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The best online STEM resources, according to a veteran teacher
After the schools shut down last week, my social media feeds and inbox lit up with color-coded homeschooling charts and agonizingly long lists of everything I should use to educate my kids. Fear, panic and an overwhelming sense of grief settled over me as I considered not only how I was going to explain what was happening to my curious kindergartener and second grader but also how we were going to manage working, schooling, living and staying sane and healthy in our tiny condo for the foreseeable future. As veteran teachers, my husband and I vowed to maintain normal as best we could. We'd stay virtually connected to family and friends and let the kids play and be bored and eat cookies and watch movies and attempt whatever work their school sent home. To calm myself, I composed my own non-exhaustive list of resources, called "Things I might actually use if the internet doesn't die" and sent bits of it to a few friends, who exhaled relief and gratitude. "Thanks," they said. "I might actually use these!" Here it is, reconstituted. I hope it lets you exhale too.
'World of Warcraft' to get a book series aimed at kids
World of Warcraft has been around for more than a decade, fleshing out the world of Azeroth with new lands, stories and characters. Its subscriber base is slowly shrinking, but the Warcraft brand continues to evolve through games like Hearthstone and an upcoming feature-length movie. Now, developer Blizzard is teaming up with Scholastic for a new book series aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds. It's called World of Warcraft: Traveler and the first novel will be launching in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand this November. The second instalment is due in 2017.
Netflix brings The Magic School Bus into the internet era with a new series
Netflix made a big push into educational video when it picked up Scholastic's TV shows, and we now know that this effort has paid off -- The Magic School Bus has been "remarkably popular," Netflix tells the New York Times. It only makes sense, then, that the streaming media pioneer has just ordered a new take on Magic School Bus for its next original series. The 26-episode show, The Magic School Bus 360°, will modernize Ms. Frizzle's science classes for kids who are now surrounded by technology; robots and wearables (such as a biometric suit) will play a part. Your little ones will have to wait until 2016 to start watching, but that patience may pay off if it fosters an early interest in computer science and other high-tech fields.
Every Goosebumps episode ever is now streaming on Netflix
Now you know you're subscribing to that ish.
Scholastic releases iPad e-reader app for kids
According to PaidContent, Scholastic brought its catalog of children's books to the iPad. The recently updated Storia app taps into Scholastic's ebook store which boasts of over 1,000 children's titles. The titles in the bookstore are organized by grade level, reading level, age and character/series. When you download the Storia app, you'll get five free ebooks so you can try out the app without any upfront cost. If you like the app, you can sign up for a Scholastic.com account, and purchase titles that your children can read on your iPad. Besides standard ebooks, there's also 150+ enhanced titles that include games and other interactive content. The Storia app also tracks the child's reading progress and lets you manage different bookshelves for multiple children. The Storia app is available for free from the iOS App Store. Books cost from US$0.99 to $9.99.
Scholastic enters the e-book fray with Storia and 1,000 children's stories
Between Google Books, iBooks, Nook, Kindle, Kobo, Sony... you'd figure the e-book field was crowded enough, right? Well, if you're specifically in the market for children's stories, things might look a little less packed. We guess that's why Scholastic is attempting to enter the fray with Storia, an e-reading app and store designed for kids. As part of a massive digitization effort, the company has launched Storia in beta for Windows and the iPad, alongside a market of over 1,000 titles. By the time it officially launches in the fall Scholastic hopes to have a fully stocked digital library of over 2,000 books loaded with interactive features. You can download the beta now with five free e-books by hitting up the more coverage link.
Study finds kids think they'd read more if they had an e-reader, drive better if they had a Porsche
Scholastic's recently released a study with some interesting findings. The company interviewed 1,045 children aged six to 17 and their parents about reading habits. One of the interesting tidbits is that the children who don't read for fun very much (once a week or less), about a third of them said they would read more if they had an e-reader. Two thirds of the entire group, however, said they wouldn't want to give up printed books entirely. Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the study also found that as children grow up, the amount of time they spend reading dramatically decreases, as time spent texting and talking on the phone increases. Hit up the source links for the entire report.
Guys, Goosebumps is coming to the DS, too
"Viewers beware! You're in for a scare!"We're not sure how closely Goosebumps HorrorLand for the DS will follow the Wii version, but after watching the opening credits for the series' late 90s television series, which Cartoon Network insists on running marathons for every other weekend, we have a few ideas for minigames we want: Terrorize an unsuspecting neighborhood with a floating, menacing "G" -- G as in the letter, not G as in gangsta, though the latter would be fantastic as well Make a golden retriever's eyes glow yellow while barking into the microphone along with the theme song More of the above So far, publisher Scholastic Interactive hasn't promised anything from our wish list, but they have revealed that players will be "vanquishing vampires, hanging on for life on the Roller Ghoster, and battling Certain Death." There must not be many corrupted canines at HorrorLand, the haunted amusement park and Goosebumps spin-off series which the game is based on. But we can dream.
Peter Moore tells reporter not to play Gears of War
Scholastic News reporter Aaron Broder (pictured here) needs another four years before he'll be able to play M-rated, thrice-platinum Gears of War, a situation that put Xbox chief Peter Moore in "the difficult position of advising a reporter not to play one of the top games for the company's Xbox 360," according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. See also: Aaron Broder interviewed, Aaron Broder's report from CES. [Photo credit: Aaron Broder, Scholastic News.]
iPod has new role as educational tool
Children will soon have a compelling new argument when begging their parents for an iPod, as the music, movie, and audio book player is about to take on a new role: educational tool. Pearson Education has just announced plans to release downloadable study guides (for use with Pearson texts, naturally) and audible review notes for exam preparation that may convince even the strictest parents to acquiesce and let the little white trojan horse into their homes. Not content with just the youth market, Pearson also revealed that it has purchased Apple's PowerSchool student information system, which is used by teachers and administrators to track student progress. No word yet on when kids can start using the "I'm studying!" excuse when told to take off their headphones in class.
