Tag Archives: literacy

BookShout Serves Simon & Schuster Ebooks with Cheerios | Digital Book World #ebooks #kids #children

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Note: This promotion may only be available to residents of the United States. 

The ebook distribution platform BookShout partners with Cheerios to serve select Simon & Schuster titles to breakfasting children across the U.S.

The publisher’s “Cheer on Reading” literacy program has placed free Simon & Schuster children’s books inside Cheerios boxes since 2003. Now, instead of stuffing print titles into cereal boxes, they’ll come printed with BookShout-provided codes offering free access to one of nine popular children’s ebooks. Each one can be downloaded and read online or through BookShout’s iOS, Android, Kindle or Nook apps.

READ MORE: BookShout Serves Simon & Schuster Ebooks with Cheerios | Digital Book World.

Readlang Helps You Learn a Foreign Language as You Surf the Web | LifeHacker #language

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The most effective way to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself as much as possible in it. Readlang is a webapp and Chrome extension that helps you learn by translating web sites and creating flashcards and word lists for you. READ MORE: Readlang Helps You Learn a Foreign Language as You Surf the Web | LifeHacker

For Schools With No Books, A Digital Collection So They Can Have A Real Library | Co.Exist #education #digital #libraries #literacy

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For Schools With No Books, A Digital Collection So They Can Have A Real Library | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

Library for All is now working in impoverished places around the world on a simple mission with a major impact. Rebecca McDonald came up with the idea for Library for All after visiting Haiti in 2010. The country had just experienced a major earthquake, and the schools there were having a tough time getting back to normal—even more so, because they lacked basic education materials.

“The reason we started the library was that, everywhere I went, they didn’t have any books. And if they did, they were in English when people either speak Haitian Creole or French. They were good paperweights, and that was about it,” McDonald says.

Library for All now works with 10 schools on the island, with plans to partner with nine more. The model is simple. The nonprofit assembles a highly curated local-language collection of books that schools access through Android tablets.

READ MORE: For Schools With No Books, A Digital Collection So They Can Have A Real Library | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.

Young Girls Are Much, Much Better Readers Than Boys, And Have Been For A Long Time | HuffPo

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The gap between boys’ and girls’ respective reading abilities has been getting a lot of attention lately, but the trend itself is not new.

Girls have been better readers than boys for a long, long time, according to a report released Tuesday by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. The annual report analyzes three topics in contemporary education through the lens of up-to-date research. This year, the report looked at the effectiveness of the Common Core state standards, the relationship between student engagement and academic achievement, and the gender gap in reading.

READ MORE: Young Girls Are Much, Much Better Readers Than Boys, And Have Been For A Long Time | Huffington Post

Listen to Free, High-Quality AudioBooks of Classic Literature on Spotify: Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy & More | Open Culture

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Where music goes, technologically speaking, audio books soon follow. We’ve had audio books on vinyl LP, on cassette tape, on CD, and on MP3, just like we’ve had music. Now that so many of us pull up our daily jams on Spotify, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we can do a fair bit of our “reading” there as well. We’ve found a few lists that gather up the best audio book available on Spotify, including 21 classics and a collection of Shakespeare plays and sonnets at Gnarl’d, ten evergreen literary picks from Lifehacker, and a Spotify forum thread dedicated to subject.

Below, you’ll find Spotify links to more than 60 classic works of literature that, even if you struggled on getting them read in your English classes, you can now revisit in a perhaps much more lifestyle-compatible medium. To listen to any of these, you will of course need Spotify’s software and account. MORE: Listen to 60+ Free, High-Quality AudioBooks of Classic Literature on Spotify: Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy & More | Open Culture.

For more great audio, don’t forget to visit our collection, 630 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free | Open Culture.

 

Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy—Not How To Code | ReadWrite

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The new narrative in education, echoed from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., is: “Everyone should learn to code.” But something’s getting lost in translation between technologists and parents of students around the country. Let’s get this out of the way: Not everyone needs to learn how to code. Coding is just one part of the constantly evolving technological landscape. There’s a big difference between learning how to code and having a fundamental understanding of how technology and software operate. Of the two, the latter is way more important for most people. What students—and, really, anyone who wants to function in careers in the future—should learn is how to be digitally literate.

READ MORE: Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy—Not How To Code | ReadWrite

How Adult Literacy Is Transforming a Village | Craig and Marc Kielburger | HuffPo

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Imagine being cut off from the world around you — unable to read a contract or count your pay, to read the newspaper or write an email. Imagine a community where the majority of citizens are unable to find decent work to support their families.

Literacy is the foundation of sustainable development. Individuals are empowered to participate in their community’s economic, social and political life. The community benefits from the ideas and contributions of all its members. A literate society can more ably tackle its challenges — from poverty and health, to crime and exclusion, to natural disasters.

Read the full story: How Adult Literacy Is Transforming a Village | Craig and Marc Kielburger | HuffPo

Understanding Video Games [Free Course] | University of Alberta

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Understanding Video Games is an 11-lesson course teaching a comprehensive overview of analytical theory pertaining to video game media. Video games are a globally entrenched entertainment medium that entertains, informs and challenges us. These games are defined by, and define our modern culture. In this course, students will learn how to study games and engage in informed discussions about them. Ultimately, this course is about understanding the literacy of video games.  Understanding Video Games was created with the help of world renowned video game developer, BioWare Corp, located in Edmonton, Alberta.

Read More: Understanding Video Games | University of Alberta.

20 Things Educators Need To Know About Digital Literacy Skills | InformED

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Teaching digital literacy is about more than just integrating technology into lesson plans; it’s about using technology to understand and enhance modern communication, to locate oneself in digital space, to manage knowledge and experience in the Age of Information.

These are vague descriptions, as are most of the descriptions you’ll find of digital literacy in blog posts and journal articles online. What teachers need, more than a fancy synopsis of how digital publication affects the meaning of a text, is a practical and applicable guide to helping students think productively about the digital world.

[These are] the top do’s and don’ts we’ve come across–in research and in our own experience–when it comes to making students digitally literate. The post reviews 5 Teaching Practices That Destroy Digital Literacy (e.g. criticizing digitalk) and 15 Habits to Cultivate in Your Students (e.g. get used to multiple literacies).

READ: 20 Things Educators Need To Know About Digital Literacy Skills | InformED

50 Of The Best Kids’ Books Published In The Last 25 Years | HuffPost

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Little kids may insist you read the same books over and over at bedtime (sometimes more than once in the same night), but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop trying to add variety to the mix. This new list, compiled by Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit organization that advocates for literacy, and book recommendation site Goodreads will help you do just that.

Goodreads came up with the idea for this list as a way to celebrate Reach Out and Read’s 25th anniversary. Together, the two put together fifty top picks published in that time period. Whether you are looking for popular classics or a few unknown gems, you’ll certainly find something great to add to the rotation here.

VIEW: 50 Of The Best Kids’ Books Published In The Last 25 Years | HuffPost