Welcome to my blog. This blog has been constructed as part of INF330 Assessment 2. To write a Professional Development Blog about four activities. The four activities covered in this blog will be:
- Diversity – Analyse and evaluate a website designed for children or young adults.
- Censorship – Find, read and analyse a peer-reviewed journal article.
- Young Peoples Book Awards – Write a book review.
- Digital materials/resources and emerging Technologies – Learn how to use a new tool, software, or game, and write about your experience.
“Children
should be seen as trusted and knowledgeable partners when to it comes to
deciding what is and what is not appropriate for them to read”. (Isajlovic & McKechnic, 2012,
p. 42).
1.
Censorship
Find,
read and analyse a peer-reviewed journal article.
Title
An
Exploratory Study of Children’s views of Censorship
Authors
Natasha
Isajlovic-Terry
Lynne
McKechnic
Year
2012
Journal
Journal of the Association for Library
Services to Children
The
journal article that I chose to read and analysis deals with censorship.
However in this article it is not the adults that are being asked about
censorship it is the children.
“While
much literature exists about children, intellectual freedom, and censorship,
very little is known about what children themselves think about this topic.”
(Isajlovic & McKechnic, 2012, p. 38).
This
article talks about a study that was undertaken to answer the question:
“What
do children think about censorship of materials that have been developed for or
are of interest to them?” (Isajlovic
& McKechnic, 2012, p. 39). Although
a complex question and one that I did wonder how children so young would be
able to answer I was both surprised and impressed by how they tackled it.
The
investigation included six children aged between nine and twelve years old
there were four girls and two boys. The method chosen to carry out the
investigation after careful consideration was the focus group interview. “Focus
groups create a safe peer environment and replicate the type of small group
setting that children are familiar with from their classroom work.” ((Isajlovic
& McKechnic, 2012, p. 39).
The
study took place over a one hour session where each child was asked about their
views of what they should or should not be allowed to read. Whilst an hour
might seem like not enough time to come to many conclusions it is interesting
to read how much these children are able to give to this investigation in such
a short time. Surprisingly the children had a lot to say about this and felt that
“censorship was not a favourable practise, some articulated that it sometimes
might be necessary. These children were able to identify examples or context
where this might be so.” (Isajlovic
& McKechnic, 2012, p.40).
The
children although aware of restrictions on what they read through the school
library were unconcerned. This was a different story when it came to censorship
within other areas. The oldest in the group felt that the “type of material
affects the impact on the user and that child would be more negatively affected
by violent images in video games and movies than by a similar content in a
book”. (Isajlovic & McKechnic, 2012,
p.40).
When
it comes to inappropriate content it seems that adults struggle with this a lot
more than children do. Adults can tend to pass on their bias to children by
imposing restrictions when children are seemingly more open to censorship.
This
article for me made me think about my own children and the restrictions we
placed on them with movies, games and books. It made me realise that without me
actually thinking about censorship I had actually done the same thing. However
at the time I was unaware that this is what I had implemented. The surprising
thing for me about this article was that I myself had not expected children so
young to be aware of these issues. The other part of this whole issue is that I
had not given much thought to the fact that it is adults whom impose censorship
on children’s books without consideration for what children are able to cope
with.
The
article relates to censorship from a different perspective, this being that of
a child which until now has barely been touched on.
Once
I finished this article it made me realise that I too was unaware of a child’s
perspective on censorship and although I had known that censorship was a large
issue this was something that I know little about. To help with me understanding
this issue better I would like to read more about it and perhaps read or
investigate what books have been censored.
References
Isajlovic-Terry,
N., & McKechnie, L. (2012). An Exploratory Study of Children's Views of
Censorship. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for
Library Service to Children, 10(1), 38-43.
2.
Diversity
Analyse
and evaluate a website designed for children or young adults.
Website
International
Children’s Digital Library (ICDL)
The
website that I chose to analyse and evaluate is the International Children’s
Digital Library (ICDL).
This
website has been developed by the ICDL Foundation which is a non-profit
organisation. The foundations goal “is to build a collection of books that
represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the
world. Ultimately the foundation aspires to have every culture and language
represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of
children’s literature from the world community.” (Mission)
The
website has been set up to cater for children between the ages of 3 and 13 from
different ethnicities. The site has a variety of eBook’s to suit these age
groups in many different languages.
My
first impression of this website was that the layout was appealing to the eye
especially for children as it was bright, colourful and easy to read. The font
was a good size and in well-chosen colours.
There
was no need to download a specific application which is great. The site loads
pretty quickly and does not seem to need any specific requirements. I noticed
that they also have an app you can download for the iPhone and iPad. I thought
it would be interesting to see how the iPad app worked so I downloaded this as
well and it was quick with no problems. There seems to be no differences
between the two which is also very good.
Moving
around the website was quite easy and almost instantaneous. However I did
wonder how children would go with using the site on their own particularly the
younger ones. Younger children would need help from someone older to help
navigate the site. I felt that the site could be more appealing to children
with the introduction of some sounds or music as they work their way through
the site, maybe even the addition of a feature that allows instructions to be
spoken or even the eBook to be spoken as this would open the site up to a much
wider audience for example the visually impaired. Although the fact that this
site is run by a non for profit organisation, inclusions like this could be
deemed too expensive.
Whilst
there are no interactive features apart from the eBooks on this site, I did
however come across an app called StoryKit which is located under the apps for
the iPhone and iPad. Once downloaded this allows the child to read the eBooks,
edit them or write and illustrate their own book. Within this app a child or
adult can add colour, text, sound and/or photos to existing eBooks or their own
book. This means that an adult could read the book whilst recording on the app
so then a younger child or a visually impaired child can listen to it. Even
though this app is easy to use there are no instructions on how to use it which
could be a problem for some.
I
had looked at this site before and found it interesting but had never spent
much time on it so I found the StoryKit app great fun and even had a go at
writing my own book all be it a very simple one. This website would appeal to
children a diverse range of children those from different ethnicities and if
the StoryKit app was used those that are visually impaired.
Even
though I enjoyed looking around this website I did feel that some of the books
were a bit out-dated and I would be hesitant to recommend it on that basis.
Although if you were looking for books for non-English parents to read to their
children it may be of use.
References
Mission. (n.d.).
Retrieved May 15, 2014, from International Children's Digital Library: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/about/mission.shtml
3.
Young
People’s Book Awards
Write
a book review
Title
The
Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author
Eric
Carle
Year
1969
The
book I chose to review is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is a
book a children’s picture book suite to the younger child. It is a book I read
as a child and one that I went on to read to my own children and we still have
a copy of it today. This book has won many awards over the years including:
·
New York Times Ten Best Picture Books of
the Year 1969.
·
American Institute of Graphic Arts award
1970.
·
Best Children's Books of England 1970.
· Selection du Grand Prix des Treize,
France 1972.
·
Brooklyn Museum Art Books for Children
1973, 1976, 1977.
·
Nakamori Reader's Prize, Japan 1975.
This
book is available in hard copy, paperback, board book and audio book. The book
is illustrated in bright colours and has clear easily read text. The book
features different size pages and has a hole punched through them so that the
child can visualise the caterpillar eating through the food. The story told is
about a caterpillar’s journey from the beginning as an egg through the eating
stage of a caterpillar until it becomes in the end a beautiful butterfly.
The
story takes you through the days in the life of a caterpillar what they might
eat and how much. The bigger the caterpillar gets the more it eats until it
stops eating and builds itself a cocoon where it stays for two weeks until it
eats its way out and is transformed into a beautiful butterfly.
This book not only tells a story but also has
an educational value as well. The book deals with counting, days of the week
and stages of a caterpillar’s life. It has been translated into over 40
different languages.
Even
though I had read this book many times before this time I saw it from a whole
new perspective. I looked at it as an educational resource as well as a great
book to read young children.
It
would be a great book to read for story time in a library as you could have the
children join in particularly when they are going through the pieces of food
that the caterpillar is eating.
I
feel that many children’s books were undervalued in the past and in more recent
times these books have become more popular as they have much more to offer this
particular book is one such book. To revisit some of the books from my
childhood would not be wasted as I might now see them in a whole new light.
I
have included a YouTube link of the story being read by the author for you all to
enjoy.
4. Digital materials/resources and emerging
technologies.
Learn
how to use a new tool, software, or game, and write about your experience.
EBooks
and eBook lending
EBooks
are becoming a popular way to read books these days and have shown a steady
increase over the last few years. However they still are not increasing in
popularity as much as it was first though that they would. Ebooks can be read
on; a dedicated eReader, computer, tablet, smart phones or iPad they can be
bought or more recently they can be borrowed from the local library. To be able
to borrow eBooks from the local library you will need a valid library card and
be able to download the eBook onto your device.
I
had never completed this myself as I much prefer to read a hard copy of a book.
For this activity I decided that borrowing an eBook form the local library and
downloading onto my iPad was a chance to learn a new skill.
My
local library had a section of their website dedicated to eCollections in this
section you can find; eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines. I have chosen to
borrow an eBook. I went to the eBook collections once in here there was a
choice of two eBook collections axis360 eBooks or Bolinda eBooks. Both collections
were suitable for all ages and offered fiction and non-fiction books. My
decision was to use the axis360 eBook collection, now I had a choice of apps
depending on the device I was using so I chose the one specifically for apple
products. Once I clicked on this I came across a page with step by step
instructions (3 steps in all). Firstly I downloaded from iPad apps the name of
the app was blio once this was completed I had to go to the blio webpage to
register. Once registration is complete return to the libraries website go back
into the asix360 collections and tap on the book you wish to borrow. Then you
need to:
·
add it to your cart
·
checkout
·
put in your library card number and pin
·
then log back into the blio site
Finally
the book is mine to read.
From
this experience I learned that even though eBooks and borrowing are the future
I remain unconvinced of whether I would change my reading habits just yet. To
actually borrow an eBook for the first time it can take a while depending on
how quickly your device allows you to down load. Maybe follow up books might
not take so long as you are already registered on a site. But for me by the
time I had finished the process I could have been and borrowed the book from
the library and already been reading as when I thought I had finally gained
access to the book there were to be more problems and errors as it finished
downloading.
The
eBook I down loaded was a children’s book and as this is to be related to
children I thought that would give me a chance to see how easy the process
would be. For a child to do this who knows they may have been better at it than
I was but for younger children in particular they would need a parent to carry
out the process.
Maybe
using a different app next time may prove to be more successful and may change
the way I think about the process at present.
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