Opera Mini just released the results of their summer 2010 survey of 300000 users* showing that more young adult respondents were surfing on their phones than from a desktop or laptop.
“We have often said that the next generation will grow up knowing the Web mostly through their mobile phones,” said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera. “We see this trend already emerging in different regions around the world. The mobile Web will bring a profound change in how we connect with one another. I think the results from this survey already show that change taking place.”
Some Findings:
• Most 18-27 year-old Opera Mini users use their mobile phones to browse the Web more often than they use a desktop or laptop computer
• Almost 90% of respondents in the United States aged 18-27 have used their phones to share pictures.
• The top 10 mobile web sites in the U.S. for October 2010 were: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yahoo, My.Opera, Accuweather, ESPN, NYTimes, and MySpace.
And some implications:
• While the United States and Europe are still adapting to a mobile Internet, in less wealthy areas of the world, mobile phones are the primary method of accessing the Internet.
• For example, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Egypt, the Philippines and Bangladesh all went up in the top 20 countries ranking.
Especially for teachers and students:
• Social Studies classes, particularly geography ones, will find the data fascinating. See graphs and responses to over 20 questions, plus analysis of user data from multiple countries in the entire report.
• Use the opportunity to compare the results versus population figures and literacy rates; to look at the most visited sites by country and to discuss differences in cultural norms (e.g., attitudes towards acceptability of texting during a meal).
• Discuss the relative privilege of the US and Western users which comes across in differing patterns in mobile phone brand adoption and in responses to questions like: “How old were you when you first browsed the Web?”
• Consider the importance of our teaching while incorporating mobile platforms and cloud data services, like Google Docs.
*Users of Opera Mini were shown a notification asking them to take the survey, and, if they agreed to do so, they could answer the questions directly on their mobile phones. Additional coverage available in PC Magazine and even how to make Opera Mini work better on your phone from New York Times.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Wow! The Ultimate Plagiarism Story
It recounts how a hired writer has written college and graduate work for students either too lazy or ill-equipped to complete assignments on their own. It's an amazing tale of deceit (even by seminary students) by undergraduate and graduate students from every discipline. The portion that really left me dumb struck is the research habits of this successful writer:
"It's not implausible to write a 75-page paper in two days. It's just miserable. I don't need much sleep, and when I get cranking, I can churn out four or five pages an hour. First I lay out the sections of an assignment—introduction, problem statement, methodology, literature review, findings, conclusion—whatever the instructions call for. Then I start Googling.
I haven't been to a library once since I started doing this job. Amazon is quite generous about free samples. If I can find a single page from a particular text, I can cobble that into a report, deducing what I don't know from customer reviews and publisher blurbs. Google Scholar is a great source for material, providing the abstract of nearly any journal article. And of course, there's Wikipedia, which is often my first stop when dealing with unfamiliar subjects. Naturally one must verify such material elsewhere, but I've taken hundreds of crash courses this way.
After I've gathered my sources, I pull out usable quotes, cite them, and distribute them among the sections of the assignment. Over the years, I've refined ways of stretching papers. I can write a four-word sentence in 40 words. Just give me one phrase of quotable text, and I'll produce two pages of ponderous explanation. I can say in 10 pages what most normal people could say in a paragraph."Double wow! If you are an educator, this is a must read! How many 'shadow scholars' are out there? Who would do this for $66,000? Does digital technology make this easier than ever? Are the professors so clueless about sources that they cannot separate the wheat from the chaff? High could this work possibly be considered high quality? How can librarians help educators to assess sources? Are annotated bibliographies enough? Is grade inflation so rampant that everyone gets an A or a B?Or, if a B is all anyone cares about, does everyone who writes anything coherent get an easy B? Is everyone asleep at the wheel?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Two New Reports on eBooks
The Resource Shelf highlights findings from two recent reports: Library Use of eBooks 2011 Edition & Student Use of Library E-Book Collections
Looked at just a sneak preview, but found it interesting that:
Only 5.56% of libraries sampled have ever developed a video to explain any facet of Ebook use and only about 19% have developed online tutorials.Only 13.3% of libraries sampled have incorporated eBook use on Smartphones such as Android, iPhone or Blackberry into info literacy training. (despite the new Gale app available for iPhone!More than 23% of the libraries in the sample owned some kind of stand alone ebook reading device.
Apparently the ebook phenomenon is really exploding this year. The complete report gives figures for spending on eBooks in 2010 and anticipated spending for 2011. Also included are library spending plans and current use of eBook reader such as Nook, Reader and Kindle.
Some of the surprising findings shared by Resource Shelf:
- 30.42% of the students in the sample say that they have received any form of in or out of class training from a college librarian in how to use the library's e-book collection.
- Close to a third of the students in the sample were not sure what an e-book was and another 9.5% believed that their library did not have an e-book collection.
See charts (PDF) that offer up results for the question, "percentage of students who have ever received any form of in or out of class training from a college librarian in how to use the college library ebook collection
If the numbers for ebook training are this low for the American college population, it seems realistic to assume that the numbers are even lower for American high schools.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Personal Learning Networks Necessary to Accomplish Digital and Media Literacy
I am glad to report that we have our own library groupies who have an interest in how social media and web 2.0 tools shape our worlds and the education of our students. Within the United States there have been 1,266 page views for the previous month (Oct 14 – Nov 12, 2010) on this blog. Looks like we have a few followers from other countries as well! Page view counts from abroad: South Korea -37; Singapore -36;
Australia- 34; Canada -33; Jordan- 23; Estonia -22; United Kingdom- 22; Russia -20; Germany -18.
Most of our blog traffic comes from our New Trier Library Homepage (79%) but I am glad to see that 7% of our traffic is generated by Twitter. The most viewed posting was Bob Edwards Discussion on NPR relating libraries to student achievement. (163 views).Surprisingly, the 2nd most viewed blog post (90 views) was: If You Can Type, You Can Make Movies which features the simple animator Xtranormal.
In this same time period, our librarians have posted 23 times to this blog (almost once per day). We do have perspectives to share which people are reading. This leads me to respond to the previous posting by librarian Linda Straube. She was listening to a 2 hour discussion online with Renee Hobbs who recently released the important white paper Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan for Action. A U.S. Department of Education representative asked, “How many of us got professional development to use FaceBook?”Administrators don't seem to understand the pedagogical value of teaching students the most basic things about social media. This doesn't make any sense. What percentage of schools block Facebook? One thing I know for sure is that students know how to get around this anyway. It takes about 30 seconds on Google to find a work around: If your school blocks a certain site, use Google’s translate feature to get around it. Go to there and “Translate” the site from German to English. I am sure resourceful students can also find another dozen ways to get access to YouTube and any other site that's blocked.
Nicholas Bramble from Slate magazine writes:
"Digital and media literacy education activates independent thinking, authentic dialogue, collaboration, reflection, creativity,and social responsibility as applied to the practices of responding to, creating and sharing messages". (NAMLE, 2007; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010)
Why don't we have more library spaces like the Chicago Public Library's YOUmedia program? This dedicated space of 5500 sq. ft is a place in which teens can learn digital media skills and also find out about other library resources. Or media spaces like Barrington Public Library? I'm sure the answer is partly funding, partly lack of professional staffing, and partly lack of vision. However, even with dramatic budget cuts our public libraries seem to be ahead of the school libraries. In school libraries, the better funded IT departments absorb the library media centers' traditional 'Audio Visual services' and librarians lose control.
People running our schools often make fear-based decisions; they mostly block social media, sticking their heads further into the sand so that they don't have to deal with change. Most administrators have bought into the scare tactics about the dangers of the Internet. Apparently they are not reading the Hobbs paper nor the recent government (June 2010 report: Youth Safety on a Living Internet ) report which concluded that blocking access to social-networking sites can do more harm than good.
What does this mean for librarians and teachers? It's time to develop your personal learning network to absorb as much as you can about social media and digital literacy because it looks like it'll be years before the schools get around to training us.
Australia- 34; Canada -33; Jordan- 23; Estonia -22; United Kingdom- 22; Russia -20; Germany -18.
Most of our blog traffic comes from our New Trier Library Homepage (79%) but I am glad to see that 7% of our traffic is generated by Twitter. The most viewed posting was Bob Edwards Discussion on NPR relating libraries to student achievement. (163 views).Surprisingly, the 2nd most viewed blog post (90 views) was: If You Can Type, You Can Make Movies which features the simple animator Xtranormal.
Nicholas Bramble from Slate magazine writes:
"A hundred years ago, John Dewey warned that when teachers suppress children's natural interests in the classroom, they "substitute the adult for the child, and so weaken intellectual curiosity and alertness, suppress initiative, and deaden interest." By locking social networking out of school, teachers and principals are making exactly that error. Instead, they should meet kids where they live: online."Another thing that doesn't make any sense is that we, as educators in the State of Illinois (and most states elsewhere), get no professional development recertification credits for the hours each week we spend learning, reading, sharing, discussing, and reflecting within our own personal learning networks.(Twitter, Facebook, nings,blogs) Departments of Education at the State and Federal level are not in sync with the findings of Hobbs' white paper where she reports on what successful instructional practices should include:
"Digital and media literacy education activates independent thinking, authentic dialogue, collaboration, reflection, creativity,and social responsibility as applied to the practices of responding to, creating and sharing messages". (NAMLE, 2007; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010)
Why don't we have more library spaces like the Chicago Public Library's YOUmedia program? This dedicated space of 5500 sq. ft is a place in which teens can learn digital media skills and also find out about other library resources. Or media spaces like Barrington Public Library? I'm sure the answer is partly funding, partly lack of professional staffing, and partly lack of vision. However, even with dramatic budget cuts our public libraries seem to be ahead of the school libraries. In school libraries, the better funded IT departments absorb the library media centers' traditional 'Audio Visual services' and librarians lose control.
People running our schools often make fear-based decisions; they mostly block social media, sticking their heads further into the sand so that they don't have to deal with change. Most administrators have bought into the scare tactics about the dangers of the Internet. Apparently they are not reading the Hobbs paper nor the recent government (June 2010 report: Youth Safety on a Living Internet ) report which concluded that blocking access to social-networking sites can do more harm than good.
What does this mean for librarians and teachers? It's time to develop your personal learning network to absorb as much as you can about social media and digital literacy because it looks like it'll be years before the schools get around to training us.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Three New Reports
Three reports worth reviewing and discussing:
Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan for Action
Review the executive summary or listen to parts of the close to 2 hour online discussion with the author, Renee Hobbs, and a panel of experts, including American Library Association President, Roberta Stevens. Stevens talks about how school libraries are “absolutely pivotal” and “way out in front” on this issue. Parts of the discussion made me think of Clay Shirky’s work and the potential for creating change and ability of citizens to engage. Fascinating to listen to the different perspectives. The representative of the US Department of Education asked, “How many of us got professional development to use FaceBook?” as he talked about how do we help educators; what research and development can we do to look at promoting ease of use; and early childhood education. One panelist asked for a national online K-12 media literacy program. Another raised the issue of how many local communities are more focused with keeping their children away from these tools as opposed to teaching how to use them. There were several comments about teacher “comfort” with new technologies and suggestions for ways of encouraging teachers to integrate technology. The summary discussions noted the importance of librarians and using our network.
Ms. Hobbs includes five themes in the report, briefly summarized as:
1. Access, including reading comprehension, keyword search, search engine use
2. Analysis skills, critical thinking and interpretation of author’s attitudes
3. Creativity and self-expression
4. Reflection, on relationships, on social obligations, on slowing down and thinking about our choices of how we use media
5. Action, civic and social
She makes 10 recommendations for a action and develops them in some detail in the report. However, the section titled “Who Should do What” regarding what different stakeholders should do does not explicitly mention educators or school librarians.
The report does highlight 5 challenges, quoted here:
1. Moving beyond a tool-oriented focus that conflates having access to media and technology with the skillful use of it
2. Addressing risks associated with the media and digital technology
3. Expanding the concept of literacy
4. Strengthening people’s capacity to assess message credibility and quality
5. Using news and journalism in the context of K-12 education
A second just-released report is The National Education Technology Plan 2010. This plan talks about highly connected teachers. It discusses online communities of practice – making decisions in real time with quality resources; taking their conversations to some level of scale – promoting conversation between thought leaders on topics such as acceptable use, etc. The report presents five goals addressing Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity.
And Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age was released November 1st. Library Journal describes it as "the largest study of its kind and is a must-read for academic librarians."
The connectedness of these reports was apparent in the online discussion when mention was made of both the National Plan and of the large number of college students who are not well-prepared with respect to digital and media literacy. There is more reading to do -- looking forward to future conversations.
Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan for Action
Review the executive summary or listen to parts of the close to 2 hour online discussion with the author, Renee Hobbs, and a panel of experts, including American Library Association President, Roberta Stevens. Stevens talks about how school libraries are “absolutely pivotal” and “way out in front” on this issue. Parts of the discussion made me think of Clay Shirky’s work and the potential for creating change and ability of citizens to engage. Fascinating to listen to the different perspectives. The representative of the US Department of Education asked, “How many of us got professional development to use FaceBook?” as he talked about how do we help educators; what research and development can we do to look at promoting ease of use; and early childhood education. One panelist asked for a national online K-12 media literacy program. Another raised the issue of how many local communities are more focused with keeping their children away from these tools as opposed to teaching how to use them. There were several comments about teacher “comfort” with new technologies and suggestions for ways of encouraging teachers to integrate technology. The summary discussions noted the importance of librarians and using our network.
Ms. Hobbs includes five themes in the report, briefly summarized as:
1. Access, including reading comprehension, keyword search, search engine use
2. Analysis skills, critical thinking and interpretation of author’s attitudes
3. Creativity and self-expression
4. Reflection, on relationships, on social obligations, on slowing down and thinking about our choices of how we use media
5. Action, civic and social
She makes 10 recommendations for a action and develops them in some detail in the report. However, the section titled “Who Should do What” regarding what different stakeholders should do does not explicitly mention educators or school librarians.
The report does highlight 5 challenges, quoted here:
1. Moving beyond a tool-oriented focus that conflates having access to media and technology with the skillful use of it
2. Addressing risks associated with the media and digital technology
3. Expanding the concept of literacy
4. Strengthening people’s capacity to assess message credibility and quality
5. Using news and journalism in the context of K-12 education
A second just-released report is The National Education Technology Plan 2010. This plan talks about highly connected teachers. It discusses online communities of practice – making decisions in real time with quality resources; taking their conversations to some level of scale – promoting conversation between thought leaders on topics such as acceptable use, etc. The report presents five goals addressing Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity.
And Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age was released November 1st. Library Journal describes it as "the largest study of its kind and is a must-read for academic librarians."
The connectedness of these reports was apparent in the online discussion when mention was made of both the National Plan and of the large number of college students who are not well-prepared with respect to digital and media literacy. There is more reading to do -- looking forward to future conversations.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Saturday, November 06, 2010
David Pogue on The Trouble with eReaders
In 2010 Amazon sold more ebooks than print books. Although this sounds like print books are in trouble the new technologies will not be killing hard print books anytime soon. The problem is that you still can’t read a Kindle book from Amazon on a Nook and you can't get a Sony Reader book on an iPad. The copyright protections are still a hurdle to be solved by the lawyers. The digitized books are great but compatible formats are a long way off.
Read Pogue's tips for more satisfying e-reading.
Friday, November 05, 2010
How To Get Google Books On Any E-Reader
Advice from: Steve Kovach, a Reporter at Business Insider
 Get these classics on any e-reader. Image: Google |
Twitter Increases Student Engagement [STUDY]
Mashable reports exciting findings:
"Students in the study who were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete assignments using Twitter increased their engagement over a semester more than twice as much as a control group."
Once again, it's the connections and bonds,not the tool itself.
"Students in the study who were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete assignments using Twitter increased their engagement over a semester more than twice as much as a control group."
Once again, it's the connections and bonds,not the tool itself.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Summon Discovery Layer
The Summon service offers a single search which access the breadth of the library collection. This ProQuest product advertises features which sound promising.
While touted as the holy grail of searching, a rather limited study by Lyle Ford shows that Summon is not superior to a Google Scholar Search and more investigation is needed.
However, after viewing their promotional video I was intrigued enough to consider seeing a live demo of the product.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
SAT and ACT prep online
I just checked the RSS feed for Walt Mossberg and the Wall Street Journal and came across Katie Boehert's evaluation of Grockit.com, a web-based site for test prep:
The full article is here. It's interesting to see some of the "social" elements that are included and the idea that this can be customized for a given student. The ability of students to participate - or even lead - review sessions is intriguing, too, and I am sure this will be a helpful review tool for some.
However, I am also disappointed to see that the site describes itself as "addictive", particularly when I had just finished listening to Steve Hargadon's interview with Vicki Abeles, the director of Race to Nowhere. Quite a contrast in content and messages, but rather fitting for election night.
The full article is here. It's interesting to see some of the "social" elements that are included and the idea that this can be customized for a given student. The ability of students to participate - or even lead - review sessions is intriguing, too, and I am sure this will be a helpful review tool for some.
However, I am also disappointed to see that the site describes itself as "addictive", particularly when I had just finished listening to Steve Hargadon's interview with Vicki Abeles, the director of Race to Nowhere. Quite a contrast in content and messages, but rather fitting for election night.
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