Teen Literacy Tips » Science Fiction

The Real Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Has Arrived

Nick — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:07:20 +0000

It was only a matter of time before Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy became a reality. That time is now here. You can now purchase a working prototype of a real Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a book you can take anywhere that contains as complete a summary of human knowledge as is currently available. Don’t believe me? Don’t Panic. Just read on.

First, does the following description of the the Hitchhiker’s Guide remind you of anything?

In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

Sounds a lot like Wikipedia to me. In the words of Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.” Wikipedia has always struck me as very similar to the Hitchhiker’s Guide–occasionally inaccurate and sometimes irreverent, but always extremely useful. The only difference between Wikipedia and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been the fact that to use Wikipedia you need a computer, cell phone or pda with Internet access. Not any more.

Amazon’s new electronic reading device, Kindle, is nothing less than a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A lot has been written about Kindle in the past few days, some positive and some negative, but I think people have overlooked how amazing the Wikipedia access is. For less than $400 you can carry around a book-sized device that weighs 10 ounces and that gives you access to every single article in Wikipedia from wherever you are without paying a monthly service charge!

The Kindle requires no computer, no Internet access, no Wi-Fi hotspots, and no monthly subscription. Out of the box, you can access Wikipedia from wherever you get cellular phone service. Amazing. And that’s without even mentioning the main purpose of the device, which is to function as a electronic book reader.

The Kindle is a portable book store and a portable library. You can read books and buy books from anywhere you have cellular reception.

Of course, the Kindle isn’t perfect. As an electronic reading device, it’s still in its infant stages, and I expect it to undergo many refinements and price drops. But the concept is mindblowing.

Imagine students sitting at their desk with a notebook and a Kindle that contains every one of their textbooks. No more lugging heavy backpacks home; no more going to their lockers after every class; the ability to instantly get the definition of any word in their text by selecting it on the Kindle.

Imagine taking students on a field trip to Washington, D.C., New York or places in your own town and having instant access to articles on the Lincoln Memorial, the Empire State Building, or your own local landmarks.

If you can’t tell yet, I love the entire concept. But I do have a few suggestions for Amazon as they go forward with the Kindle:

Make sure that public domain texts can be converted and used on the Kindle at no charge. Users should be able to take out-of-copyright texts from place like Project Gutenberg and read them on the Kindle without having to pay for them.
Send ME one, so I can really review it and show it to my students.
And finally, print the words DON’T PANIC on the cover.

Click on over to Amazon.com to watch several videos about how the Kindle works, and to watch Toni Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Guy Kawasaki and others rave about it.

A Teachable Moment about Copyright from the SFWA

Nick — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 13:49:49 +0000

Thanks to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, I now have a terrific “teachable moment” when I start school on Tuesday. When my students ask me what I did on my summer vacation I can tell them I was accused of violating copyright and learned all about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the SFWA and counter-notifications. I can tell them the reading list I just handed them is Internet contraband. I can tell them the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America personally apologized to me on my blog.

I’ve been teaching my students about copyright for years, but now I have a personal experience to help make it real. If you’re an educator who teaches students about copyright, this would make a great story to use in your class, too. It’s controversial, it’s got two sides, and it’s on the cutting edge of law and ethics.

Here’s my time line of the situation:

August 27, 2007–I write this post about an email I received from Scribd:

SFWA Accuses Teen Literacy of Copyright Violation

August 28, 2007–The editors of Ray Gun Revival write their own post about how the back issues of their magazine were removed from Scribd:

SFWA Issues Misguided Takedowns at Scribd

August 30, 2007–Science fiction writer (and member of the SFWA) Cory Doctorow writes a terrific article about the issue on Boing Boing, the second most-linked-to-blog in the world:

Science Fiction Writers of America Abuses the DMCA

Also on August 30–Michael Capobianco, SFWA president, begins leaving comments on blogs, apologizing for the erroneous DMCA notices.

August 31, 2007–Ars Technica, another top ten blog, has this to say:

Worse than Vogon poetry: bogus DMCA takedowns stun sci-fi lovers

August 31, 2007–Michael Capobianco, SFWA president, issues this statement on the SFWA web site:

The Official SFWA Statement Regarding Removal of Works from Scribd

September 1, 2007–Fred von Lohmann, Senior Intellectual Property Attorney for Scribd, sends the following letter to SFWA Vice President Dr. Andrew Burt:

Scribd’s Official Response to the SFWA

**Update September 3, 2007–The SWFA Board passes a motion to disband the ePiracy Committee:

SWFA ePiracy Committee Activities Suspended

**Update September 11, 2007–Scribd president Jared Friedman re-enables my list of 300+ Recommended Books for Junior High Students after not hearing back from the SFWA about my counter-notification.

I’ll continue to update this time line as new developments occur.

If you decide to share this with your students, here are some more copyright resources:

A fantastic ten-lesson unit for junior high students for creating public service announcements on copyright awareness from ReadWriteThink.org and the National Council of Teachers of English
An overview of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act from the UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy
Text of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on Wikisource
A Crash Course in Copyright from the University of Texas System
A somewhat dated but still useful guide to Fair Use and Copyright for Teachers from Cathy Newsome

100 Recommended Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for Junior High Students

Nick — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:18:51 +0000

My list of 300 Recommended Books for Junior High Students may have been erroneously removed from Scribd (see my article about this here, and the ars technica article here), but it’s not forgotten. Today I’m reproducing the science fiction and fantasy portions of the list for those of you who are interested. What’s more, I’ve added to the list. The original list had about 80 sci-fi/fantasy titles, but today I’ve expanded the list to an even one hundred.

I could have called this 300 Recommended Science Fiction and Fantasy Books if I would have listed every book in a series, but I limited myself to the first book, or the series name if the books have been published in an omnibus edition.

Like any list, this one is subjective and biased. Still, I think you’ll find it a good introduction to some great books in the genre. The obligatory books are there, as well as some forgotten gems. I tried not to put anything on the list that I had not personally read or at least heard a great deal about. I also tried to keep junior high and high school students in mind.

In a nutshell: it’s my list, so there!

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50 Science Fiction Titles

50 Great Fantasy Titles

4 Novels for Junior High Science

Nick — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:09:08 +0000

Charger at the A to Z Teacher Stuff forums asks:

I teach 6,7,and 8th grade Science. I love books and really want to include some novels into the curriculum or even just as something I have the kids do.
The lang. arts teacher reads The Giver and A Wrinkle In Time with them, so I need some more ideas. Anyone use anything good that I could use?

If you’re in the same situation, or if you’re a language arts teacher looking to add some science content to your curriculum, here are four books you might consider:

Flatland by Edwin Abbot – I love this little book. It’s maybe more appropriate for math teachers, but it’s a fantastic book. It tells the story of A Square and how he learns about the third dimension. As he learns about our dimension, we learn about possible fourth and fifth dimensions. It also helps students with a few basic geometric concepts. It’s short, its funny and it educates. Highly recommended and available free online.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – Most people think of censorship issues when they think of this book, but it also deals with issues relating to the impact of technology on our lives. Our seventh graders read this book every year. The ending is a bit weak, but Bradbury always gives students food for thought and discussion.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly – A bit much for 6th or 7th grade perhaps, but a great exploration of the ethics of science. I taught this a few times to eighth graders, and students were amazed at how much depth there was to the story compared to the movies and our cultural conception of the monster. For literature teachers it’s also a great exploration of the shadow character. Also available free online, it would make a good companion to a study of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

October Sky by Homer Hickam – I personally haven’t read it, but it’s a title you might consider. I’m only familiar with the movie and the rough details of the story.

If I had to only recommend one, I’d go with Flatland. Your students will love it and so will you.