NPR Talks about Children’s Book Apps

This past week NPR discussed the growing trend of children’s book apps. More than just a digital picture book on an e-reader, children’s book apps have “narration, animation and interactive features.” Along with talking to Michel Kripalani and Rick Richter who both work with companies that are developing children’s book apps, NPR also contacted Philip Nel, a professor of English and director of the children’s literature program at Kansas State University and Elizabeth Bird, a children’s librarian at The New York Public Library to see what some experts think about this digital media for children.

To read or listen to the complete story from NPR’s Morning Edition please visit:

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134663712/childrens-book-apps-a-new-world-of-learning

New Study Available “Always Connected: The new digital media habits of young children”

Early this month, the Joan Ganz Cooney at Sesame Workshop has released a new report on the digital habits of young children. This study focuses on the often overlooked habits of preschool and middle aged children.

Here is a snapshot of what the report discover: (the following was taken from page 5 of the report)
• Children have more access to all kinds of digital media, and are spending more time during the day with them than ever before.
• Television continues to exert a strong hold over young children, who spend more time with this medium than
any other.
• Not all children have access to newer digital technologies, nor do all children use media in the same ways once they do own them. Family income continues to be a barrier to some children owning technology, even as the price of devices falls.
• Lower-income, Hispanic, and African American children consume far more media than their middle-class and
white counterparts.
• Children appear to shift their digital media habits around age 8, when they increasingly open their eyes to the wide world of media beyond television.
• Mobile media appears to be the next “it” technology, from handheld video games to portable music players to cell phones. Kids like to use their media on the go.

Over the decades, technology has increasingly played an important role in our lives. This reports gives us a current look at what children are doing now. I would be curious to hear everyone’s interpretations of this study and I invite you all to leave your comments.

To read the entire report please visit: http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/Reports-28.html?loc=interstitialskip

VoiceThread

What is Voicethread?  And Why do you want to use it?

Voicethread.com is an application that has tremendous possibilities for the classroom and the world beyond those four walls.   A Voicethread album can hold any media type (documents, audio, images and videos)  for a specific group.  Invited participants can interact, comment and share 5 different ways -

• voice – with a microphone or telephone
• text
• audio
• video

All this is explained in this Voicethread tutorial.

Furthermore, a Voicethread offers group conversations that could be used for digital storytelling.   If you want more information on what Digital Storytelling is, please watch this video:

Now that you know what Digital Storytelling is, you’ll understand more easily how useful Voicethread could be in a class, a business, and for a family.

To get started, go to:
www.voicethread.com register.

Then, once registered, click CREATE which is on the top bar and get started.

A new window will appear, and the first thing that you’re to do is to UPLOAD an image.  As you can see, there are a few different ways that this could be done.

Once you upload your image or video you can now comment on it.

As you can see, there are a few ways you can comment.  By phone, by webcam/video with voice, by voice and  by typing your comments.  Voicethread lets you review your comments before saving them.  Comments by the participants are also allowed and added in the same way.

You’re now off to a great start, but not quite ready to share with your group.  Click on the Playback Options and decide it they’re what you want.  Do you want your comment to start 1 second after the new slide opens, or 6 seconds?  Would you like this to open to full screen?  Have others export it?  You decide, but SAVE your preferences.

Now, SHARE your thread and see where it takes you!