Group items tagged

Teens use MyYearbook.com as an online confessional. Can its founders make money from the freewheeling chatfest without turning users off?

4-minute video: "Welcome to the World of We Think. Based on a new book by Charles Leadbeater, 'We Think' explores the potential of the latest developments of the internet.

This three-part article includes a discussion of classroom connections to social networking sites and the school's role in intervening when information that affects the classroom is publicly posted on MySpace or Facebook. The authors also provide five key social networking tips:
1. Establish a policy for dealing with incidents in which students break school rules and their inappropriate behavior is showcased publicly on social-networking sites.
2. Outline clear guidelines for administrators that spell out how schools should discipline students based on information garnered from social-networking sites, and let parents and students know about those rules.
3. Educate students about online-safety issues and how to use sites such as Facebook and MySpace responsibly.
4. Have a policy in place for dealing with cyber bullying.
5. If teachers are using social-networking sites for educational purposes, they should establish clear guidelines for how they intend to communicate with students via those sites.

Britannica is now free for bloggers. Another endorsements for the increasing importance of bloggers.

Encyclopedia Britannica is now free for bloggers from an article on 4/18/08 -- yet another reason for our students to blog. (I have students blogging publicly under pseudonyms.) This is fascinating, but also interesting to see how Britannica is playing catch up to Wikipedia in the market it once owned. I wonder, which would be more authoriative to you, a wikipedia quote updated daily, or Brittanica updated less often that doesn't display the authors of its content?

Afraid of technology, on the bleeding edge of new technologies, or somewhere in between - these Teen Tech Week Tech Guides will help you keep abreast of current technologies and how you can use them in a public or school library program.
1. Making Music with Teens
2. Online Surveys
3. Virtual Worlds
4. RSS, Blogs & Wikis
5. Gaming
6. Podcasts
7. Dungeons & Dragons @ Your Library.

From Anastasia Goodstein: Here are some of the lessons I've learned from studying young peoples' online habits, helping to launch a number of successful Web sites and TV properties for teens and twentysomethings, and founding a blog about youth culture for media and marketing pros.
1. Teens are multitaskers.
2. Teens prefer byte-sized entertainment.
3. Teens expect content on demand
4. Teens want to participate.

Follow-up blog post about Internet safety with grades 1-4 students.

CoSN Receives MacArthur Grant: Exploring Policy and Leadership Barriers to Effective Use of Web 2.0 in Schools
The $450,000 grant began July 1st and over the coming year CoSN will focus on the following key objectives:
1.Identify findings from existing empirical research relevant to the use of new media in schools and the barriers to their adoption and scalability.
2. Assess the awareness, understanding, and perspectives of U.S. educational leaders (superintendents, district curriculum and technology directors/CTOs) and policymaker's on the role, problems, and benefits of new media in schools within a participatory culture context.
3. Investigate and document the organizational and policy issues that are critical obstacles for the effective deployment of new media.
4. Develop a concise report of findings and construct an action plan for intervention.

This article offers seven things all adults need to know about social networking sites like MySpace.
1. Social networking is enormously popular with young adults.
2. Friends are probably just that.
3. Blocking sites at school won't keep kids away from MySpace.
4.Some degree of danger does exist for MySpace users.
5. The MySpace organization is working toward a safer online
6. Teachers might want to check to see if they have had a MySpace account created for them.
7.MySpace and social networking have value.

Be prepared to answer questions when the law seems to make little sense, when a law is inconsequential, when a law is widely ignored, or when breaking the law may serve a higher moral purpose. [Doug Johnson]

A rational, ethical and legally-defensible way" of how educators should change their approach to both using and teaching about intellectual property, [Doug Johnson]

A rational, ethical and legally-defensible way" of how educators should change their approach to both using and teaching about intellectual property, [Doug Johnson]

Naming in a Digital World: Creating a Safe Persona on the Internet. Students will:
1.Explore naming conventions in digital and non-digital settings.
2. Analyze the underlying connotations of names.
3. Analyze the ways that name-giving practices vary from one culture to another.
4. Synthesize their investigation by choosing and explaining specific names to represent themselves online.

Panwapa, which means "here on this earth" in the Tshiluba language, aims to foster the foundation for global citizenship and community activism in young children, ages 4 to 7. Featuring an entirely new group of Muppet characters, Panwapa consists of an interactive website, a DVD, and print materials that are available to children around the world in five languages -Arabic, English, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. Sponsored by Sesame Street & Merrill Lynch.

The study, funded by the Justice Department, found that the percentage of children who reported being physically bullied over the last year had declined from nearly 22% in 2003 to less than 15% in 2008. The percentage reporting they had been assaulted by other youths, including siblings, dropped from 45% to 38.4%. Would have been nice if they offered data on "cyberbullying" too.

Subscription-based virtual world with some free activities and content for kids. Click on the video to learn how sixty GR 4-5 students in Marin County, CA used Dizzywood to learn about core social values and digital citizenship in this environment. More info about the school project is provided in this podcast, starting at 4:30 minutes into the broadcast.

A district-wide coordinated effort to provide student instruction during Cyber Smart Week. Includes PowerPoint instructions and extension activities for GR K-3, 4-8 and 9-12.

Tutorial helps students in Grades 4 to 8 develop the critical thinking skills they need to apply to their online experiences by enabling them to use popular online tools and Web sites in a secure and ethical manner, and to their full potential.There are licensing requirements for using this material but the fee is nominal.

These activities were created by teachers and reviewed by teachers, principals, law enforcement officers, and community members to ensure their quality and effectiveness.

Naming in a Digital World: Creating a Safe Persona on the Internet. Students will:
1.Explore naming conventions in digital and non-digital settings.
2. Analyze the underlying connotations of names.
3. Analyze the ways that name-giving practices vary from one culture to another.
4. Synthesize their investigation by choosing and explaining specific names to represent themselves online.