September 26th, 2009
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I often reflect on the many promises of the Internet left unfilled. There was a time when the Web was hailed as a coming revolution in education, communication, and accessibility to resources of all types. The form that revolution has taken is not exactly what a good number of us anticipated. Yet some of the promises are being kept.
One example is the proliferation of resources for families, particularly children. This week I came across a couple of sites I consider of value. The first is Storybird, an interactive site where families and friends can write and share stories. Yes, it does have its commercial side, offering artists and writers an opportunity to sell their work, but the obvious theme of the site sets the tone for clean, educational fun.
Another site is Storyline Online. The site is presented by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, and features SAG actor-members reading children’s books “out loud” via video streaming, accompanied by activities and lesson ideas. I really enjoyed To Be a Drum, read by James Earl Jones (yes, I’m just a kid at heart).
What makes these two sites effective (and others, if you search for them) is their interactivity, collaborative nature, and appropriately themed presentations. Kids, and families, can both benefit from and enjoy wholesome content, and participate in the notion that “the best education is a fun education.”
August 23rd, 2009
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It’s been a busy summer. In July, I attended the Centrum Writers’ Conference in Port Townsend, Washington. And I’ve just returned from my MFA residency and have begun preparing my thesis, along with a critical paper.
Many students are in the same situation as mine, except they are probably a whole lot younger than I am.
Nevertheless, writing a thesis is tons of work, especially if one is lacking the proper tools. So I thought I would offer up several websites I believe take a credible shot at providing those tools.
The first two sites have to do with style. And while there are a number of others, MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association) are the better known. MLA style is typically used by liberal arts students, and APA by those in the social sciences. Both of these resources are found on the Online Writing Lab at Purdue (OWL), as well as the three that follow:
Two other resources are found on the University of Hartford’s website. They are Forming a Tentative Thesis, and Refining Your Thesis.
One site in particular, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., has a very comprehensive site for thesis development: The Writing Index.
Okay, time to get writing. And good luck!
July 24th, 2009
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We’ve all done it. Loaned out a book to a friend or colleague only to have them fail to return it to us. What’s worse is we don’t always remember to whom we loaned a particular book. Or you have too many books (can you really have too many books?) and too few bookcases. So like me you can’t get the car in the garage you have so many book-filled cardboard boxes.
Enter bookTome. Unlike many of the reading utilities profiled in this blog bookTome is a free downloadable database for cataloging and organizing your books. So you don’t need to be connected to the Internet to use it. Uh Oh! Did he say database? Now just calm down a minute. It is a simple program with little or no learning curve.
I use the easy method of listing a book: I click the “Add Book” icon, enter the title and author, and choose to download the cover image and details from Amazon.com. You choose which details you want in the “Tools” panel (again easy to do). The first time I used bookTome I was able to add over 60 books in an hour.
The program also allows you to create categories, series, whether you’ve read the book or are still reading it. Once I have entered any number of books I can search by these similar parameters: author, series, categories, and so on. I’m headed into the garage to label each of my cardboard boxes with a magic maker. When I have the bucks to build floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on every wall I will know where to find any book in a matter of seconds.
And yes, you can note the name of the guy who borrowed a book. Best to pay him a visit right away. He’s probably got your lawnmower, too.
