‘Inanimate Alice’ and the future of e-reading.

I wonder how many teachers have seen their schools purchase new ‘Wow-factor’ technology only to find it used to continue and reinforce outdated teaching methods. In the wrong hands a PowerPoint presentation can be just as monotonous as an hour of ‘chalk and talk’. Similarly, an e-learning course can be little more than an online presentation of black-line masters if not constructed to be engaging and stimulating.

In my opinion one of the best things about the 2.0 shift is the way many educators are now using technologies for different types of teaching and learning. Thinking has changed. Educational opportunities emerge almost daily and I recently discovered something with enormous potential: Inanimate Alice, interactive “multi-sensory” storytelling.

As a teacher-librarian I have been quite sceptical about the benefits of e-books, especially in terms of their ability to encourage students to read. Online books do not conjure up cosy images of reading; they still need to be read in the ‘traditional’ way. However, Inanimate Alice is different and I believe it represents the future of e-reading and online storytelling.

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Online Children’s Books

I am still exploring the web looking for ideas to help with my Book Week Literacy project, a story book using the prompt “Imagine if I discovered…” In my travels I found Big Universe Online Children’s Books and created a small story using the prompt myself. The book was easy to construct using illustrations provided on site although I did have to watch the demo first. It was approved for online publishing in a few hours. I decided that Big Universe has huge ‘learning gem’ potential. I can imagine teachers and parents using it as a literature and writing learning tool. Hopefully, it will also help me to create some excitement for my Book Week project!

The books are free to create and read online.

Imagine if I discovered…

One of the projects I am working on for this year’s Book Week is a literacy project which will involve our primary school students in the writing, publication and launch of a school story book built around the prompt ‘Imagine if I discovered…” The aim will be for each student to contribute to the publication by responding individually to the topic. Each student will be allocated one page in the book.

Of course this is a major endeavour and today I have been searching the web for ideas and inspiration. I am always looking for imaginative ways to motivate students to write and think creatively and I was particularly looking for visual strategies to act as ‘warm up’ exercises. I stumbled across Toondoo and started to fiddle…

This site has huge potential as a creative writing and planning tool that is both fun and simple to use.

Using Polls

I like the idea of using polls to encourage students and teachers to think about their attitudes and behaviours when using a particular resource, whether it be a blog, a library, textbook or other learning technology. This type of reflective thinking can be very powerful because it forces us to focus on learning behaviours and challenge our thinking. I discovered PollDaddy while visiting my local library’s web page and thought I’d try my hand at it!

My Poll question is: How do you use blogs for educational purposes?

surveysTake Our Poll

Lifelong Learning…

Retraining as a teacher-librarian has reawakened my love of teaching, learning and technology. However, after 2 years in the role I am still surprised that T-Ls have such a tough time convincing others of their worth. Other teachers seem to ‘forget’ the vital role that a T-L may have played in developing a unit of work, offering up-to-date advice and ideas, or finding the right resource to spark students’ interest in learning. Unfortunately, inspiring students and teachers is a difficult thing to measure and I worry that T-Ls are marginalized because of this.

‘Invisible’ achievement is not good for the profession! T-Ls need to stop being the quiet achievers in school communities and set about actively reminding other teachers and administrators of their central and vital role in teaching and learning. This blog is my attempt to do just that…I will use it to share the ‘learning gems’ I have gathered, and continue to gather, as a lifelong learner and teacher.

What better place to begin than by sharing my favourite learning gem discovery for this week…ript. Access it via ript.com It is a great organizational tool that would probably suit both students and teachers alike.