Check out what the Maricopa Library District offers for AudioBooks. I may have to get a card now.
Archive for the ‘Matching Tech’ category
AudioBooks OverDrive
December 18th, 2008Play Go on the XO
December 15th, 2008The One Laptop per Child is in full swing, where really durable/rechargeable laptops replace outdated textbooks and materials. Each one is equipped for Internet and has free, open source software.
One program is PlayGo, where students can play the ancient board game Go against each other. What’s really cool is that it’s multiplayer across the Internet. Lots of fun.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Provided by Project Gutenberg
December 4th, 2008We ran out of class copies for check out for one our honors Language Arts classes. We have enough for a class set, but not for everyone to take home.
Enter one of my favorites: Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg takes public domain documents and indexes them. Many times you’ll find audio versions, as well.
So, for that Language Arts class, enjoy the classic Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, presented by Project Gutenberg.
Alternative to a Dukane Digital Presenter
August 20th, 2008As a librarian I get asked by teachers how to implement different technologies. One of those is a digital presenter, but they’re way too expensive for our budget (who gets it? for how long? how many books can we get instead?).
How about this: hook up the videocamera that your library already has to a TV. Instead of switching the camera to VCR, take out the videotape and switch the videocamera to the record mode. (Taking out the tape should prevent the camera from going into sleep mode/standby.)
For extra snazziness: attach the camera to a tripod, hook the camera up to an LCD projector.
PBS on iTunes U
April 12th, 2008If you haven’t seen iTunes U, there are some great college courses that have free podcasts.
Now PBS has teamed up with iTunes U for free, downloadable TV shows. Great stuff.
Free rice and a vocabulary boost
December 17th, 2007I don’t know if you’ve seen this yet or not, but the World Food Programme has set up a downloadable game called Food Force to educate people about world hunger.
But as a librarian what intrigues me is FreeRice.com.
This reminds me of when I was in college and they had a click and donate site set up.
But now I have to know words? (Just kidding.)
As a librarian whose 30 computers were all in use this morning with games and homework, I think it would be fun to see the students on this.
Why it’s alright:
- You don’t give out any personal information that wouldn’t be on any other site (for example, your IP address (which is given to any site you access on the Nets)).
- No money on your part is needed, unless you take it all the way back to funding/support that the U.S. government gives to the United Nations. But if that’s your beef (or rice), don’t take it out on a vocabulary game.
- It’s actually a pretty elegant site. The design is fluid and doesn’t have annoying pop-ups. Of course, I’m browsing in Safari, so I don’t know if the built-in pop-ups of IE are included.
- The food will be distributed by WFP. Here’s a chart of where they buy their rice, and here’s where it goes.
- It’s a vocabulary game! What Librarian/Old Language Arts teacher doesn’t like that?
And if the mere act of clicking tires you, the dailycow.org has created an auto-clicker. Leave your browser open and you won’t be troubled with words, words, words. (The huge issue with this, though, is that the site has banner ads. If no one clicks on the banners, the companies don’t want to pay for advertising space.)
My highest score is: 160 grains – affiance means betrothed! D’oh!
I never thought I’d have to use the word sinistral since college.
