EasyBib’s Library Corner: Mobile Technology in the Classroom

May 31, 2012 – 3:55 pm

Emily Gover is an information literacy specialist and in-house librarian for EasyBib. Her professional interests lie in web services and design, usability, information literacy, instructional services and reference work. She continues to work part-time at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, and has previous work experience at Berry College, Reader’s Digest and the University at Albany.

Project Tomorrow came out with a new study this week about how educators and administrators use technology in their personal and professional lives. Turns out, technology use is on the up and up! Check it out: more than half of educators polled own a smartphone, close to half of principals and administrators have tablet computers–and, surprise!–librarians are most likely to own a digital reader.

When asked, educators and administrators who are more likely to use mobile technology agree that some of the best outcomes of using mobile technology in the classroom are:

  1. Increasing student engagement
  2. Providing access to online textbooks
  3. Providing personalized instruction to students
  4. Extending learning beyond the school day

Finally, take a look at this chart, it shows important factors to consider when consuming online content compared between librarians who do and do not use digital content. Librarians who do use digital content (such as podcasts, videos, animations and electronic databases) are more likely to recommend consideration of these factors over librarians who do not.

What are some other benefits students can gain from having mobile technology in the classroom?

Sources:
Project Tomorrow report
Personalizing the Classroom Experience summary

By Emily G. | Posted in Library Corner | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Check out the new EasyBib App in the Chrome Web Store!

May 30, 2012 – 11:42 am

EasyBib is constantly working hard to make the research process run more smoothly. That’s why we’re so excited to tell you EasyBib is now directly accessible through the Google Chrome homepage. We would love to get your feedback on EasyBib, so please help us out by writing a review!

Check it out here!

By Kerry Kitka | Posted in Updates | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

EasyBib’s Library Corner: Librarians & the Common Core

May 24, 2012 – 5:48 pm

Emily Gover is an information literacy specialist and in-house librarian for EasyBib. Her professional interests lie in web services and design, usability, information literacy, instructional services and reference work. She continues to work part-time at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, and has previous work experience at Berry College, Reader’s Digest and the University at Albany.

There has been a lot of talk in Library Land about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These standards have been collaboratively developed by educators, administrators and experts to better prepare students for a college learning experience, as well life in the workforce. The majority of the country has chosen to adopt these standards (Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia have not), and the standards will be incorporated in some state tests next year.

Since instructors need to teach these new skills and standards to their students, librarians will have to learn and understand them, too! Last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Joyce Karon, who has worked as a school librarian, was appointed to the Illinois Sate Board of Education, and is currently on the Illinois P-20 Council.

During our conversation, she stressed how fundamental information literacy skills are an underlying factor for many of the standards across different subject areas. Oftentimes, the school librarian has continuous interaction with teachers of multiple subjects–he or she is an indispensible asset to help teach and develop these interdisciplinary standards. Specifically, Joyce referenced the concepts taught in the Big 6, and how CCSS will gradually develop these research skills over a number of years. An interview with Joyce Karon can also be found here.

In addition, librarian Carolyn Jo Starkey has compiled a great pathfinder that provides tons of resources and articles about the librarian’s role in Common Core State Standards. Earlier today, Buffy Hamilton tweeted a link to a detailed presentation by Kristin Fontichiaro on ways librarians can prepare for these new standards. I encourage you to take a look at her slides and see how instructional skills and collection development may be modified to best support CCSS!

Sources:
The Common Core State Standards
Interview with Joyce Karon
Carolyn Jo Starkey’s School Librarian CCS Resources
Kristen Fontichiaro’s May 10 presentation
Buffy Hamilton’s Twitter

By Emily G. | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

EasyBib’s Library Corner: New Plagiarism Report

May 17, 2012 – 5:22 pm

Emily Gover is an information literacy specialist and in-house librarian for EasyBib. Her professional interests lie in web services and design, usability, information literacy, instructional services and reference work. She continues to work part-time at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, and has previous work experience at Berry College, Reader’s Digest and the University at Albany.

Plagiarism detection service Turnitin released a new report this week–and, of course, an infographic to go along with it. Rather than determining what users were plagiarizing, they assessed how they were plagiarizing it. Over 850 schools instructors (thank you to Ray from Turnitin on this clarification!) participated in the survey.

The methods of plagiarism were broken into ten different types, and gave each one a nickname. I won’t go into great detail about all ten of them here, but I was intrigued by the three most common results:

  1. Clone: This type of plagiarism is when a person copies another work verbatim. Not only was it ranked the most problematic in the report, it was also ranked highest in terms of frequency–a dangerous double-whammy!
  2. CTRL+C: Referring to the keyboard shortcut used to copy text, this is when a bunch of text is copied from one source and is scattered throughout a paragraph or paper. CTRL+C is very similar to the Clone style of plagiarizing, but the plagiarized text is broken up into pieces. This is the second most problematic form of plagiarism found in the study, and the third most frequent.
  3. Mashup: This form of plagiarism is when information from two or more sources is all mixed up into an assignment. Similar to CTRL+C, but from several sources, not just one. In terms of frequency, Mashup plagiarism is the second most frequent form in the study, and the third most problematic.

The study also reports that over 70% of instructors inform their students of plagiarism or academic integrity policies at their institutions. Let’s hope some students listen a bit closer next year… ;-)

You can find a thorough, visual overview in their infographic, “Tagging 10 Types of Unoriginal Work.” The full report is available by request, just provide some contact information and they’ll e-mail it to you.

On a totally different note, for all you Facebook librarians out there, we have a new page for you! The EasyBib Librarians page is up and running. Though a bit bare at the moment, we’ll continually be adding content and improving its appearance in the coming weeks. Feel free to give us a “Like”!

Sources:
Plagiarism Today
Turnitin infographic

By Emily G. | Posted in Library Corner | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Using the EasyBib Notebook to Teach Paraphrasing

May 14, 2012 – 10:39 am

Mary Beth Hertz is a certified Instructional Technology Specialist and K-7 Technology Teacher in Philadelphia, PA. She has presented at a number of conferences and is a blogger and avid user of social media. She is also a co-organizer of Edcamp Philly and sits on the Edcamp Foundation Board. She was also named an ISTE Emerging Leader in 2010. She is passionate about making school meaningful and about all things edtech.

 

One of the most common problems that teachers report when facilitating research projects with their students is that students often copy directly from websites without quoting the author or by handing in work that comes directly from a source, word for word.

It is imperative that we explicitly teach our students how to paraphrase the information they find and how to differentiate between paraphrasing and direct quotations. The Internet has made everything seem easy and free for the taking. There are so many sources out there, that knowing whether a student has plagiarized has become so difficult that teachers have to use special tools like TurnItIn to make sure that student writing is their own. There are other reasons aside from academic honesty to make sure that young people know how to synthesize ideas into their own words. As more and more information is put out on the Internet, more and more of our students are creators of this content. They are the future keepers of ideas and knowledge, so we must teach them to be responsible creators and consumers of content.

One thing I’m excited to use with my students to teach these skills is EasyBib’s Notebook. Each time my students add a new note, they have the option to directly quote the resource, paraphrase some of the information they want to use from a resource, or to write their own thoughts on the information. In the copy/paste world we live in, the Notebook allows my students to visualize the difference between copying information word-for-word and putting information in your own words. This tool will also give my students a chance to compare the three ways of thinking about the information they are reading. It will also help them digest the information by forcing them to separate the author’s ideas, their interpretation of the author’s ideas and to find the author’s words that support their own opinions.

Before introducing my students to the Notebook, however, I will need to break the process down, allowing my students to practice paraphrasing as a class and on their own. Even as an adult, paraphrasing is difficult, so I don’t expect them to ‘get it’ the first time. However, I am thrilled to have the Notebook tool to make teaching the differences between paraphrasing and taking direct quotations from the resources my students use.

By Kerry Kitka | Posted in Guest Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

EasyBib’s Library Corner: Free Audiobooks this Summer

May 10, 2012 – 3:15 pm

Emily Gover is an information literacy specialist and in-house librarian for EasyBib. Her professional interests lie in web services and design, usability, information literacy, instructional services and reference work. She continues to work part-time at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, and has previous work experience at Berry College, Reader’s Digest and the University at Albany.

With the last days of school quickly approaching–surely within the next month or so!–the topic of summer reading must be on the minds of many. When I was younger, I would make valiant efforts to read on long car rides to various holiday destinations, but typically failed and ended up feeling more nauseated than anything else. Sadly, I did not discover the wonder of audiobooks (which were still books on tape then!) until the days of sitting squished in the back seat among suitcases and sunblock were long behind me.

Fortunately, your students won’t have to worry about reading-related car sickness on family road trips this summer. SYNC, an ongoing partnership between AudioFile Magazine and audiobook publishers, is offering two free audiobook downloads every week for 10 weeks from June through August. The titles are a blend of contemporary publications (published between 2003 and 2012) and correlating classic novels that share a similar theme. Books are in .mp3 format–therefore compatible with many devices–and can be downloaded from Overdrive.

Some of the available titles include:

  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  • Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
  • The Amulet of Samarkand (Book 1 of the Bartimaeus Triology) by Jonathan Stroud
  • The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
  • Cleopatra’s Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter

The audiobooks will be available for download starting the week of June 14. Sadly, we don’t have any solutions for stopping a kooky relative from belting out showtunes while cooped up in the minivan… they’re on their own with that one. (We’d like to think getting lost in a good audiobook is the best way to deal with that situation!)

Sources:
School Library Journal
SYNC

By Emily G. | Posted in Library Corner | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

The Best Android Tablet Apps for Reading

May 9, 2012 – 9:00 am

Steven W. Anderson is a recognized expert in using social media in education. Steven regularly consults with schools and districts around the country on how they can use social media to break down barriers and extend learning beyond the classroom walls.
A regular presenter at ASCD, ISTE and various other state/local conferences, Steven speaks on technology integration, leadership and education reform. In his home district he works with school administrators, helping them to build their capacity for change and leadership with technology. Steven resides in North Carolina with his wife Melissa and their daughter Reaghan.

I love my tablets. I carry 2 pretty much wherever I go, especially when I travel. Now, I love my iPad. I can get lots of work done on it, but mostly play some great games. However, I recently got a 10.1 Galaxy Tab and it is quickly becoming my go-to tablet for everything. From writing this blog post to checking my tweets to watching Netflix, I use it more than my laptop some days.

But I am finding more and more that I pick it up before I pick up my Kindle. Normally I am reading 4-5 books at a time and carrying those books around took up a great deal of space in my bag. Then I got a Kindle and that helped a bunch. Then I got a tablet and discovered the Kindle app and I honestly can’t remember the last time I even charged my Kindle.

There are lots of apps for books and reference for the Android user, some of which you might not find for you iPad. Here are my favorites.

Kindle- Like I mentioned, this is my primary app for reading books. I can usually get a good deal on eBooks from Amazon and the app is great for reading. I have all my tools to highlight and share excerpts and the app syncs my location in all my books on all my devices. So if it is easier for me to use my phone to catch up on a chapter, I know I will be in the right place.

Google Books- This is another app I use for reading a lot. I will price compare when I am looking for books and sometimes I can get a better deal with Google books. This app is similar to the Kindle app and has a lot of the same features. Highlighting and sharing is included and the syncing too.

Audible- Sometimes I just like to be read to. Especially when I am traveling for some reason I like to listen to books rather than read them. Thank goodness for Audible. I can do a quick search of the database and buy a book that I can then have read by the author or someone associated with the book. And they always have a good deal on audio books too.

Wikipedia- While I can get to Wikipedia from my tablet browser, I find the app much more friendly and easier to navigate. And you can save articles for offline viewing (handy for those times you have work to do but no connection) and can share articles with ease with the Android sharing menu.

Wattpad- This is a unique reading app. With over 100,000 stories and books it would be tough not to find something to like. The collection is full of independent authors and storytellers. The app is very social because you can see the comments from other readers and join book clubs to talk about books or genres.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary- Because sometimes you just need a definition.

Goodreads- This is another social/sharing book site. You can create your own bookshelf to share what you are reading and what you want to read, jump into discussions and discover new content.

Those are my favorite apps for reading and reference on my Android tablet. What are some of yours?

By Kerry Kitka | Posted in Guest Post | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Update to Website Evaluation

May 8, 2012 – 3:44 pm

Good news for every educator who needs ways to teach information literacy skills: EasyBib’s Website Evaluation tool just got even better!

We’ve made the explanation of our criteria more robust than ever. Now when students need to understand what questions they should be asking themselves about the credibility of a source they can get concise answers. We’ve also included helpful links in many places that will aid them in asking the right questions. For instance, when a student should be investigating a publisher further, we’ve included a direct link to a Google search for that publisher. That’s smart!

By Kerry Kitka | Posted in Updates | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

EasyBib Temporary Tattoos

May 8, 2012 – 12:36 pm

Hey all you Bibs out there in LibraryLand! EasyBib wants to create some fun, “library themed”, temporary tattoos for all our librarian friends to wear. But instead of us just coming up with designs we thought you might like, we decided we want to hear what kind of tats you think would look cool

So all you have to do is got to this form and describe what you think a cool library temporary tattoo should look like. Be creative!

And here are some examples of designs we’ve made in the past:

By Kerry Kitka | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Introducing EasyBib’s New Librarian

May 3, 2012 – 4:36 pm


 

Hi everyone! Emily Gover here, I’m the in-house librarian and information literacy specialist at EasyBib. This is my first post on the educator blog, so I figured it’s as good a time as any to introduce myself to you, our lovely readers!

I joined EasyBib in January 2012, and I’ve been loving every minute of it. Prior to working with the EasyBib team, I was a web services librarian at Berry College. While there, I ran library orientation sessions, co-taught in the classroom, created video tutorials to improve research strategies and provided reference services to students. It was a great experience, and really showed me firsthand the struggle students face with identifying credible, authoritative sources.

I studied information literacy and UX in grad school, but never fully understood how information illiterate many students are until I started working in the field. I’m so excited to be working with librarians and the rest of the EasyBib team to bring information literacy skills to our users and continually improve our services to alleviate these growing issues. Beyond that, I’ve also had work experience at the Reader’s Digest editorial library and the University at Albany.

As much as I love my job at EasyBib, I can’t stay away from the reference desk for too long! I still work part-time at my local library in adult and children’s reference. Funnily enough, it’s the same library I used to ride my bike to when I was a kid… you can’t keep me away from there. :-) I’m an alumna of the University at Albany’s graduate program in Information Science (M.S., 2010), as well as Stony Brook University (B.A., 2009).

I’ll be writing here every Thursday about trends and news in the library and tech world, so be sure to follow me and join in on the discussion—I’d love to hear your input and thoughts. In the meantime, you can always find me on Twitter, @Emily_EasyBib.

Stay tuned!

By Emily G. | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
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