Ted

Many people have heard and use TED talks in their classrooms and in every day life. On their web page they say, "TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world." ("Our organization"). TED talks can be a powerful tool in the classroom because of their short length, which also means they often pack a lot of message into the short viewing time. 


As of July 1, 2019, TED is owned by a not for profit corporation called TED Foundation. All TED talks and speaker lists are curated and carefully selected so that only talks based on real peer reviewed research are presented. They also seek out ideas from all over the world in order to promote a balanced, multicultural, worldwide discussion. Their talks are available for free and they work to bring the talks to placed where internet isn't widely available.

My history with TED talks prior to trying out the app is brief; I have viewed a few talks, some as part of school assignments and some shown to me by other people, but have never used it as part of a lesson and have never really sought them out on my own. I specifically wanted to try out the TED mobile app as it was featured on the Digital Trend's Best Apps for Teachers list (Dove 2019).  Also, many schools provide access for students to some sort of tablet and many older students have their own cell phones, so I thought the mobile app would be something good to feature in the classroom that might transition into time outside the classroom.

I downloaded the app to my iPhone and my iPad to give it a try, and was pleased with the initial use of the app. There's 4 main sections that you access at the bottom of your screen: Talks, Discover, MyTED, and Search. On the Talks screen you had two options; to view the newest talks or to view the most popular talks. On the Discover screen you can browse by topic, playlists (which are groups of TED talks on a similar subject) and language. My TED is a page where you can view your list, likes, downloads, and history. Lastly, if you are searching for a specific TED talk you can do that on the Search tab.

I found the app easy to use. To test how I would use it in the classroom, I thought of two different age groups I could use this technology with, middle school students and high school students.

I browsed a few TED talks looking for something appropriate for and relevant to middle schoolers. I started by browsing the education topic under the Discover tab, and found a few videos that looked promising. However most of them seemed to be geared toward teachers and others who work in education, and not necessarily toward students. Then I started browsing the playlists hoping to find something for young teens or students, but the quantity seemed overwhelming to look through. I finally went to the search tab, and when I typed in "kids" an option came up that showed me playlists that had to do with kids. I found one called "Smart kids' life advice" and watched a few of the videos. I could definitely see using these in the classroom. 

I then thought about high school students and went back to the playlists. The first one that grabbed my attention was the "Talks to help you fin the right job" list, which I thought would be great for juniors and seniors. I also saw "The Most Transformative TED Talks" which had 25 videos, many of which seemed like a good fit for high schoolers. 

As far as how to use these in the classroom, I think it could be paired with lessons on a multitude of topics. I focused mainly on ones I felt could be used in a library setting, but I also think they would make a great start for a collaboration with another subject. These could be assigned as work outside the classroom, or as an option for when students complete work in class. In searching about TED talks I also found that they have an edTED program where students can connect with other students around the world and use the TED platform to discuss and share ideas in the form of the traditional TED talks. I think this would be a great extra curricular club to be available after school.

As far as the app itself, I think it has a lot of great features like the playlists and ability to see the videos you've watched and add them to a list, however I would like an option to search based on a target audience. I feel that this would make it easier to find age appropriate talks for younger students. In summary, I feel that the TED app could be a meaningful tool in the hands of educators and the things taken away from using it could transcend the walls of schools and touch students' lives.

References

Dove, Jackie. (2019) The Best apps for Teachers and Educators. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-apps-for-teachers-education/

Our Organization (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization

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Epic!

Epic! is an online database of thousands of books and videos geared for kids in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Teachers and Librarians can sign up for a free account and upload class rosters. Students can sign in with a classroom code and get a personalized account where it tracks the books they read. Teachers can make collections of books for their class and monitor their progress, and also make quizzes the kids will be prompted to take after finishing a book. Epic! is available either in website version or through the app, which is available on IOS and Android devices.

I signed up for a free educator account and was pleasantly surprised at the number of resources available. They have both well known books like Fancy Nancy and Thomas the Train as well as Epic original resources. I really liked that in the books that are read to you, the words are magnified while they are being said aloud,which helps students track while they are being read to. I also noted that the app lets you browse by reading level, grade, or type of resource.

I can see this being a useful app for both teachers and librarians. If the students have access to iPads, reading on Epic (or having a book read to them) would be a great way to introduce a topic they will continue to explore other ways in the classroom. Even young students can navigate the app easily to find what they want to read, listen to, or watch. It's a great way to introduce the basics of research to young students. I also like that Epic has many books that are read to you. This helps young students and struggling readers to still be able to use the same app and complete the same assignments as others.

Students can also sign up for a home account of Epic, which would allow them to continue to have access in the summer. The first month is free, and it is $7.99 per month after that. Families can have up to 4 reader profiles on their account so multiple kids can read through the same account. Kids can access their school account through their personal home account when the teacher or librarian.

This is an application I allowed my four year old daughter to explore. I felt comfortable allowing her to read books on her own after showing her how to use the app. She really liked the read to me books as she is a beginning reader and this made her feel like she was reading along with the voice. She asked me to look up videos on different subjects after reading books about it, and I thought that would also be a wonderful way to utilize this app in the classroom.

Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader is an online resource owned by Renaissance. AR Bookfinder is a facet of Accelerated Reader that allows educators and students to find books based on reading levels, interest levels, and subject. It also maintains quizzes for thousands of books. This resource is free, which is great for teachers, librarians, parents, and students who are searching for books that are appropriate.

My school has a subscription to Accelerated Reader 360, which allows students to take quizzes, and teachers to manage the quizzes students have taken. I can see how this would be a wonderful resource to teachers and librarians who want to have a way to assess how thoroughly or completely students are reading. As an example I took the quiz on Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I found the quiz to be specific and challenging, making it fairly hard to guess or try to skim for the answers and get a good score.

While I can see this being a powerful resource in the hands of educators, there are some drawbacks. There is a cost to the subscription, and it is based on the number of students you have. Some schools may not be able to afford the cost. I could also see how reading could be morphed into the goal being doing well on the quizzes, and reading for that purpose. Reading is meant to be educational and enjoyable, and when students and educators start making it about the goal of answering all the questions correctly, you aren't reading for the right reasons and may even have a harder time deriving meaning from what you are reading.

Overall I feel that this could be a great tool, especially in ELA classrooms and libraries. It can help to develop a reading culture in your school and make managing keeping track of student progress easier.

Goodreads

I have been navigating and exploring the website Goodreads this week to determine it's usefulness in a school library and classroom setting. Goodreads is on online literary social media, centered around reading. The main functions are to connect readers to one another, through the option of following other accounts and groups people can join, and allowing user to keep lists of books for many different purposes.

Goodreads has several main areas of the website. The main screen, or home, is an update feed, where any updates for people you follow appear. It also had a progress section for any books you are reading, a yearly reading challenge ticker that shows your progress toward your goal, selected books from you "want to read" list, and your personal "bookshelves" which are lists of books you can create such as "read," "want to read," and even specific custom shelves like "epic fantasy."

The "My Books" tab allows you to access your bookshelves and allows for quite a bit of customization for the user. I use the "want to read" bookshelf the most because I am constantly adding to it. However I do like to use the shelves to keep track of different kinds of books I want to read, so if I am in the mood for something specific I can find it easily. Once you read books you can rate them and write a review. These can be helpful for other users to decide whether of not they want to read a book.

Another helpful part of Goodreads is the browse tab. Here you can find book lists, recommendations, giveaways, new releases, and more. I particularly like the book lists for finding books similar to something I have previously enjoyed, or finding a book that fits a certain genre and age group.

The last big part of Goodreads is the community area. There are a lot of things that fall under this category, such as groups, discussions, quotes, author questions, trivia, user profiles, and more. The groups are a wonderful place to find like-minded readers and fans of books.

One of the drawbacks to Goodreads is that users need to be at least 13 years old. Because of this, it rules out a good portion of the school aged population. However I think this could be a wonderful resource for teens and educators. Having a place for teens to keep track of the books they read and interact with others can be very encouraging, however I would hesitate to mandate the use of this resource as it is a type of social media, and it is not exclusive to teens and educators. I think educators especially can benefit from this website. Having access to all the curated lists (some made by teens and younger readers) can help them give good recommendations to students. The trivia could also be a fun activity to pepper into classes. Lastly, entering the giveaways is a free way to possibly get new books for you or your students.

In closing, I feel that Goodreads can be a beneficial resource to educators, and that older teens could benefit from utilizing it with proper guidance and caution.