American Association of School Librarians Names DPLA a 2015 Best App for Teaching & Learning
Chosen for its embodiment of AASL’s learning standards and support of the school librarian’s role in implementing career and college readiness standards, this is DPLA’s second “Best of” award from the prestigious education-oriented division of the American Library Association. DPLA was recognized as a Best Website for Teaching & Learning in 2013.
“This recognition from AASL means so much to us, since school librarians have been such great advocates for DPLA, especially as we strive to make our materials useful to students,” said Dan Cohen, DPLA’s Executive Director. “This second award from AASL highlights that DPLA is available in multiple formats, including apps, a website, and other websites that incorporate our extraordinary content from collections across the United States.”
The Best Apps for Teaching & Learning recognition honors apps of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. The recognized apps foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration and are user-friendly to encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. The apps were announced during the 2015 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco.
The AASL, a division of the American Library Association, promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. AASL’s mission is to empower leaders to transform teaching and learning.
To find out more about DPLA’s efforts around education, read the DPLA’s three-year strategic plan, published in January 2015, and its Whiting Foundation-funded research paper on using large digital collections in education, published in April 2015.