Category Archives: Tech

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Quizlet

Create digital flashcards and interactive games!

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their picks for Best Apps for Teaching & Learning 2019. “Apps recognized foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration and are user friendly to encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. “

Quizlet is a free app “which enables teachers and students to create digital flashcards. Quizlet can also automatically generate interactive games and even tests of the material you enter into it. Five or ten minutes of typing (or pasting=) upfront can yield literally hours’ worth of automatically-assessed activities inside and outside of the classroom. “

Platform: iOS & Android
Cost: FREE
Grades: All

The Quizlet site has a blog where teachers can contribute posts sharing how they’ve used the app in their classrooms. This post discusses ways to use the app in a math classroom.

Check out this review of the app from Common Sense Education. This article from the AES Educator blog shares some pros and cons of using the app in the classroom. And this post from We Are Teachers gives six ways to incorporate the app into your classroom!

Watch this video to see some of the ways to use Quizlet:

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Figment AR

Figment AR encourages exploration and engagement

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their picks for Best Apps for Teaching & Learning 2019. “Apps recognized foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration and are user friendly to encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. “

“With Figment AR you can “turn your world into an augmented funhouse” as the developers share on in the description on the App Store. This fun app lets you create scenes filled with imaginative objects out of the world around you.  Add interactive animals, objects and emojis to make your scene come to life. Students can create “portals” to step into another dimension while adding environmental effects like rain, fireworks, snow and more.”

Platform: iOS & Android
Cost: FREE!
Grades: All

This post from the Immersive Technology in Education blog has some screenshots and ideas for using the app in your classroom. And this article from Mr. P’s ICT blog describes how to use the app as a storytelling prompt to help students with their writing techniques!

Watch this quick video to see how the app works:

School Media Specialist, Tech

Mark Your Calendars: Two ITEM Events Happening This Summer

CMLE members, there are two chances for you to get together with fellow tech educators this summer!

ITEM 20/20 Vision Workshop
July 17th 9am – 3pm

This workshop will involve following up from the meeting in January where attendees identified areas on which ITEM should focus in the future, such as advocacy, communications, events/professional development, and membership benefits. Join us to work on the next steps.

This workshop is open to members only (but new members are welcome!). There is no charge, and lunch will be on your own.

Board meeting will follow (3-5pm)

2019 ITEM Summer Leadership: YALSA Workshop
July 18th 8:30am – 3:30pm

Student Voice & Choice Hot Dish: Recipes for Better Relationships, Better Learning & Computational Thinking Made Easy

What Is Connected Learning (CL)?
Learn the core concepts of Connected Learning (relationships, interests and real-world application) and how this can look in libraries by looking at a practice model and thinking about adapting the concepts to your own setting.

Workshop Outcomes

Participants will:

  • Understand the philosophy of Connected Learning as it relates to Educational and Career opportunities
  • Explore the Six Principles of Connected Learning
  • Think about how to operationalize Connected Learning theory into practice
  • Learn about how a library has incorporated Connected Learning into a production-centered site

Connecting CL & Computational Thinking (CT)
Even for beginners, CT doesn’t need to be scary. Ditch the fear by getting hands-on experience and a chance to discuss what computational thinking is and how it can be integrated into children’s and teen activities. Then discuss ways to combine that with Connected Learning for killer programs.

Workshop Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

  • Articulate how CL environments support youth learning of CT
  • Understand how to get started designing CL-connected CT activities

Current members: $35
Non-members: $50
Workshop + reduced-price membership: $85 ($10 savings)

Lunch (a variety of sandwiches) is included, and attendees earn 6 CEUs.

Registration deadline is July 7. Space is limited, so don’t delay.


CMLE, Podcast, Tech

Podcasting onsite at St. John’s University!

We knew right away we were in for a treat!

We were so lucky to be able to visit St. John’s and use their excellent Media Lab to record some episodes of our Book Bites podcast! A huge thank you to Kathy Parker and all the librarians and tech staff that came to participate!

  • Great to chat without a table between us!
  • The media crew captured video as well as our audio recording!
  • So fun and interesting to see the great equipment they’re using in the studio!

The goal of our Book Bites podcast series is to share book reviews in five minutes or less. We have had people from all types and positions in libraries participate, and we always enjoy hearing the variety of books people want to recommend!

You can listen to these mini podcast episodes on our site or subscribe to our podcasts Reading With Libraries and Linking Our Libraries and they’ll automatically download to your app!

Communication, School Media Specialist, Tech

School Libraries and Internet Filtering: What are you doing on this?

Réprésentation d'internet

We have had a member question about how school libraries are handling internet filtering requirements, and how to talk about it with IT staff, administration, and other stakeholders for school libraries.

So I looked up some information to share – and really, there is not enough out there.

Now we want to ask YOU what you are doing in your library!

First – are you using filtering software in your school library?

My sense at the moment is that not all of our members are, but I don’t know that. And of course there is not a right or wrong answer here – every community will be different and serve different needs that affect their decision.

How are schools handling internet blocking/filtering of sites for students and teachers. What do you specifically block? Topics? Key words? Websites?

What language do they use when working with administration, parents, students?

What support can library personnel acquire to use when discussing this with their IT personnel?

How specifically are library personnel handling the downloading of YouTube videos to school management platforms such as Schoology?

Whether or not you are filtering, it is worth taking some time to sit down with stakeholders, and/or CMLE staff, to make a plan to ensure you are meeting the needs of your community. As with all plans, it’s good to check in and review them every so often to be sure you are meeting changing needs and expectations!

Here are some resources to help you think about this issue. Remember: We are here to help CMLE work through just these kinds of topics! Call or email us and let’s set up some time to chat about your library’s filtering plan.

You can start at the ALA’s website for some of the basic ideas
from the profession. There are tons of links and sites here:
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/filtering

Here is the FCC’s take on filtering in schools – Children’s Internet
Protection Act (CIPA):
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

Here is an article for public libraries, but some of the info may be
helpful for schools and other libraries: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/blog/internet-filtering-dont-do-it


This article is for school libraries:
https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/01/law-requires-content-filtering-school-and-library-networks

Some general info: https://ncac.org/resource/internet-filters-2

S little old, but info on filtering in schools:
https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/how-internet-filtering-affects-education/