For my week 12 assignment, I chose a website article outlining how to evaluate apps and other new media for children. The Little eLit website started as Cen Campbell‘s blog about the use of new media to promote early literacy, and became a crowd-sourced new media blog site. It has since evolved into a subscriber think tank.
Little eLit has an article, written in a series of blog posts from Genesis Hansen, that describe how to evaluate apps for your children patrons. The series begins here, and addresses useful and important evaluation criteria in each blog segment in the series:
Age Appropriateness
App Controls
Interactivity in ebooks
Affordances
Developing Early Literacy Skills
Annoyance Factors & Customization
Intended Use
I chose this article because it focuses specifically on new media criteria within the library setting, evaluating technology features and functionality. Staying current with new media in libraries is required, and the authors share how they apply their knowledge and experience directly to children’s services – keeping in mind appropriateness and child development.
Also useful evaluation information is the 2015 Little eLit Book called Young Children, New Media, and Libraries: A Guide for Incorporating New Media into Library Collections, Services, and Programs for Families and Children Ages 0-5. It is available for free in pdf form, and includes a wealth of information for librarians (and library students) about technology and new media in the library – including a chapter called Evaluation of New Media, by Claudia Haines and Carisa Kluver.
The site also reviews apps and other digital resources, providing helpful reviews for librarians and teachers of young children, in categories for storytime, book apps, and apps for other library programs. Unfortunately, these are archived posts, and most of the reviews are from 2012 and 2013. How great if this part of the site were still active.
References
Koester, A. (Ed.). (2015). Young Children, New Media, and Libraries: A Guide for Incorporating New Media into Library Collections, Services, and Programs for Families and Children Ages 0-5. Little eLit.
WORD. 