Internet Public Library
April 11, 2008One resource that is super cool is the Internet Public Library! This is a collaborative effort used to put books and articles on the internet: For Free! So take a minute or two to browse around this site, may I suggest that you try and find some text books that you purchased this semester. Afterwards, let’s talk about how a site like this could change education in the classroom as we know it. Also, as an educator how could this site be used to bring non-purchasable (perhaps by the school board) texts to the students (I’m thinking banned books!)?
_jessica
Wow, this site is awesome. I think that this can be useful for anyone. For us education majors who are beginning blocks next semester and have been assigned a selection of books which we must chose to read this site would be great. Before purchasing the books or sitting in Borders for hours deciding which books to buy we can now do this from our own homes. As an educator I also this that this site will be a great resource. As mentioned in schools there are often “class sets” of books which students are often only given limited access to, as school districts are often on tight budgets. With a site like this students can read at home if they need to brush up on a section, and with a site like this there would never be the excuse that a student left their book home (granted that the particular book is on the site.)
As far as assigning sections from banned books…I don’t know…as a teacher I would be extremely weary of using banned books. Personally, although its a cool idea, I probably wouldn’t want to risk my job like that.
Another concern would be the copyrights issues associated with using online books in a education setting. I found this sight and thought it might be a useful guide to copyrights
http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml
-Frank-
Frank-Your thought about copy rights is fabulous and so relevant to the speaker we had last class. Thanks for bringing it up & your link is very helpful.
-jess
WOW! I am so excited about finding about this.. honestly. That site is awesome, and has definite & endless possibilities for our classrooms, especially paperless ones. This will also cut down on prices, which is great. I am sort of speechless about this, because I thought that the only real online book resources was books.google.com
JUST WOW!
This site is honestly a huge contribution to the potential start of the paperless era. Usually if you want to find any information about a book on the internet (besides opinion essays or reviews) you must go to sparknotes,com and at this site you aren’t shown the original copy of the book yet only a short cut summary of the novel. By having books on the internet free of charge students will never need to buy every single book required for their classroom readings. There will be absolutely no excuses when it comes to lost, forgotten at home, or ruined books. Students will have more responsibility and will be held accountable for all of their actions concerning their educational career.
WOW! I agree with Frank, Krystina, and Meghan that this site is an excellent resource for both teachers and students! It’s true that students will not have an excuse for not reading if their book is on this website. However, since many students (like myself) still like to read a hard copy, I think that this site could be used as a backup for misplaced or forgotten books. Or, if students are only reading a portion of a book or just doing some research, this site would allow them to do so without purchasing the book. It’s also a great place for teachers to preview books when decided which on which ones to use in the classroom.
Stacia
What a great contribution this website is for academia! This is a really exciting tool to have access to now that I know it exists. I never even thought to search for an online library, but what a good find! I think this site is definitely useful in the event, as Stacia mentioned, of a misplaced/lost book. As a future teacher, I find this site to allow more room for curriculum change without having worry about having to finance for different books. For example, if at the end of a school year, I decide I’d like to assign another book for my class, I can do so without having to worry about actually buying it. Addtionally, to reiterate what Stacia mentioned, I definitly think this is great site for providing portions of books for those who only need sections for research.
It’s def one to tag for your delicious acct!
-Dr. S
This site is great, especially if you do not want to purchase a book but just look it over. I don’t know about incorporating band books into a curriculum. Books are banned for a reason and are not suitable to use, as Frank mentioned, if they would jeopardized your job as a teacher. However, this site is a great site for researching or looking up reliable information without actually purchasing a book. I like that it has links for dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference websites on grammar or foreign languages etc. The site is a great compilation of academic material. It is more appropriate than just googling something and hoping that a reliable source pops up.
This IPL is amazing, and it only contributes to how much possibility there is with a world wide web. I like how it has multiple resources within its domain, and I especially like the idea of being able to access texts when unable to, whether economically or otherwise. The only problem I foresee is the reading off of a screen. It seems to be a problem, as pointed out by our last blog topic, and hard copy reading is definitely more retainable, atleast in my belief. However, as a resource, the IPL seems reliable, and is perhaps a better starting point for academia than wikipedia.
Oh – and as far as banned books – for a fear of losing a job, I will not introduce my students to such works for a sake of simply reading banned literature, but I will make them aware that such texts exist, and will let them decide on their own. Remember, we are teaching students HOW to learn.
This website is really helpful! I wish I had known about it before my last semester, but I will definitley be using it in the future! On the topic of banned books, recently my methods course met with Chris Crutcher, a YA author who has been banned in several schools. But he said something very important about the content in his books. It’s real, and to deny children the right to read real material is a crime. Here’s a website with a little more about his feelings of banning books.
http://www.chriscrutcher.com/content/blogcategory/47/36/
If I were to venture into the world of banned books, I would send out a permission slip, or include it in the course criteria and have students parents sign it. -Aut
This site was extremely interesting and helpful! This is a fantastic site that I can now use in the future. However, I have to disagree with Garrett about using banned books. I think that if a book is banned in the school you are teaching in then you don’t have a choice, because you have to abide by the rules. But if research a book thats banned in another area, and chose not to teach it simply because its banned in a other places thats not valid. After researching book banning in my AED class and meeting Chris Crutcher I have learned that students need to be taught through their own culture. It is up to the reader as to what they can handle and what they can not.