Category: digital learning

Posted in collaboration, digital learning, libraries, online research, parents and technology

Collaboration, Learning, and Libraries!!

Posted on by Marti Weston

Libraries have always been amazing places, but today, look no further than a college, university, or public library to observe an institution that has figured out how to support access to information and 21st Century learning.  Libraries are especially adept at encouraging patrons to collaborate.

I am sitting in the James Branch Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Officially I am here to search through the archives on the fourth floor, learning more about Virginia’s Massive Resistance era, but now it’s lunchtime and I am taking a break, walking around, and exploring a bit.

Libraries are very different from the time when I went to college or even a 10 years ago when I took  my last graduate course. Today every library that I visit is collaborative — welcoming interaction among patrons, connecting information from everywhere, and inviting people inside, even first time visitors like me.

If we are not willing to collaborate today, we are not learning especially well.

A Few Observations

Continue reading “Collaboration, Learning, and Libraries!!” →

Posted in 21st Century Learning, digital learning, digital parenting, electronic reading, i-Books and e-Books, iPhones and iPads, resources to read

My Roundup of e-Books and e-Self-Publishing

Posted on by Marti Weston

KQED MediaShift posted a March 15, 2012 list of recently published articles on e-books and self-publishing. On this page you can also sign up for a regular self-publishing e-newsletter from MediaShift.

A Few More Self-publishing Resources From that I’ve Read Over the Past Few Months

Posted in digital devices and gadgets, digital learning, iPhones and iPads, online learning, parents and technology

iPad Ownership Growth in the U.S.

Posted on by Marti Weston

The ComScore DataMine site features this graph depicting the growth of iPad ownership across income categories in the United States.  And these numbers are before the iPad III goes on sale.

Last week at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) conference, I attended quite a few iPad in education events. Here’s a January 2012 New York Times article, Math that Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad.

Also check out the March 5, 2012 New York Times piece, As New iPad Debut Nears, Some See Decline of PCs.

Posted in collaboration, digital learning, digital parenting, kids changing lives, parents and technology

Listening to Bill Gates – My Notes

Posted on by Marti Weston
Read Bill Gates’ Annual Foundation Letter

Below I’ve shared some of the interesting points from Bill Gates’ education presentation at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) conference. The foundation is no less energized in the area of 21 Century and digital learning than it is in international health.

  • Gates believes that we have a big opportunity for change over the next ten years.
  • Teaching is not about access to knowledge — it’s about making the material relevant and connecting the learning with information that will nourish minds. Oh, and creating more knowledge…
  • Judgment and critical evaluation skills (about content) will be paramount.

[My note: This goes for kids, adolescents, adults, and seniors.]

Continuing with Bill Gates’ thoughts… Continue reading “Listening to Bill Gates – My Notes” →

Posted in digital learning, digital parenting, online safety, online security, parents and technology, scams and fraud

That Nasty Spam Won’t Affect Me … but It Did!

Posted on by Marti Weston

I know a lot about technology. I’ve taught people from preschool to aging seniors. I write blogs, participate in social media sites, and love my e-mail. I know enough to keep my digital accounts out of danger, until now, that is …

On Thursday early evening, I came home, terribly tired — maybe too tired to work on technology tasks. With a cup of tea, I sat down to look over my blogs and Twitter account where I discovered a funny message, from someone I know and respect. That Tweet reported on a not-so-nice Tweet about me, and I only needed to click on the link to check it out.

Now I have been teaching digital common sense and responsibility for nearly 20 years. I have made presentations to kids, parents, teachers, church members, seniors, and even newly arrived  immigrants about taking care, not opening attachments, and not clicking on links. But in this case, I did not even think about it. I clicked, and the naughty link did its work, sending out copies of the message to every one of my followers.

Continue reading “That Nasty Spam Won’t Affect Me … but It Did!” →

Posted in Bookmark It!, digital learning, digital parenting, online learning, parents and technology, tutorials

More on QR Codes – As Promised in December 2011: Bookmark It!

Posted on by Marti Weston
Click to visit the Common Craft QR code tutorial.

The Common Craft website is filled with great tutorials on digital topics of all sorts. When I want to learn about something unfamiliar, Common Craft is one of the first places I look for clear — and simple — explanations. And parents and teachers today need lots of digital explanations as we all navigate 21st-century learning landscape.

The tutorial on QR codes is great. I can’t embed the video here on the blog, because a user needs a subscription to do that, but I’ve made a small graphic of the tutorial.  Click on it, visit the Common Craft site, and watch the tutorial.

And while you’re at it check out some of the other tutorials. Learn more about Common Craft membership.