanding the digital landscape
. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/02/25/teens-technology- understanding-the-digital-landscape/

"Amanda spoke to students in the school of Public Health at George Washington University about how adolescents ages 12 to 17 are using the internet, social media, and mobile phones in their daily lives. The talk includes data on smartphones, tablets, and youth who use mobile devices to go online most of the time, as well as data about apps and privacy. "

Today's teens are very tech savy.  95% of teens use the internet and 93% have a computer or access to one.  What is changing with teens and the internet is that they are going "mobile".  Many of today's teens have have a cell phone with access to the internet.  78% of teens have a cell phone, 37% of all U.S. teens own a smart phone.  Teens are using their smart phones to diversify their social media.  Increasing numbers show teens utilizing social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Many teens are shying away from Facebook and using sites such as snapchat and Tumblr.  Although teens are spending more time online, they are also taking time to manage their "social privacy" by deleting people, posts and pictures from their media sites.



pages read: 24

Online Book Communities

The way we read books is evolving everyday.  More and more people are exploring options like, ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts, online book clubs, etc.  It is easy to see why the growth of online book communities has exploded.  Online book communities can be used for both personal and professional reading.  It's a great way to explore, research and reach out to the masses of readers.  I explored the following online book communities.  Each one is different and offers a variety of options.

GoodReads

https://www.goodreads.com

goodreads is a very popular online book community that offers many options to the users.  An app can be downloaded to your device.  You can share your information with your social media sites.  goodreads is visually appealing and easy to navigate through.  You can connect with your friends, explore new books to read, and add to your virtual book shelves.  I think the students would enjoy a goodreads account for this library book clubs.  Overall, I feel goodreads is a great resource to get recommendations on great new books or what to read next.  The screen shot below is of my own goodreads account.

librarything

https://www.librarything.com

LibrayThing is another option for online book communities.  You can create a free account and create your online virtual book shelves.  You can connect with your friends and share thoughts on books.  You can join groups and search for what to read next.  It is somewhat visually appealing.  It seems very busy and wordy for my taste.  The following screenshot is my account with LibraryThing.

Shelfari

http://www.shelfari.com

Shelfari is a great online book community.  As it states in its logo, readers can read, share and explore the world of books.  It is part of the amazon web.  With a free account, you can upload and create your virtual book shelf.  You can find friends, explore new books, read what others are saying about books and join groups.  It's visually appealing and easy to navigate through.  Overall, I feel comfortable with this online book community and would encourage students to create an account.

Booklikes

http://booklikes.com

booklikes is a very user friendly online book community.  It is visually appealing and gives the user many options to explore with books.  You create a free account and can search for new books, share your thoughts on a book, find your friends or join a discussion.  I feel this would be a great tool for teachers and librarians to incorporate with reading clubs.  The students can create their virtual book shelves and discuss their books.  I really enjoyed creating my own book shelf.

biblionasium

https://www.biblionasium.com

A great online book community for elementary students is biblionasium.  It's a safe secure online book community geared towards children K through 8.  The teacher creates the account and sets the options for the students.  It is very visually appealing and will encourage the elementary student to participate.  Click on the following link to take a tour of this amazing online book community.

http://vimeo.com/68918813

In conclusion, I feel that the options for the online book communities are endless.  Each community offers different features and options.  It is really up to the teachers/librarians to pick an online book community that will benefit all the students.  Personally, I'm very excited about biblionasium.  I can't wait to explore more features, options to help my students get excited about books!

Listen Up! Podcasts in our classrooms and libraries

Listen Up!  Podcasts in our classrooms and libraries

Podcasts are multimedia files available on the internet for download to a portable media player.  Over the past few years, podcasts have become very popular for sharing anything from songs, books, talk shows to tutorials on just about anything.  Podcasts can be a very valuable tool to use in our classrooms and libraries.  The possibilities for creating content rich podcasts are endless.  With practice, patience and practicality, we can train our students to become expert podcasters.  

Podcasts can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways.  Students can research a topic (monthly themes, authors, community issues) and create a podcast to present as their final product.  Podcasts can be published by both teachers and students to create peer support in subjects where students need tutoring.  Book reports can be fun by creating a podcast.  The podcast can be used across all subjects and by all grade levels.  

There are many tools available to help teachers/librarians create podcasts.  I explored 3 tools and created accounts with each one.  Some are easy to navigate through, others can be a little more complicated.  Depending on your preference and technological comfort zone, you can chose the best tool for you and your students with a bit of research and practice.

Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com

Soundcloud is a tool available to create, share, and listen to our podcasts.  Their list of categories includes a variety of music and many educational topics.  They offer an app for Android, iPhone and iPad.  This is very useful because the students can download the app to their devices.  Soundcloud can be used in the classroom for many different activities.  The students or the teachers can create the podcasts they want to share.  The possibilities are endless.  Overall, Soundcloud can be used with ease and it is very visually appealing and easy to use.

Audioboo

https://audioboo.fm

Audioboo states it is the "easiest and most effective" tool for teachers and students to create and share podcasts.  The unique thing about audioboo is that it is integrated with edmodo, a secure online resource community specifically for teacher and students.  With the edomodo app, the students and teachers can record material, retrieve content from audioboo, and add it the edomodo library.  This is such an interesting feature because the use of edmodo in the classrooms in growing.  I found this tool to be easy to use, visually appealing and a great source for students, teachers and librarians.

Podomatic

https://www.podomatic.com/login

Podomatic is available for download in the app store.  This is convenient because the students can use their devices to create, share and listen to podcasts.  Podomatic has a multitude of available podcasts that range in topics.  It is very easy to use and create your own podcast.  Podomatic guides you along in creating your own podcast in 5 easy steps.  This tool is easy to use and visually appealing.  Students will find this tool easy to implement.

I created the following podcast for my students.  We are currently reading all about Dr. Seuss.