Librarians as Leaders in Interactive Educational Apps

One of the weekly Twitter chats I enjoy participating in when time permits is the #storyappchat on Sundays This chat has given me the chance to connect with app developers, authors and illustrators, and talented librarians. It's also provided me with the opportunity to learn about identifying quality educational apps for children and finding ways to use them as a supplemental tool in school libraries and classrooms.

In the most recent #storyappchat, hosted by Heather Shugar from the Diapered Daze and Knights blog (@DiaperedKnights on Twitter), we discussed how to bring more attention to interactive educational apps. If you go back through the entire chat archive which was curated by Brooks Jones (@brooks_jones), you will see that both authors/content creators and librarians are concerned with separating the "fluff" apps from those that truly provide an interactive learning experience while promoting literacy. Another concern is finding ways to reach out to educators and assisting them in using interactive educational apps to enhance the learning experience.

Tellagami Tutorial

Piggybacking on Dr. Subramaniam's presentation at TLA, which I shared in my previous blog post, I'm sharing an introductory tutorial that I created for the Tellagami app. My hope is that librarians will be more confident in experimenting with Tellagami and share it with teachers.

Dr. Mega Subramaniam's Presentation at 2014 TLA Conference

Dr. Mega Subramaniam (@mmsubram) from the University of Maryland presented to librarians at the TLA conference in San Antonio. Her session, titled "Shifting Sands of School Librarianship: Math Phobic to Math Enthusiast," provided a list of suggestions for school librarians who want to assist teachers in helping students improve in mathematics. As a person who is math challenged, I chose to attend this session in order to be able to better support my teachers.

"Learning hAPPens in the Library" with Lori Heaton

IT Specialist Lori Heaton
TLA 2014, San Antonio

This past week at the Texas Library Association conference, I attended a session titled “Learning hAPPens in Libraries,” intended for school librarians but I think some of what I learned could be tweaked for a public library. The presenter, Lori Heaton, is a former school librarian currently working as an Instructional Technology Specialist in Arlington ISD.

Tweetroot -- Word Cloud App for Twitter

Tweetroot App Icon

As I was looking around for word cloud apps to add to my iPad a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across this little cutie. Tweetroot (@TweetrootApp on Twitter) is a free iPad app that allows you to search Twitter by username, hashtag or mentions and create word clouds based on the result of your search. 

Sock Puppets App and Learning to Listen

Little eLit, a blog I frequent for ideas and inspiration, is devoted to exploring the use of new media in children's services at public libraries. In a February blog entry on Little eLit, librarian Allison Tran shared how she uses the Sock Puppets App at her public library to reinforce behavior guidelines for little ones during storytime.

As many school librarians know, getting students to settle down and focus is an ongoing issue for every grade level. While older students might need a gentle reminder or two, students in Pre-K and Kindergarten need something that really grabs their attention. I heeded Allison's example and used the Sock Puppets App to remind students in these grades to settle down quickly upon entering the library and to be respectful to the librarian (me) and other students.

App Review: Annie's Picking Apples 2

I am so happy to have the chance to share a math app with you -- Annie's Picking Apples 2 from RealFunLearning (@realfunlearning) -- recommended by the developer for ages four and up. However, I think it could be used for kids as young as three, especially if they seem advanced and are able to easily grasp new concepts. 

My Process for Reviewing Educational iPad Apps

Recently I kind of fumbled my way into reviewing educational iPad apps made by children's authors and indie developers, as I'm sure many of you have noticed the reviews I've posted on this blog. Whereas I'd never set out to do reviews for apps, I'm pretty happy now that I am. It's developed into kind of a hobby, if writing reviews could be considered a hobby. In any case, I thought it might be wise to share the process I go through when reviewing apps.

There are several steps to the process which I will list here, then discuss in more detail.

1. Acquire the app.
2. Test the app.
3. Read the About or Information section of the app.
4. Look for video reviews or demonstrations on YouTube.
5. Find the app on iTunes or Google Play.
6. Brainstorming ways to use the app in an educational setting.
7. Write the review.

Now, the details.

Storybook App: Grendel's Great Escape by Michelle Anaya

Grendel's Great Escape is a storybook app for both iPad and Android by children's author and creator of Blue Sandpiper Imprints, Michelle Anaya (@bluesandpiper).

App Review: Roxie's Doors by OCG Studios (Plus a Giveaway!)

A few weeks ago, I just happened to be in the right place (Twitter) at the right time (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. CST) and stumbled across #storyappchat. Like the description says on its website, #storyappchat is a weekly chat on Twitter for people who are interested in making interactive storybook and ebook apps for kids. One of the participants was Roxie Munro, author and illustrator of several children's books.

App Review: Boomer's Birthday Surprise by AlphaJade

Boomer's Birthday Surprise is the first in a series of  upcoming interactive story books from AlphaJade based on the Cheg and Boomer (@ChegandBoomer) characters. Best friends, Cheg and Boomer, are cute dinosaur-like characters, and we know how much kids love dinosaurs!