Today's Tech Literacy Tools

The article that I chose to review took a different spin on research about book apps for preschoolers as it discussed the parents perceptions of them. Howard and Wallace (2013) wrote about a survey  asking  parents about their use both digital and print books as well as the most important things that they looked for when choosing a book app for their child. The article states, “The survey results indicated that the majority of respondents were committed to reading print books with their children—98 percent indicated that they read physical books to their children, at least occasionally, and 88 percent read physical books with their children at least once a day.” It also shared that only “Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated that they also provided their children with access to book apps, the majority on an iPad.”

This was interesting to me as both a parent and a teacher. I understand the growing need to build literacy skills at such a young age but I also get that limiting screen time is just as important. We all want “well-rounded” children, the kids that are smart but not too smart for their own good, and ones that can entertain themselves without being dependent on technology. So I guess my thought would be to choose an app carefully, based off of it’s educational purpose, and use it WITH my child to help build a love for reading. However, that’s not what this study found. The article stated that “The most commonly sought feature for a successful book app is entertainment value, and respondents stated that apps had to be fun and interactive or children would not want to use them.”

With that being said, this article made me realize that as we incorporate technology, such as book apps, into the classroom  we need to be cognizant of what educational tools parents are already using with their children at home.  We don’t want the children to be repeating or burnt out on a specific app or program. We also have to realize that this allows for some children to come into the classroom way ahead of others and that we need to continue to teach to each child's’ ability level. This is much easier done these days with adaptive practice tools that enhance our teaching.

HOWARD, V., & WALLACE, M. (2016). Today's Tech Literacy Tools. Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The Association For Library Service To Children, 14(1), 3-9.

Today's Tech Literacy Tools

Sustaining a Makerspace

A makerspace is a growing concept in education. It’s a space created in a community, such as a classroom or library, where materials are provided for students to make and explore new things. Teachers are struggling to find ways to meet the 21st century learning expectations of problem solving, creativity, and collaboration and makerspaces have started to come into play.

An article by Kristin Fontichiaro discussed how to sustain a makerspace. Students are encouraged to make things move or light up, or even just to solve an everyday problem they are experiencing by inventing or creating a solution. Technology can be extremely useful when setting up an area like this in your classroom or library. Some items though can be expensive, so you must choose them carefully. Fontichiaro (2016), states, “consider Drawdio, a nifty tool that electrifies your pencil and lets you make electronic sound with pencil lead. Cool, but at $17 per kit, it can only be constructed once and is outside the budget of many groups. By comparison, consider a $50 box of LEGOs -- endlessly reusable and flexible, whether your students are creating new worlds, responding to design challenges, or prototyping ideas for inventions.” She suggests using items that are reusable that “offer features, challenges, or options that grow as students do. Students remain interested in them for longer periods, revisiting them repeatedly as they ramp up their skills.” These can be things like

I feel like this article supports an idea that technology doesn’t always have to be the best answer when helping students achieve 21st century learning skills. It’s insightful to see that hands-on learning can be just as beneficial as educational technology. Ask for donations from the community, in the form of money or time,  and share out things that the students are making using social media if you still want to incorporate technology.

Sustaining a Makerspace Article

FONTICHIARO, K. f. (2016). Sustaining a Makerspace. Teacher Librarian, 43(3), 39-41.