23 Mobile Things- Thing 12 Books, Books, & More Books

I first downloaded Wattpad and have started reading a book.  It looks like there is a lot of potential here though I didn't recognize titles beyond the classics in my preview.  It doesn't seem to allow you to change the size of font, but does let you decide to turn pages or scroll. It will even scroll for you at a pace you select.  I think I'd rather stay in control of my pace, but if a person were challenging themselves to be a faster reader or to remain totally focused, this could be an interesting feature.

I may recommend this to friends who love to read and travel. Most of them either use the public library eBooks or buy.  What a lot of selection, though, for anyone to access for free and maybe even contribute to. In regard to the latter, to be honest, I still kind of like the idea that a written work had to get through the scrutiny of a publisher/editor...but there may be a few gems here as well.

I already had the Free Books app on my iPad.  My niece has used it more than I have, but again...there are a few classics I've always meant to read.  If our school expanded our 1-1 program to the elementary level...I may use this resource to supplement a slowly developing eBook collection.  For that matter, I could get this into the hands and devices of the high school students already using 1-1 devices.  I think our biggest readers continue to find reading material, while most others just don't find the time to read beyond homework, sports, jobs, and other distractions.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the iStoryBooks selections.  On the other hand, I did like the modeling of prereading a book...a topic many parents don't usually think about when reading with their children.  Our Title I teachers just had families in for a breakfast and addressed how to read and pull comprehension and discussion from books.

I enjoy a good audio book, and I love podcasts, so maybe my production standards exceed what is available in the world of the free audio book.  To be fair, I only sampled two books, but I don't think I could listen to them.  I will probably give it another try, since I do enjoy listening while I work around the house or am driving.  If they don't get better I'll stick to the selections I can get from the library collection or my favorite podcasts.  I was interested to see the comments of struggling and/or ESL readers and the benefits they found with this app.

The YALSA app looks interesting.  I think I would be particularly interested in the YALSA app if I spent more time working in the high school library.  Our high school library is open with a paraprofessional on a part time basis.  This and the 1-1 roll out have really affected the use of library resources.  The downside is there is little opportunity for leadership into 21 Century Skills in the library.  Most of this responsibility is placed on the teachers. The saving grace for the library is that the paraprofessional is well liked and helpful to the students. 

Finally, I have so many books I'd like to read and recommend in the elementary library that I don't know when I'll get back to these.  I know that students can use SELCO to access some of these free books through the library website on many types of eReaders.  I wonder if any of these apps are universal or have Kindle, Nook, and devices.  I suppose amazon and Barnes and Noble have an interest in keeping users purchasing books.