Saturday 30 January 2016

Mobile Things

I wanted to write about Pinterest as I love it and could sit creating boards all day given the time! Unfortunately I have already written about it so it will have to be something else. As one or two of the other things have been written up rather more briefly than you might want I thought I would expand this one to compensate for it, so there are three and they are: Access-It, our Library Management system's mobile app, the Kindle app and Pressreader.

Access-It. I use this all the time when I am buying stock for our library as it prevents me from buying copies of books I already have, in my previous job I knew which books we had and which we didn't and very rarely made a mistake - lucky as the mobile app I had then never worked properly. However, in this job I just cannot do that. So I use Access-it. It is of course useful as more than an aide-memoire for me and I try to persuade the students to use it, especially the senior students who need to get into good bibliographic and referencing habits. This is gradually working but it is like painting the Fourth Bridge as I am sure anyone knows who is involved with students. Every year you have to repeat much of the same things. Don't use Wikipedia as an academic source, there are search engines beyond Google, use Google but intelligently etc, etc, So Access-It like other LMSs allows its users to gather bibliographic data to include in their EPQs, and other work that needs to be submitted and of course prepares them for university life and the extra demands that makes. A lot of our students use smart phones as their preferred device at school and so the ability to use the OPAC almost to the same level of sophistication as on a laptop is very useful. In some ways the search functions are better on mobile devices than they are on laptops as there is less space and so the layouts are refined and carefully designed.

The Kindle app, I love this, I can have access to an enormous selection of books on almost any subject, and if I need it right away - no waiting at all - I order, it pay for it and there it is. I have a Kindle which is my preferred way to read now, more than print books although I still buy print books as I love to have them around and one of the disappointments in my job is the lack of enthusiasm for e-Books and I realise I can't use Kindle books for the Library as Amazon just do not allow it - so, so annoying, but that does not stop me having books on the Kindle, so if as at the moment I have to read a stack of books for a competition the College is participating in then it is so much more convenient to have them all on my Kindle instead of a great big heavy pile to carry around. Then there are the special offers which make building a decent collection less expensive, it also allows me to read books before deciding whether or not to stock them. I could be using a Kobo but the range of books is just not up there with Amazon and I appreciate there are issues with them not paying tax, but until people stop buying coffee from Starbucks I will continue to use Amazon as my chances of changing their policies by no longer buying their books are too remote to consider.

Finally there is Pressreader, this is an app - paid for that gives the whole College community to some 3000+ publications in up to 60 languages. I work at an international school in South East Asia and we have students from many countries and a significant percentage have English as an additional language, many of our students speak three or more languages and so having an app that allow them not only to retain their home language but to improve it has got to be a good thing. It also helps them to stay in touch with what s happening in their home countries. The flip side of this coin is the ability of the MFL department to use Pressreader to support students learning new languages including expat students who are learning Bahasa Malay, Mandarin, Spanish and French, (not necessarily all at the same time). Buying print magazines from the UK and having them shipped out is expensive and can be very slow, too. So how much better to have access online especially as they retain this access for seven days after leaving the College campus. I am constantly trying to persuade more students to use this app and when they do try it many thoroughly enjoy it, it is also very popular with our large number of expat teachers who also want to keep up to date with current affairs, their local papers from home but many want the sports and other leisure magazines.

The only problem with these online apps is getting students and staff to use them regularly, e-books are not very highly regarded here for a reason I do not understand other than students prefer print books. Maybe it is a fear of the unknown, but I am hoping to introduce them later this year when we also introduce a bring your own device policy which will mean students have to have at least a tablet and maybe they will enjoy using those for reading more than their smart phones, we will see. Pressreader is gradually becoming increasing widely used and access it is also picking up in usage. The aim is to get the students as enthusiastic about computers and tablets as I am.



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