Tag Archives: tablet

Academic

Academic Librarians — Register for Ebooks and Academics: Video Presentations and Discussion

Register today for Ebooks and Academics: Video Presentations and Discussion!

Academic Librarians from all Colleges in Central MN

St. Cloud State University New Welcome Center (easy parking)

Friday, November 30, 9:00AM-12:30 PM

Academic librarians, please join your colleagues from around the region for this local event with outstanding national content!! Attendees may include personnel from: College of St. Bens/Johns, Rasmussen College, St. Cloud Technical & Community College, SCSU, Cambridge Campus of ARCC, and Pine Technical College. Recently, CMLE staff participated in the virtual SEFLIN eBook conference called eBooks: Benefits, Challenges, and the Future, and paid for group access to the recordings of the five national presenters.  We selected the messages of national ebook experts, Sue Polanka and Chad Mairn, as being of most interest to you for this first event.  Besides listening to their best thinking on ebooks, we would like to offer this opportunity to network informally and discuss local ebook developments and ideas too. CMLE is hosting and arranging this free event.

Come ready to listen, engage, and discuss!! Light refreshments will be served.

Agenda

9:00-9:15              Introductions & logistics

9:15 – 10:15        Sue Polanka (Head of Reference and Instruction, Wright State Universities Libraries)– eBook Licensing and Access: Now and in the Future

This session will analyze barriers to ebook lending models currently available for libraries including licensing, packaging, DRM, use models, and pricing. Trends in the publishing industry such as self-publishing, enhanced ebooks and digital textbooks, which may impact libraries, will be highlighted, demonstrating new opportunities for the future.

10:15-10:45         Group Discussion

10:45 – 11:00      Break

11:00 – 12:00      Chad Mairn (Information Services Librarian and adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College & Chief Technology Officer, Novare Library Services) – Getting the Most from Your eBook Readers: Tips and Tricks

New examples of electronic reading material — e-books, e-magazines, e-textbooks — are appearing every day as well as devices and software to read them on. Accessing, transferring, and interacting with electronic text via Nooks, Kindles, and other e-reading devices, however, can be complicated. Join Chad Mairn as he offers tips and tricks for library staff to help their patrons use their e-reading devices to their full potential. This session will include information on: dedicated and non-dedicated e-readers, new and innovative e-reading devices and software, current and upcoming e-formats, digital Rights Management, privacy issues, and emerging technologies impacting reading in a digital age.

12:00 – 12:30      Group Discussion

Not enough discussion time? Consider walking to Bo Diddleys, Pacific Wok, Noodles & Company, or Chipotle for lunch on your own and continued conversation/debate with colleagues.

Registration is requested. Deadline is end of day on Wednesday, November 28. Register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EbooksAcademics

Kate Bessey will be contacting all registrants by Thursday, November 29 with directions and parking instructions.

We hope you’ll join us! Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

P.S. Not to worry, similar events will be held in the near future for our other library types as well! Be on the look out!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

E-Readers vs. Tablets: Who Will Win?

According to SmartBrief on EdTech, e-book fans increasingly are reading on a tablet instead of an e-reader, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. In fact, the survey found that of those Americans over 30 who read e-books, less than half do so on an e-reader. For those under 30, the number falls to less than a quarter. The trend has electronic-paper companies, such as Taiwan’s E Ink Holdings, scrambling to find uses for their product as sales slow dramatically. What do you think, will e-readers collect dust as the tablet market takes over? Read the full article at Reuters (10/28)

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

The New iPad Mini and 4th Generation iPad

On Tuesday (10/23), Apple unveiled their new iPad Mini with comes in at a mere 7.9 inches and is expected to be a major player in the growing mini tablet market. Additionally, the new iPad 4 will soon be available. It boasts a new A6X chip that “delivers up to twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the A5X chip, all while delivering an incredible 10 hours of battery life in the same thin and light iPad design.”

A word of caution: Due to its small screen size, the new iPad Mini does not meet the minimum specifications issued by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) for the next-generation Common Core State Standards assessments coming in 2014.

Read more about the new iPad Mini and the 4th Gen iPad at THE Journal, 10/23/12

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended App: Splashtop Whiteboard

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Splashtop Whiteboard allows teachers and students to turn their Android tablet or iPad into an interactive whiteboard. Once connected to their computer over Wi-Fi, they can watch Flash media with fully synchronized video and audio, control PC and Mac applications, then annotate lesson content from an Android tablet or iPad. Splashtop Whiteboard offers users of existing interactive whiteboards—such as Mimeo, Mobi, Promethean, Polyvision, or SMART Technologies—a way to extend their investment by accessing their tools from anywhere in the class (all four corners of the room!) without using wireless slates. This app costs anywhere from $2.99 to $9.99 and can be used with iPad iOS 4.0 & up and Android 3.1 & up.

School Media Specialist

Teach With Tablets

A partnership between 3M and the education nonprofit Digital Wish offers parents, teachers and administrators the opportunity to win new tablets for their schools. Called 3M Screens for Schools, this new grant program will award one school up to $25,000 in funding to be used toward the purchase of tablets and 3M Screen Protectors. To apply for the grant, visit 3M Screen Protector’s Facebook page. 3M will donate $1 to Digital Wish for every eligible person who “likes” the page and another $1 for every person who shares 3M Screens for School’s message on his or her Facebook page. Interested parties can also submit a 200- to 500-word essay explaining (1) why the school needs the award for new tablets and how the new tablets would change the school for the better; (2) if the school is awarded the new tablets, how learning would be enhanced for students and teaching enhanced for educators; and (3) what other creative fundraising, if any, the school has undertaken in an effort to bring new technologies into the classroom. Only one entry is permitted per person, but multiple entries—including submissions from teachers and school administrators—can be made on behalf of one school.
Deadline: September 12, 2012
Click Here for More Information