Category Archives: School Media Specialist

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Goosechase

In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

The app GooseChase mixes scavenger hunts and mobile tech in order to create fun learning activities. “In minutes, GooseChase lets you create and facilitate a customized scavenger hunt. Create a game on the GooseChase website and add missions from the mission list or make your own missions. Students use the app to join your game and submit clues.” Plus, the Goose Chase website offers a free game library just for teachers. 

Platform: iOS, Android
Grades: Elementary+ Cost:
FREE: (recreational account)

Check out this review of the app from Common Sense Education.org which says the app is “highly engaging and encourages collaboration.” This post from Adventures in Ed Tech gives detailed instructions on using the app as well as some helpful tips. 

Watch this video to learn how GooseChase works!

Resources, School Media Specialist

Check out this great resource for educators: AskMN!

If you work in a school media center that is part of the Great River Regional Library System, this resource could prove very useful to you! Great River’s website has this Ask a Librarian page, which offers a ton of different and unexpected services. It includes links to a form where you can “book” a librarian for a 30-60 minute in-person meeting and information for how to contact (including Instant Messaging) a Reference Librarian.

Plus, it also features an Educator Request form where you can request materials on a specific subject, a Virtual Reference Shelf where you can access online resources, and finally a link that takes you to FREE practice tests for the MN Driving Test! Libraries offer such a variety of useful services!

If you are looking for more online reference services, visit AskMN.org where they have a page specifically for school libraries.

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Google Translate

In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

The app Google Translate lets users “translate from one language to another by entering text or speaking into the device. Users may read or listen to translations. Translate conversations with the microphone feature. This app also allows users to save translations.” You can also take a picture of a sign in a foreign language and use the app to translate it.  Plus, it’s possible to use this app offline too, which is really handy for times when you don’t have cell service!

Platform: iOS, Android
Grades: All
Cost: FREE

Common Sense Education has this article which includes ideas for teaching using Google Translate, and features reviews from teachers.  Or read this article with ten tips for ways to get the most out of the app.

Check out the new Tap to Translate feature on the app:

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Libby

The app Libby (yay, a library app! Yes, we are slightly biased) is “an app that simplifies digital ebook borrowing from Overdrive with a public library card. Easy taps and swipes get you to the ebooks and audio books you want. If you belong to several public libraries, you can enter cards for each of them and easily switch back and forth between collections. But there’s more: the app includes an impressive built-in ebook reader and an audiobook player. You can set up wishlists and you can opt to send books to your Kindle for reading.”

Platform: Android, iOS
Cost: FREE
Grades: All

This article features twelve tips to help you get the most out of the Libby app. If you are curious about how Libby works, you can read this list of FAQs on their website.

Watch this video to see how to use the Libby app!

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Clips

In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

The app Clips allows you to “turn your iPhone into a video production studio with Clips. Create and edit dynamic videos with the ability to add subtitles, animated stickers, filters, and music, all within the app. Videos are easy to make and share via text or social media.” 

Platform: iOS
Cost: FREE
Grades: All

This article from Ed Tech Team covers both the app and also instructions on how to flip your classroom by creating Clips videos. The author is a high school teacher and believes this app can be extremely useful to students. “By having videos that prepare them for lectures, engage and entertain them, reinforce instructions, and highlight key concepts, our students are being set up for success.”

Common Sense Education has this review of the app, which contains pro/cons along with ideas for ways to use the app for teaching like for recording book reports or making presentations in foreign languages.

Watch this quick video to get an idea of all the cool capabilities that come with Clips: