2009 Horizon Report

Each year for the past six years, the Horizon Report has provided educators and a broader audience a look to educational technologies in the near, 2-3 year, and 4-6 year future. This is "must" reading for teacher librarians, ed tech folk, and and the full educational community. It will help all to look ahead and be more open to change.

Before sharing it, read and think about what is on the horizon. This is the kind of report that leaders of NECC, CUE, AASL and CSLA should consider developing or at least commenting on in a meaningful way.

Hightlights of Mac World Exhibits

This blogger visited the Mac World exhibits for two days in a row -- lots of cool tools but also way too many fashion "skins" for computers, iPhones, iPods, and other technologies.

I have a stack of literature. Each have a url and notes. Hopefully, I'll get through them all this weekend. See posts on my 2CoolTools blog for more detail on highlights including:

• Storyist (software for novelists and screen writers)
• Delicious Librarian 2 by Delicious Monster
• AssistiveGaming and AssistiveWear

Enjoy!

- Jackie Siminitus, CSLA 2.0 Team project manager

Web 2.0 Revenue-Generating Ideas

Are CSLA members using web 2.0 tools to generate funds for their school or library? This year, the CSLA 2.0 Team will experiment with some of these tools. Let us know if you have recommendations -- please tell us your stories.

Here is a start:

• Google AdSense -- are you a BIG school or district? A library website or blog full of book reviews, announcements, contests and more might be a good candidate for this. Text ads are magically (by computer) matched to your content and your non-profit gets a check based on the number of "clicks" from visitors to the ads.
• Book Publishing. Blurb.com is a San Francisco-based online publishing company that lets you download publishing software for free so you can create any size or shape book you want and then purchase one or many for yourself. You can also make your book "public" and set a price for it so the public can order it online with no hassle to you. Lots of potential for collections of student art, writing, photo, and more.
• T-shirt Advocacy and more. Why not offer an online library gift shop? By now, we are all familiar with the Foster City-based company Cafepress.com -- Check it out and think about creating a series of online items.