Gaming the Common Core: Many board games align with the standards
When the library profession gathers in Las Vegas this month for the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference (June 26 –July 1), how can we not focus on gaming in libraries? Play-based...
View ArticleGeneration Tablet: Kids Must Learn to Hack in the Real World
They are the rising tablet generation: the young children entering early-learning programs at public libraries or in preschools. Some of these kids, like my four-year-old daughter, have had their...
View ArticleFor 1:1, Content Is Key | Next Big Thing
Back in January, I wrote that 2014 would be the year of 1:1. Little did I know the extent to which this would become true in my rural region. Seven of the districts that I serve are implementing some...
View ArticleThe True Cost of Free Internet Services | Next Big Thing
In The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (Putnam), the 1966 Hugo Award-winning science fiction masterpiece by Robert A. Heinlein, the economy of the moon colonies runs under a single key idea: “There ain’t no...
View ArticleFired Up by the SLJ Summit | The Next Big Thing
At the 2014 SLJ Leadership Summit, we heard amazing librarians from around the country talk about their successes. Listening to their stories, I was more impressed by some accomplishments that were...
View ArticleIs 2015 the Year of the Desktop? | The Next Big Thing
Given the rapid proliferation of tablets, Chromebooks, and other 1:1 computing devices last year, 2015 should be the year of the desktop—even in this time of rapid shift towards 1:1. For all of the...
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