New LIVElibrary program links authors, teachers and students

Author and Broken Pencil magazine founder Hal will this week be teaching a lesson called “DIY ZINES: Your Own Pop Culture Machine” as part of an unusual online program just underway for middle and junior high school students. (Nedzvieki's presentation this week was preceded by author Mark Shulman and media literacy activist and author Shari Graydon.)

Annick Press and Skype Technologies, with two years of funding from the Canada Council, launched LIVElibrary a couple of weeks ago; it brings authors, experts and teachers together online and makes them available to students from grades 4 - 8, ages 9 to 13. According to a story in January magazine, the program is free, requiring only that teachers and/or teacher-librarians pre-register, and it is open to parents and homeschoolers.

Every week a lesson plan is distributed containing reading material, an assignment, a quiz and questions for discussion. Students participate using a variety of technologies, including blogging, e-mail and Skype chat. Each week a noted author expert serves as instructor and meets with students for a live one-hour chat via Skype. Annick Press is providing tech support for schools and libraries to ensure smooth connections.

To find out more, go to the blog for the project.