Primary Sources, apps, and more ...

Recently, we have had classes in the library who were looking for primary sources, particularly related to waves of immigration.  We also had several classes who are writing letters from the time of the Civil War.  They, too, used primary sources and found documents compiled by Gilder-Lehrman to be especially helpful.  In working with these classes, I came across several useful resources to share.  One is the Blog from the National Archives which includes information on their catalog, transcription, and Docs Teach, an online tool for teaching with documents.

 

Another is an app which is listed as one of 10 best apps from SLJ for 2015.  Described as "mining resources from a range of cultural institutions, The New Immigrants NYC 1880–1924 (Vangard Direct, Gr 4 Up) presents a curated collection of 100-plus primary and secondary sources, from historical essays and oral histories to archival photos and video clips related to the second wave of U.S. immigration."  This was designed with an intended audience of New York City classrooms, but the varied primary sources will certainly be of interest to those studying this topic from an historical perspective and in relation to the present day's on-going national conversation.  

Here are two additional app lists which may be of interest to you, originally brought to my attention by Nicole Hennig:  

• 20 Top apps for Design and Visual Story Telling in 2015. Make color palettes, fonts, mood boards, posters, animation, and more. 
• 25 BEST apps for teaching students how to present, create and code. Apps recommended by teachers, for teachers. Ted-ED, Haiku Deck, Animoto, and more. This one was originally published on TedEd.

If you have more ideas to share on apps or primary sources, please let us know.

Special Education apps

From the ReadWriteWeb: Apple Adds Special Education Section to the App Store

Quick reminder about an upcoming LOCAL presentation from NSSED (North Suburban Special Education District): "Use of the iPod, iPad, and iPhone to Support Students with Special Needs at Home and in the Community" Tuesday, November 16th 9:30am to 11:30am at our Northfield campus. Presenter is Patrick Black whose blog is here.

Click the following links for more ideas on iPad apps for Special Education from David Lignon and Eric Sailers.

"Appstravaganza!" from MacWorld

Take a look at the current issue of MacWorld - November 2010 - and it's cover story "Appstravaganza!" The 2-page spread of the introduction is a sight to see, along with the 177 apps for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
The article is well-organized with a format that is easy to skim for an overview, browse according to your interests, and view the look of the app.

A few are highlighted in the podcast with Philip Michaels and Lex Friedman. From music to data storage to food to sports, so much is here!

"Reinvention of Print....

...One App at a Time" or so says Mashable in Friday's post about Scroll Motion (11,000 apps and counting). If you were intrigued by Harry Potter's Daily Prophet Newspaper (remember the talking pictures?) check out Mashable's post for a video of the new Esquire app which Scroll Motion helped develop.

Then think about how some of that could work with textbooks and in education settings. Just last week, I spoke with teachers who were envisioning sheet music which "magically" scrolled or flipped pages as one played or about bilingual books with dictionaries and spoken pronunciation keys in two languages as students scrolled over words while trying to learn a new language... it's amazing what we will be able to do!