iPads in Education
Have Children’s Apps Lost Their Luster?
I’ve heard grumblings and rumblings that the market for apps (especially those for children) has lost its momentum. Do I think apps are less top-of-mind? I’d say that they were never exactly top-of-mind for the consumer, but yes, I think they are less dominant now. You don’t hear the quip, ‘there’s an app for that’ very […]
Reframing Education: Why Every Child in the US Should be Home Schooled
“Parents are the primary educators of their children.” This phrase was echoed in my training as a health educator and social worker so often it became a mantra to me. Modern educators hear it a lot, although they may not always understand the core of what it really means. The primary, consistent and most influential […]
Take Five for Family Engagement: Five YouTube Science Channels to Share with Kids
Not all screen time is created equal, as we like to say, but when it comes to exploring science, screen time can be an excellent way to stimulate curiosity, explain how things work and begin to visualize the unimaginable. It is also an enjoyable way to spend time with your kids, discussing the natural world, investigating questions […]
Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Age: Picture Book App Trends
Last week at the Bookseller’s Annual Children’s Conference, one bit of commentary on the picture book app sent dozens of messages to my assorted in-boxes. The critic, Nicolette Jones (a children’s book reviewer for London’s Sunday Times) was reported as saying, “What I have more reservations about, although I see some publishers working very hard at it, are […]
A new interactive media: K.I.W.i (Kids Interactive Walk-in) Storybooks and Apps – Guest Post by Roxie Munro
This guest post was written by the talented author/illustrator Roxie Munro, who has created dozens of gorgeous picture books in print and now digital. In my experience, she is one of the most innovative content creators in the field of children’s digital and print media. But as impressed with her apps and books as I […]
2014 Best of the Best: Top Five Book Apps for Early Education
It’s time for Digital-Storytime’s fourth annual “best of the best” list for the top picture book apps for children, ages 2-12! This year we are breaking the list down into five separate categories, including this one – five top book apps for the youngest learners. All five of these book apps are perfect for ages 2-5+ and include […]
Support Your Child’s Teachers and School Librarians with The Perfect Back-to-School Gift
This school year, more and more K-12 classrooms across North America and abroad are getting access to a digital buffet of educational content. Schools that had never had more than a few older desktop computers are now getting laptops and other digital tools, like tablets and smart devices. Each device has an array of uses, […]
Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years – A Textbook for 21st Century Educators
Are you looking for a wealth of thoughtful, educated and tech-savvy resources for teaching the youngest learners? I’ve co-authored a chapter in Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years, out on Monday, August 25, 2014. This extraordinary textbook for 21st century educators includes up-to-date information about new media in many forms, with a focus […]
Note to the #DigitalShift: The Librarians Have Arrived!
Over the past two years I’ve been working closely within the library community about digital content for children. I’ve attended conferences, participated in the brilliant @LittleeLit think tank and even co-created training modules to pilot for professional development in multiple states. But until this past month, after attending the exceptional American Library Association (ALA) 2014 […]
Take Five for Family Engagement: Tips from Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR)
Recently, my son (age 7) told another kid his age that there are some interesting things to be learned from “old people”. He explained, “you know, the ones who were alive during the 19’s”. “They know some cool stuff,” he told his buddy … and I hope we can continue to share our ‘old-fashioned’ 20th […]
Take Five for Family Engagement: Apps to Get Moving TOGETHER!
Take 5 to get moving! This month’s list is brought to you by Carissa Christner, one of my favorite librarians – and I LOVE her first name! 🙂 Carissa works at the Madison, WI public library and has embraced new media. She is a major contributor to the LittleeLit think tank and has suggested five apps […]
Youth Literature in the Digital Realm – Q&A with Kent State MLIS Students
Last month I was invited by Dr. Marianne Martens to speak to her class at Kent State University. The students are getting their MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) degrees and the course is called “Youth Literature in the Digital Realm.” We pre-recorded a short presentation for the students and then invited them to submit […]
Parenting in the Digital Age: Teaching Kids to Balance Their Own Media Diet
Over the past two years, I have begun to transition away from full-time work on my book app review site, Digital-Storytime.com, in order to work on more outreach and training projects, especially within the public libraries in California. I have also done a number of presentations to parents, educators and content creators in the past […]
Take Five for Family Engagement: Early Learning Apps from the Fred Rogers Center
This month’s “Take 5” post features five free iPhone apps (plus one free Android app) created by the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. With these fun apps, designed for young children and their families to use together, you can go on a photo scavenger hunt, enhance family routines and engage in […]
The 5 Types of Free Apps and How to Find Them
This post is an excerpt from a collaborative guest post, with Claudia Haines in the wonderful blog, Little eLit (http://littleelit.com). Little eLit provides librarians and literacy advocates with thoughtful articles, reviews and technical resources from a large pool of talented contributors. Claudia is the “Curation Coordinator” for Little eLit and a Youth Services Librarian at the Homer Public […]
Take Five for Family Engagement: Great Puzzle Apps to Share With Kids 4-10+
This is a new series we’re starting off for 2014 – a quick list of five apps, websites, tech tools or other resources for the digital age to help families connect, balance and nourish their relationships in a world prone to ‘digital distraction’. While we strongly encourage families to consider the overall number of hours […]
The Baby and the Bathwater: A Nuanced Message About Screen Time
The debate about ‘screen time’ and children continues to be a hot topic in the field of early childhood education. Among the most difficult questions I have to answer are the ones about app recommendations for children under three. It seems like an innocent question, but it can also feel like I’ve entered a mine-field […]
7 Ways to Use Digital Reading to Boost Kids’ Skills – Guest Post by Suz Lipman of Bookboard
Susan Sachs Lipman (Suz) is the author of Fed Up with Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast-Moving World, which grew out of her blog, Slow Family Online. I met her in her new role as the Social Media Director for Bookboard, a digital children’s book library. You can try Bookboard for FREE, a service that hooks kids into reading by unlocking digital books, […]
The Cost of a Writing Life
When I first began my review site, Digital-Storytime.com, I had in mind a life of writing that involved a lot of freedom of expression and time … I might not make much from my brief evaluations of book apps, but I would have complete control over every aspect of my expression. Having control over your […]
New Media Partnerships – The Role of Mentoring and Training
Two weeks ago I had the honor of being invited to the Erikson Institute in Chicago to meet with Amanda Armstrong, Iara Fuenmayor and Chip Donohue, from the Technology in Early Childhood Center, Rita Catalano and Michael Robb of The Fred Rogers Center, Aimee Strittmatter and Joanna Ison of ALSC – Association for Library Service to Children and librarian extraordinaire, Cen Campbell of LittleeLit.com. […]
Thinking Out Loud – How New Media is Changing Our Species on a Fundamental Level
This week I was honored to meet with other thought leaders in new media and the education of young children. I’m working on a post for next week about our ‘next steps’ and what I learned from the amazing participants in this conversation. There is something so grounding about meeting with people in person, in […]
Librarians in the Digital Age – Part 2: A to Zoo for Apps Starts the Conversation
At the end of June, I had the honor of being on a panel at the national ALA (American Library Association) conference in Chicago, IL. Originally I was going to prepare a video or be available remotely by Skype, but at the last minute I decided to visit the windy city, stay with a dear […]
Parental Notification, the FTC and Kids Apps: What’s COPPA all about?
COPPA is a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) statute – TITLE XIII – also known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Law. It was originally written in 1998 and had not been updated to account for the latest wave of digital kid’s content in the form of apps and other mobile media aimed at kids under 13. […]
Do Screens Belong in Library Storytimes for Young Children? Response to ALSC Blog
A few days ago, a guest post in the ALSC Blog about how “The Screen Free Storytime is the Best Storytime” really got me ‘all riled up’. The post is from Kathy Kleckner, a children’s librarian for Dakota County Libraries at their Rosemount branch. She has worked as a librarian on a bookmobile, in elementary schools and […]
Can Technology help Parents become better Teachers? – Guest Post by Becky Fisher, M.Ed.
This guest post is from Becky Fisher, a talented writer, artist, musician, educator, adventurer and blogger. She writes about innovation in educational technology, design thinking & art. You can find her on Twitter at @BFish921. She is also the marketing and community manager at Kidaptive, an educational and storytelling project for the iPad. The achievement gap is […]
Using Dialogic Reading Techniques for Early Literacy – Guest Post by Tico Ballagas
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending AppFest, the opening afternoon of Dust or Magic’s App Camp in Monterrey, CA. While there, I met many talented folks, including Dr. Tico Ballagas, creator of a new app called Kindoma. Our family tried this new, free app and it is really unique. Initially you download the app to […]
Screen Time Vs Screen Quality: Why the Current Media & Kids Debate is About the Wrong Topic
In a recent ALSC – Association for Library Service to Children – blog post, Cen Campbell wrote about the idea that “Screen Time is Bad” and how that is truly not the conversation we want to be having today, in 2013. She goes on to point out that, “What most people mean when they talk […]
iPads in Education: Five Tips for Teachers Introducing Devices to the Classroom
Last year I volunteered in my child’s Kindergarten class daily for an hour with our family’s three iPads. I learned a lot about selecting educational content (primarily early math & literacy apps) and how to set up an environment most conducive for learning. I was most impressed by the potential for mobile devices to improve […]
Children’s Librarians in the Digital Age – Part I: A Call to Action
In March, I was honored to be invited to the Watsonville, California public library to do a presentation with Cen Campbell, a librarian in Mt. View and blogger at LittleeLit.com. Our audience was a small group of dedicated librarians who work in a variety of settings in the public library system in Northern California. It […]
Resources for Researching and Evaluating Educational Kids Apps
I recently developed a series of in-person presentations, kind of like an “Educational Apps & Ebooks 101” for groups of parents, educators, librarians or other helping professionals in my community and state. In the process, I have created a handout with my favorite research reports and online resources to guide app evaluation & the selection […]