All posts by John

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

23 Mobile Things Spotlight – Thing 21: Free-for-all

icon_23_100px1This week the CMLE office shines the 23 Mobile Things spotlight on Thing 21, Free-for-all.

With this Thing, participants were tasked with blogging about an app they love but wasn’t included in the 23 Mobile Things program. There were many good posts by CMLE bloggers and many were passionate about the apps they love.

One blogger, Carolyn Avaire, in her 23 in ’14 blog, shared a great quote app. We can all use some great inspiration in our lives! “It was tough finding an app that also included info on the quoter,” she said. “I like to read about the people behind the quotes almost as much as the quotes.” The Android app was called Brilliant Quotes and is worth its addition to your mobile device.

For other ideas check out the other CMLE participant’s blogs from this page: http://23mobilethingsmn.org/cmle/

For those that are in the program, we encourage you to continue blogging, tweeting, and posting about your experiences. If you’re struggling for motivation, feel free to skip around. Find that mobile thing that motivates you.

Remember the end date to complete all 23 Mobile Things is June 15th. If learning more about mobile devices isn’t enough, we remind you that registered Minnesota participants are eligible for prizes! Keep up the great work and make sure to collect your badges.

Tip: See what people are saying on Twitter about 23 Mobile Things by following the hashtag #23ThingsMN and join the conversation!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

23 Mobile Spotlight on Instagram!

icon_23_100px1This week the CMLE office shines the 23 Mobile Thing spotlight on Sharing Photos, Thing 10.

CMLE Board member and Sauk Rapids Media Specialist Maria Burnham expressed her love for Instagram. “I love, love, love Instagram,” she said. On her post, she demonstrated how Instagram can be used easily and quickly at any moment. While on a student walk, she just held her camera in the air and took a picture. By applying a filter to the picture, she was truly able to capture the mood. “Everyone’s a professional photographer with Instagram!”

Many other libraries and schools are starting to use Instagram in their programs and classes. We at CMLE found this great post with 9 Interesting Ways to Use Instagram for Your Library. Or, how about Five Ways Universities are using Instagram?

How are you sharing photos at your library or school?

For other great photo sharing ideas, or for any of the Things, check out the other CMLE participant’s blogs from this page: http://23mobilethingsmn.org/cmle/

For those that are in the program, we encourage you to continue blogging, tweeting, and posting about your experiences. If you’re struggling for motivation, feel free to skip around. Find that mobile thing that motivates you. Remember the end date to complete all 23 Mobile Things is June 15th. If learning more about mobile devices isn’t enough, we remind you that registered Minnesota participants are eligible for prizes! Keep up the great work and make sure to collect your badges.

Tip: See what people are saying on Twitter about 23 Mobile Things by following the hashtag #23ThingsMN  and join the conversation!

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

International Games Day @ Your Library

IGD12-logoAs if anyone needs another reason to visit their library, the American Library Association (ALA) is teaming up with other international organizations to bring an International Games Day @ your library to the United States. The November 15th, 2014 event “is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world and auspiced by the American Library Association to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games.” It is completely free to participate! Registration is available but not required and there is even a press kit to help you publicize the event. Can’t hold Games Day on the 15th? Don’t worry, you can still participate in your own way!

So break out those Scrabble boards, cards, and gaming consoles to practice. Looking for ideas? Check out the Librarian’s guide to gaming site for tips.

What games will you be playing?

General, Public, School Media Specialist

50 Best iPad Apps for Reading Help

Image by flickingerbrad. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by flickingerbrad. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

While there are numerous technologies out there that can support parents and educators working with students, perhaps one of the richest is the iPad. It offers dozens of applications designed to meet the needs of a child with a reading disability and beginning readers alike.

Check out Teacherswithapp’s list of 50 great iPad apps to help students with reading, writing, and spelling, but also get a boost in confidence and learn to see school as fun!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Coldplay Contest: Hiding Lyrics at Libraries

Public Domain FileIn a recent “Willy Wonka” style contest, the band, Coldplay, have revealed lyrics for all nine songs from the upcoming Ghost Stories album by hiding lead singer Chris Martin’s handwritten lyric sheets in libraries around the world. The lyrics were found in ghost story books in libraries in Mexico, Finland, Spain, Singapore, UK, USA, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa. Clues to the exact locations of the lyrics were posted on the band’s Twitter account – twitter.com/coldplay – using the hashtag #lyricshunt. Fans were encouraged to help solve the clues and visit their local library to see if they can find an envelope containing one of the unique lyrics sheets. One of the hidden envelopes also contained a special Golden Ticket, giving the finder (and a guest) a free trip to London to see Coldplay perform at the Royal Albert Hall on July 1st.

An extremely detailed play-by-play can be found here, but for a more simple list about the library locations and what books the lyrics were found in, you can look on the band’s website.

Kudos to Coldplay for providing fans an opportunity to visit their local library!