Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
Getting started with Web-based digital storytelling tools
Inclusive digital storytelling tools
31 of My Favorite Digital Storytelling Sites
60 Sites for Digital Storytelling Tools and Information
Aviary: Image editor, screen capture, audio editor, etc...
Digital Storytelling Tools
Reading
Banned Books
Animoto by Joan McCall, Redlands USD
Bibliomania
BookShare: free for US students with qualified print disabilities
Bookwink: video booktalks for kids
Check out iPhone app ($1.99) that gets you 23,469 free books!
Children's Literature--Web Guide
Destiny: add book reviews. Search for Leviathan by Scott Westerfield.
Click on the Reviews tab and then the title of the book.
(Thanks to Dana Stemig, Thomas Downey HS, Modesto, CA)
Internet Public Library (ipl2): free full-text online stories, books, poems, plays, etc.
Links to check the reading level of books:
Conversion chart for Lexile to Reading Level
AR Book Finder: for general literature reading levels
READ 180: locate levels for truncated books
Check Follett's Destiny, as available through your district
Online Children's Stories, many links
YALSA's Book awards and booklists for young adult readers
Writing
Children's Writings, many links
Children's Writings, many links
figment: online community to share writing
KidPub: Books and stories by kids, for kids
Storybird: create online picture books
Zooburst: create 3D picture books
KidPub: Books and stories by kids, for kids
Storybird: create online picture books
Zooburst: create 3D picture books
Listening
Audio books and poetry: huge archive of resources
BookShare: free for US students with qualified print disabilities
Librophile: free audio books
SpeakingAudio books and poetry: huge archive of resources
BookShare: free for US students with qualified print disabilities
Librophile: free audio books
screenr: Instant screencasts
Voicethread: create audio sharing and storytelling
Viewing (Images and Videos)
Moving Image Archive (scroll to Sub-Collections)
Stupeflix: Create stunning videos in seconds
Top 40 best free legal movies you can download right now
YouTube Editor: enhance your uploaded videos
e-Books: free downloads and information
Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts: search by author, title, tags
Google books (Click link under the image below to view video)
Livebinder on E-books & Libraries
The Online Books page: listing over 1 million free books on the Web
Planet eBook: Classic literature for download as free eBooks
Project Gutenberg: free ebooks
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| Introducing Google eBooks video |
CAlib posting on eBooks, December 6, 2010
To: calibk12@lists.sjsu.eduSubject: [CALIBK12] Reducing library collections in favor of e-books?
Bruce Cummings' recent post (Dec 1) about the Lamar High School library in Texas
reducing its collection of books in favor of e-books is probably a sign of
things to come. Clearly, this can only work if e-books and e-book readers come
way down in price.
Right now, e-book readers cost between $100 and $200. (I see ads for Kindles
selling for $139 everywhere.) About 7% of adults in the US read e-books (NY
Times, Nov 14), and not surprisingly, demographic studies show that those who
own e-book readers are an affluent group. A study done by Mediamark about a year
ago found that e-book reader owners are “more likely than the average adult to
be well-educated and have high incomes . . .”
Of course, to match the power of libraries, children have to be able to borrow e
book readers and e books and use them for free. I have no doubt that e-book
readers and e-books will come down in price, but many families will still not be
able to afford them. E-book readers and e-books need to get get cheap enough for
school and public libraries to loan them out, but we are a long way from
reaching this stage.
Also: I don't think e book readers have beaten the book yet. After all, books
are random-access, durable, highly portable, and energy efficient. Books require
no power source, and can be used in airplanes after the pilot has told you to
shut down your electronic devices. In its current form, the book has survived
for a long time. Today's e-book readers will probably be obsolete in a few
months, making way for improved (or should I say "improved") models.
I think it is highly likely that e-books will someday replace the book, but so
far they haven't. None of them has all the advantages of the book. Right now,
they are only androids, approximations of the real thing.
PS: The US Department of Education is clearly committed to moving from print to
digital. In their recent document "Transforming American Education: Learning
Powered by Technology" (http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010) calls for
"transitioning from predominantly print-based classrooms to digital learning
environments."
