Waffle Bytes

From the Michigan eLibrary: MeL’s EBSCO host e-books are downloadable in ePub or PDF format. The PDF version is a fixed layout of the print version of the book, and ePub allows the text to be adjusted easily for any device or screen size. With Adobe Digital Editions (freely downloadable from Adobe.com), e-books are mobile friendly. The ePub format also makes e-books compatible with adaptive technologies, including screen reading software. The table of contents in the e-books links directly to a specific chapter.  You can also read the e-book right in your web browser. The e-books can be organized and downloaded to Google Drive – or any other file storage. Passages can be highlighted, shared, notes added, emailed, and printed. For researchers and students, there is an automatic citation generator that can be used in conjunction with popular products like RefWorks, EndNote, or Zotero. For librarians and teachers, integrating these e-book features should be an essentia...

I've always enjoyed the movie "Apollo 13." There are so many good messages in it - about hope in a seemingly hopeless situation, about courage in the face of danger (and possibly even death), about creative problem solving for problems that are not "contingencies we remotely looked at." This scene is where we are right now with education - We have been asked to "invent a way to put a square peg in a round hole - quickly." And now we are in the room (or this course) looking at what is available to make that happen.  We have the resources, we have the tools...we now need to make it happen.  We are going to be innovative, creative, and make this work.  We are going to fail and have inelegant, imperfect solutions, but we will get solutions.  And we will continue to refine them until the emergency is over. One of my concerns is - and this is something often seen with students working on a problem - if we spend time on a solution that we think is goi...

My very first blog post ever was about 10 years ago (May 20, 2010).  It was titled  Textbooks: the Curriculum Security Blanket . I've been thinking about this post the last 24 hours as I prepare to help educators in local districts across 3 counties in my state rethink how they teach. This is such a high-anxiety time - our routines have been disrupted, our health (or our loved one's health) is at risk, daily life is DIFFERENT. We don't know how long this "disruption" is going to last, and we don't know how we will come out changed on the other side. On top of all that,  educators are now having to contemplate how to be "teachers" with our students at home.  And we are falling back to our "security blankets" for in the classroom.  We are trying to bring the comfortable into this new situation, and it concerns me for our success. Why?  I'm talking to educators that want to know what tool to use, and what content to get - they are fo...

(Part of our Stay-At-Home series focused on practical ways you can use a resource to foster creativity, connections, and collaboration.) ...or another new skill! There are many artists sharing weekly or daily lessons that anyone can access. Here are a few that you might want to check out: Draw Everyday with JJK - author & illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka has created a YouTube channel where he is sharing drawing lessons every day.   Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems - this Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence at Home; he even has some episodes where he shares what kids have drawn and shared back with him! Si ght Reading Factory - get your music on! Practice that instrument or sing a song - they are providing unlimited exercises!  Take Art Lessons - Artyfactory's free art lessons share the knowledge and understanding of art and design to improve your artistic skills and to increase your enjoyment in creating artworks. DIY Film School - impr...