Website: Achieving the Dream

ACHIEVING THE DREAM is a project that shares open access college course materials.

Nearly a dozen colleges are sharing their course materials in disciplines such as business, music, philosophy, and sociology. Most of the resources are organized as e-textbooks with online modules. Many of these educational materials include embedded discussion questions and other instructional materials in addition to the content.

Librarians will find a wealth of instructional materials useful across the curriculum. Many of the materials could be incorporated into AP classes.

To visit the website, go tohttps://courses.lumenlearning.com/catalog/achievingthedream.

Technology Review: Hathitrust Digital Library

The HATHITRUST DIGITAL LIBRARY works in partnership with academic and research institutions to provide access to digital materials from around the world.

Users can search full-text or the catalog. Advanced search tools and tips are available.

Visitors can browse collections including user-created featured collections on thematic topics. Users can also create and share their own collections.

An easy-to-use interface is provided to read books online. Users can also download books for reading off-line. While some titles require a login from a cooperating institution because of copyright issues, many are available to the public.

Librarians will find this website to be a good source for difficult to find books. While most of the items are aimed at scholars, many historical books for youth are also available.

To visit the digital library, go to https://www.hathitrust.org/.

Technology Review: Sesame Street

The SESAME STREET website, apps, and ebooks contain endless learning resources for preschool and primary children.

The website contains sections focusing on games, videos, art, and muppets. The games section provides age-appropriate games for young children including life skills such as a getting dresses and academic games such as letters and numbers. The videos section features short 2-3 minute videos on a variety of topics. Again, the interface is easy enough for small children to use. The Art Maker section provides easy-to-use interactive tools for creating everything from a cookie or pizza to a Jack-O-Lantern. The Muppets section allows users to explore resources related to their favorite character including games, videos, and art projects. Playlists are available based on specific topics and ages.

The bookstore area contains access to eBooks, audio eBooks, animated eBooks, and interactive eBooks. A subscription is required to access most of these books.

Dozens of apps are available including game apps, story apps, and ebooks. Educational bundles are available for sets of apps. Many of the apps contain the same resources found online.

Librarians will find a wealth of resources for preschool and primary children. Keep in mind that while the general website is free, access to the ebook website and many of the apps requires a license.

To visit the website, go to http://www.sesamestreet.org/.

To visit the ebook area, go to http://ebooks.sesamestreet.org/.

To download apps, go to https://itunes.apple.com/…/develo…/sesame-street/id339077104.