Image by Sean MacEntee. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
Although it sounds a bit violent, if app smashing is going well, it is anything but violent. Edudemic wrote a great piece about apps that do some things really well, but don’t offer everything needed for a student to complete a project. There are some “swiss army knife” apps, but often not! The real beauty of app smashing is that higher level problem solving and collaboration often takes place in order to pick up where one app leaves off, and complete a project. In fact, app smashing has been called exhilarating! Edudemic says it much better than I can, read the full post How to Use “App Smashing” in Education
Reference Outreach & Instruction Guest Webinar Series
Join Minitex Reference Outreach & Instruction for a special webinar series that is sure to delight, inspire, and inform. Topics include History Day and Hullabaloos, mobile applications for health and medical information, apps and the “23 Mobile Things” program, mindfulness in the library, and more.
Mobile applications for health and medical information abound. In this webinar we will review some of the best apps for health information for patients and healthcare consumers, search for evidence-based research articles, track prescriptions and dietary supplements, and more.
Presenters:
Martha Hardy, Assistant Professor, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Metropolitan State University
If you didn’t get a chance to catch earlier offerings in this webinar series, be sure to check out the recordings and handouts.
Our Mobile Things participants are off to a great start!The adventure has started!
Registration opened on Jan 15; more than 300 people have registered to participate in 23 Mobile Things. And in the CMLE region, we currently have 56 people registered. A few individuals in our region are dangerously close to earning their first badge for completing five of the Things. I can’t help but notice that many 23 Things On a Stick “grads” (from five years ago) have signed up for this version of the program. Individuals tell me that they enjoy learning at their own pace, in the privacy of their cube when they really mess up! I often learn the most when things don’t work out quite as I had planned! So, don’t be afraid to try things and take a winding trail if needed to meet your learning goals. But what if you mess up, and get really stuck? Now it might be time to look over your cube wall to your colleague! See how far they are in the program, and whether they may have the same problem. And, if you get really stuck, you can always email us at minn23@gmail.com. When you get yourself out of the ditch, be sure to post about your struggle, as you may very well help someone else out as they read your blog post!
Reminder: 23 Mobile Things is open to all staff in Minnesota libraries, as well as their Boards & Friends. It may be helpful to find a group to connect with via your blogs or in person to provide mutual support & encouragement. You can see all of the registered blogs in a region by clicking on a region’s name in the sidebar of the site. Here are those who have registered in CMLE .Tip: See what people are saying on Twitter about 23 Mobile Things by following the hashtag #23ThingsMN and join the conversation.
Registration runs through Feb 15 and the program ends Jun 15. We estimate that it takes about an hour per app to do the program, so whether you are doing it on “library time” or on your own time, plan to spend about 25-30 hours over the course of the 6 months.
If you are undecided about the program, read the Welcome & the FAQs to get a sense of what’s ahead. Then fire up your device, register, & get appy!
Adapted from a recent post by Metronet, the Twin Cities multitype library system.
Meet our coaches…..as many of you know, our CMLE staff is small, and sometimes the needs are big! Jonathan and John are willing and excited to help me read and comment on the blogs of participants in the 23 Mobile Things program. Be nice please, they are total volunteers! Here are a few fun facts about these guys….
Jonathan Carlson is the Science Librarian at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University. He received his MALIS from UW-Madison and MS in Forest Ecology and Management from Michigan Tech, although he is a Gustie at heart. He enjoyed volunteering, having participated in Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Minneapolis and Peace Corps in Tanzania, and most recently has served as staff person on an Alternative Spring Break trip working with Habitat for Humanity in Oklahoma. You’ll often find him reading a good book, cleaning his aquariums, or enjoying the outdoors.
John Meyerhofer
John Meyerhofer was a math major at St. John’s University (MN) and is currently in the MLIS program at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He grew up in Zumbrota MN, is the proud father of two boys, and is a stay at home dad. John is an avid reader; his favorite book is Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. He has lots of other hobbies, many indicate he is an active guy! He has hiked to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Utah this past summer. He likes to downhill ski – skied Big Sky MT last winter – once skied in Austrian Alps! Last but not least, it appears John is a music junkie. According to John, ” I love all kinds of music from classical to contemporary, Bach to the Beatles, Chopin to Coldplay, Wagner to Wilco.” You can find John on Twitter at @JRMeyerhofer
As you blog your way through the 23 Mobile Things Program, watch for comments on your blog posts.
If you too would like to be a volunteer CMLE coach (cheerleader), send email to cmle@stcloudstate.edu and let me know.
The Daredevil: Are you the daring sort that never reads the directions? And, if so, do you feel ready to dive right into the 23 Mobile Things program? If so, go to http://tinyurl.com/llmktn4 to get started. You can create a whole new blog, or, you can use an existing blog as long as we can tell when you are blogging about your progress in the program! Note: If you really get derailed, we may have trouble helping you out of the ditch, but daredevils often don’t ask for help anyway, right?
The Rules Person: Do you just feel much better if you read all of the instructions first? No shame in that, and it is possible you may not end up “in the ditch” along the way. Go to the Welcome page at http://23mobilethingsmn.org/. While you are there, click on the Frequently Asked Questions too, just for good measure!
The In-Betweener: And then we have the group that starts to read the FAQ’s, gets distracted by a link, and they are off! That is ok too, just be sure to bookmark the site so you can easily find your way back to the general program information when you need it!
We will send out blog posts during the program to keep everyone on track! Thanks in advance for participating….am hoping to see good participation in Central Minnesota. No pressure, but yes, there is a wee bit of competition across multitype regions, so make me look good! 🙂
