Channel Weekly, Vol. 14, No. 24, March 15, 2012

1. Your Feedback Requested: BadgerLunch Survey
2. Games+Learning+Society Educators' Symposium
3. Deadline for "School Libraries Count!" Survey Extended to March 30
4. Computer Coding for Kids
5. 2012 Notable Children's Books
6. Create a Great Teen Website
7. Website of the Week -- The Nutrition Source
8. Calendar
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1. YOUR FEEDBACK REQUESTED: BADGERLUNCH SURVEY

March 1 marked the final BadgerLunch of the season. The theme of the series was "Discover BadgerLink" and focused on resources that you might not realize are available through BadgerLink like the Wisconsin Digital Archive and BadgerLearn.

In planning for future trainings, the BadgerLink team has put together a survey: https://forms.dpi.wi.gov/se.ashx?s=56301B2D3118D4EE.

Please complete this short survey about the BadgerLunch webinar training series. By completing this survey you will help us evaluate our current webinar format and content as well as provide insight into future trainings.

The survey is only eleven questions and should not take more than 5 minutes to complete. The survey closes on March 20.

You can find this series and other training webinars archived at http://www.badgerlink.net/training.html

Thank you for your participation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kara Ripley, BadgerLink Training Librarian, at kara.ripley@dpi.wi.gov.


2. GAMES+LEARNING+SOCIETY EDUCATORS' SYMPOSIUM

The Games+Learning+Society Conference is excited to announce the 4th annual GLS Educators Symposium (GLSES) to be held Tuesday, June 12, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Memorial Union.

GLSES is an opportunity celebrate and deepen educators' use of games in various educational settings, foster collaboration among teachers, designers, researchers and others throughout the elementary to higher education continuum, and support opportunities for educators to network and participate in professional development. GLSES also sets an exciting tone for the annual GLS conference, now in its 8th year. The event features a keynote address by educator and games-researcher Jeremiah McCall.

Registration for the 2012 Games+Learning+Society Educators Symposium (GLSES) has opened. Information is available at http://www.glsconference.org/2012/glses.html or by contacting Remi Holden, Chair, GLSES [remi.holden@gmail.com].


3. DEADLINE FOR "SCHOOL LIBRARIES COUNT!" SURVEY EXTENDED TO MARCH 30

The deadline to participate in the American Association of School Librarian's (AASL) 2012 "School Libraries Count!" longitudinal survey has been extended to March 30. The survey gathers basic data about the status of school library programs across the country. AASL will use this information to develop advocacy tools to support school library programs at the local, state and national levels. The survey may be accessed directly at http://www.aaslsurvey.org.

All K-12 schools - public and private - are invited to participate on a voluntary basis. Past participants' continued involvement is heavily encouraged, since those responses are crucial to examining trends. The survey's questions cover the library program's hours, staff and selected staff activities, collection, technology, usage and expenditures. Starting in 2008, AASL began adding supplemental questions to address a current issue within the school library field. In 2012, these additional questions focus on technology access and filtering.

The survey is conducted by KRC Research, an independent, third-party firm. More information about "School Libraries Count!" and its key findings from previous years is available at http://www.ala.org/aasl/slcsurvey.


4. COMPUTER CODING FOR KIDS

From the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) Blog, Gretchen Caserotti writes: "We are putting together a big STEM-based fair at the Darien (Conn.) Library this summer and it got me thinking about technology programming for kids. In my investigations, it seems there are three programming languages that are easiest for kids to start with: Python, Ruby, and Scratch. Once kids are comfortable, they can graduate to the more challenging languages like Perl and C++. Here (http://goo.gl/8HEJ7) are a few resources on get kids started coding at your own library."

5. 2012 NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOKS

The Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) selected its 2012 list of Notable Children's Books in January during the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Dallas. The list of titles includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity, and value to children 14 years of age and younger. View the annotated list of titles at http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb.


6. CREATE A GREAT TEEN WEBSITE

Karen Jensen from the Teen Librarian's Toolbox writes: "If you are a school or public library, you can't ignore the fact that teens are online. A lot. And honestly, you need to create a situation for yourself where you have a dynamic and continually updated web presence committed to teens." To read more of Jensen's advice, read the full post here: http://teenlibrarianstoolbox.blogspot.com/2012/03/creating-great-teen-website-example-and.html.


7. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source --http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/ -- This site from Harvard School of Public Health is designed to sort through the confusing information about nutrition that comes from the media and on the Web. The Nutrition Source endeavors to provide clear tips for healthy eating. (Website reference courtesy of refdesk.com)


8. CALENDAR

March 13-17, 2012 - Public Library Association annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA

March 28-30, 2012 - Wisconsin Education Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) Annual Conference, Wisconsin Dells

April 17-18, 2012 - LSTA Advisory Committee meeting, Madison

April 23-24, 2012 - American Library Association National Library Legislative Day, Washington, DC

May 9-11, 2012 - Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries annual conference, Stevens Point

October 23-26, 2012 - Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) annual conference, La Crosse

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go to: http://channel.dpi.wi.gov/chn_chweekly
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Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439
FAX: (608) 267-9207
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn Wise (608) 266-6439