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Stephen Abrams - Stephen's Lighthouse Blog

I attended the opening plenary session featuring Stephen Abrams and a panel of high school students, ranging in age from 15 to 17. Stephen asked the panel a number of questions about their interests, study habits, electronic devices, research methods, hobbies, and much more. The students were engaging, authentic, and honest with us and provided a number of surprises.

A big surprise for me was their almost unanimous lack of interest in eBooks. Many of them explained that they enjoy the feel of a "real book" when it comes to reading for pleasure. They spend so much time reading from screens that they appreciate the break that curling up with a good book provides. Stephen told the audience that research shows that the demographic that is embracing eBooks most enthusiastically is actually middle-aged women!

Another surprise for me was the panel's seeming lack of interest in brands and labels. While each of them owns a cell phone of some type or other, most described them in general terms rather than by brand. For example, one girl described her phone as a "candy bar phone", and another told us that she has "a slidey phone". They are interested in quality, but not in brands for the sake of the brand name alone.

Most of the panelists begin their research with Google for an overview of the topic, and often consult Wikipedia as a starting point to gain general information and other uesful links. Many did appreciate the access to online databases provided by their schools or public libraries, but few seemed to rely on them. I see this as a great opportunity to continue pointing our students toward these resources as we work through research projects with them.

Stephen Abrams writes a blog called Stephen's Lighthouse. Check it out for his insights, research findings, and quirky sense of humour.

Posted by Chris Passmore

Teaching Books Recommend that you sign up for a free trial of TeachingBooks.net, which houses a plethora of literary resources. Nick Glass did a session on it and was in the Exhibitors Hall at OLA last week. Just touched the tip of the iceberg by listening to Melanie Watts talking about her writing Scaredy Squirrel - one of my personal storybook favourites. Downloaded S. Squirrel activity guide for a colleague. []

Posted by Peggy MacDonald