Those of you reading this blog regularly already know that I am a big fan of Destiny Quest, a feature within our online catalog that helps to promote lifelong reading habits such as making reading plans and sharing reading and books with other readers. While we have so far used it mainly with G5, we have recently begun introducing it to our G3 and G4 students - and they are loving it! So let me share a bit about what Destiny Quest is and how it supports our young readers in developing lifelong reading habits. Here a quick introductory video:
Here a quick tutorial on how to access it from home since we are encouraging students to use it also in their own time outside of school:
| There is also a free app for Destiny Quest if you and your child would like to access it on the iPad. The layout and functions are slightly different though. The URL for our online catalog is http://library.hkacademy.edu.hk |  |
So how have our G3 and G4 students been using Destiny Quest? At first, both grade levels spent time exploring the various features Destiny Quest has to offer and how it can support them in working towards their reading goals for the second semester. Students quickly discovered that it helps in keeping track of what they read and what they plan to read in future, allowing them to search for titles of interest in the catalog, benefitting in this process from title ratings, reviews and recommendations; further there is the possibility to share books and reading with others by sending recommendations to peers, teachers and librarians. Best of all, however, seemed for most students that they could tell right away whether a book was currently available and where to find it. While students can do this also through the regular search feature in our online catalog, having the iPads - a mobile device - which allowed them to walk right up to the shelf to look for the respective book. Students seemed to enjoy this very much.
And in case you should wonder whether Destiny Quest is taking away from direct personal conversations about books happening, there is no need to worry. Students enthusiastically shared book titles they discovered with each other and helped each other in managing the new tool as well as looking for books on the shelves.
I hope this post has made you curious to find out more about Destiny Quest from your third or fourth grader. I am sure they will be more than happy to show you what they have already discovered about about this fantastic online tool.
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