“Tablet shipments for the top five brands rose notably in the second quarter of this year, according to analysts at Canalys, a market research firm. The upswing came just when people around the world were asked to work remotely and keep their kids home from school to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Shipments were 26% higher than during the same time period in 2019, and were approaching numbers more typically seen during the holiday shopping season, the report said. Apple led the pack, shipping 14 million iPads from April through June, and competitors Samsung, Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo all saw year-over-year increases in shipments as well.”
Posted on: August 5, 2020, 6:35 amCategory: Uncategorized
“Here’s a very lucid 10-minute video from Brene Brown on trust. “Braving” is her acronym for what she considers to be the key elements of trust: Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault (confidentiality), Integrity, Non-Judgment, and Generosity of intent (i.e assuming the best in others).”
Posted on: August 5, 2020, 6:15 amCategory: Uncategorized
Book publishing has been severely hit by the closing of bookshops as well as by books being considered as non-essential products in some countries. During and after the isolation period that hit most of the continent, the Federation of European Publishers collected information from its members – 29 national associations of publishers of books, learned journals and educational materials from all over Europe – regarding the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on book publishing. Now, four months after the emergency started in Europe, we have produced a stock-taking report that sheds some light on what has happened to publishing in the last months, showing the extent of the damage sustained by the sector.
Stephen Hersh, a faculty member and former advertising executive, outlines six steps for how you can create a community of active learning online if you “use the medium.”
Talking less. Zoom was just not friendly to a talking head. I thought of my mini lectures not as events in themselves but as introductions or kickoffs to small-group work sessions
Motivating students to come to class prepared. We can’t ditch live lectures without replacing them. My students loved the booklets I handed out, which basically enabled them to take in quickly the material that I would have explained if I had done a conventional lecture. When students encountered the material in several forms throughout the course, it helped make the concepts stick. I could have quizzed them on the reading before each class, but it turned out not to be necessary — they made it clear in the discussions they had done the reading.
Using Zoom rooms. To apply Andy Warhol’s adage, on Zoom everyone is famous for 15 seconds. In small breakout rooms, they can take ownership of the ideas, identify what’s not clear to them and what they disagree with, and test how far they can run with the material on their own. They can think critically and build their skills, applying the ideas to solve problems.
Varying the rhythm and structure. Zoom is the ultimate in low production values, but we can compensate with variety. So, I emulated the structure of a television variety show, but rather than using this structure to deliver jokes, I delivered a canon of social science theories. After each major idea, I asked students to go into a breakout room to apply the concept to analyze a situation or solve a problem. For example, when we studied cultural anthropology, I asked them to teach the others about a personal experience they had as a member of a cultural group such as an ethnic, racial or religious group, or a gender or gender identity group. I tried to keep each breakout discussion to about five minutes, because students told me the conversations tended to be less productive if they went on for much longer than that. As they said in vaudeville, “Leave them wanting more.” With this format, I was able to move on to something else before Zoom fatigue set in.
Adopting the right mind-set and attitude. If you believe Zoom teaching is inherently worse than classroom teaching, it will be. If you can wrap your mind around the exciting possibilities of Zoom — or just give it a fair try — you’ve taken the first step. There are many ways to cultivate Zoom enthusiasm and make it infectious. For example, think: Why do I love this field to begin with? How can I express that on Zoom?
Continuing to evolve the format with input from students. Throughout the quarter, I asked the class what was working best on Zoom. Aside from just asking, you might consider using polling tools like PollEverywhere.com or Slido (which is at sli.do). Speaking of trying things out and evolving, if you’re not comfortable with the technical aspects of how Zoom works, seek help!”
Posted on: August 4, 2020, 6:59 amCategory: Uncategorized
Stephen Abram is a librarian and principal with Lighthouse Consulting Inc., and executive director of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. He blogs on library strategies for direction, marketing, technology and user alignment.
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