Technology

•  Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era by Mary Jo Foley (Wiley, 2008, 285[/ $_____, ISBN: 978 0470191384)

  Up until now, one could almost say, as Microsoft goes, so goes the world. Now Bill Gates is retiring in 2008 so that that questions arise about future directions of the company and its business model.  And why should that matter to librarians? It’s all because of Google. This upstart company turns a business model from command and control to client side. Libraries work on the Microsoft model of “if we build it, they will come.” Google, on the other hand, feels that “if they build it, they will use it.” Command and control works when you are the only game in town. People come to you for services because they have no other more convenient  alternatives. No so anymore in the information business. Google far surpasses libraries as the number one finder and locater of information. And, when almost all your customers have abandoned you, what next? Microsoft continues to believe that if it continues to innovate and build a better and better project, then the customer will reward it with loyalty. We wish both Microsoft and libraries the same success. That is why reading this book convinces us that the future of the command and control library is to stay as close to its customers with quality services and convenient serves as can be created. However, there are chinks in the armor. It is quite possible to produce a Vista and have it become the best advertisement for a Mac. As librarians, we can build huge collections that are accessible during the school day; and we can protect our computer networks with such tight filters that customers grown regularly over what they need and are prevented from finding. But how long can it last? It can under certain conditions. What are they? Microsoft 2.0 may give the reader a few clues.

• Differentiating instruction with technology in K-5 classrooms by Grace E. Smith and Stephanie Throne (ISTE, 2008, 248 pp., $37.95, ISBN: 9781564842336)

  Technology specialists who are really into instructional computing rather than systems and networks often build a major repertoire of the features of various software packages and applications that will actually boost teaching and learning. These folks have the ability to store an encyclopedia of ideas in their heads and when an instructional problem arises, they have about ten different ways to boost teaching and learning through technology. Our authors, using this creativity direct their attention to differentiation. The create ways to deal with different readiness of students, adjusting by learning profile, differences in content, types of products, by teaching subject area, techniques to assess learning, and various ways to manage the classroom. This is a dense book with many many ideas but also so good tabular information that helps the reader make sense of those ideas. Teacher librarians need a wide repertoire of these ideas since they need to master as many technologies as any specialist in the school. We would call this one required reading from which a larger repertroire of effective strategies can be built. Important.

• Web 2.0 : new tools, new schools, by Gwen Wolomon and Lynne Schrum (ISTE, 2007, 270 pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781564842343)

  There are a nmber of books on the market celebrating the possibilities and opportunities that Web 2.0 technology might provide to schools.  This one is as good as any on the market. The authors know what they are talking about and their audience is both administrators and tech directors, although we are recommending that teacher librarians would benefit greatly since so many are utilizing this technology. It is always good in a topic like this to compare one’s own expertise with that of the authors to see if they have thought of angles you haven’t. While the material is dated the instant it is in print, there are enough current applications present to bring more possibilities to teaching and learning than one can barely manage.  We appreciated the various theoretical stances and reviews of the current ideas of the place technology should take in schooling. Of course, we are concerned that online databases and libraries are ignored. However teacher librarian leaders go on reminding everyone of the great uses we know to make and our willingness to benefit from other ideas no matter where they emerge. Recommended both for the novice and the moderately advanced looking for new ideas or gaps in understanding.

   

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