Legal Research

School Librarians and Digital Textbooks

By admin

Another thought piece recommendation from School Library Journal:

Turning the Page: Forget about those bulky backbreakers, digital textbooks are the future
by Rebecca Hill

Some soundbites:

* PBS?s 2009 national survey, “Digitally Inclined,” showed that 76 percent of K?12 teachers already use digital media in their classrooms (up from 68 percent in 2008). And 78 percent of those teachers believe that digital media increases a student?s motivation for learning.

* “When we make the move to digital textbooks, … it will be about open content. When it is about open content, we are going to see huge opportunities for school librarians.” – Marcia Mardis, a professor at Florida State University.

* “?Our children live in a different world,? says Sheryl Abshire, the chief technology officer for Louisiana?s Calcasieu Parish Schools. ?We?re going to have to step up smartly to meet their needs or we are going to be irrelevant to them, and I don?t think that public education can afford to be irrelevant to our prime customers.?”

* “While a flexbook or even a digital textbook provides an organizational structure from which to plan lessons and teach, the vastness of open educational resources can be overwhelming. Who should organize and cultivate the resources to use with digital textbooks or to incorporate into flexbooks?”

Done correctly, teacher librarians have the opportunity to influence overall school, board and classroom success and ultimatey every learner.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on October 16, 2010 (boomark / email).