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What is AOL Instant Messenger doing to ensure that aging Millennials keep instant messaging? Data from the Pew Center Internet & American Life Project shows that instant messaging habits are staying steady with about 75 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 using instant messenger services. That number has stayed the same since 2000.

What Can Parents Do? Schools should start addressing students, parents and staff about the issues of cyberbullying. Students need to be reminded that what they do in cyberspace is not really anonymous. They need to know their behaviors and words are downloadable, printable and sometimes punishable by law. The courts have given some direction for schools dealing with cyberbullying. "School districts are well within their legal rights to intervene in cyberbullying incidents - even if these incidents were initiated off-campus - if it can be demonstrated that the incident resulted in a substantial disruption of the educational environment"

A Look At The Cyberbully. This study confirms other studies (Opinion Research, (2006) on the prevalence of cyberbullying in that about a third (29%) admitted to being bullied with half of them reporting that additional bullying accompanied the initial cyberbullying. Research finds a connection between bullies, cyberbullies and their victims. Bullies, compared to non-bullies, were more likely to be cyberbullies; while victims of physical bullying were more likely to be victims of cyberbullying

This week, the Hoover Board of Education is holding a technology training seminar to help teachers get up to speed for the new school year. On the agenda - a powerful and somewhat controversial website called "Second Life".

While reports and stories in the media focusing on Internet predators have become all too frequent, the closer-to-home threat to our children may really be cyberbullying, also known as electronic or online bullying. A recent survey of 395 students (11 to 19 years old) found that 28% of students have been cyberbullied, and more than 1 in 7 admitted to acting as the bully."Cyberbullying could be the biggest online threat facing teens today," says James Leasure, co-founder of Pandora Corp. "Of course Internet predators do still exist, but statistically, kids have a much greater chance of being involved in some way with electronic bullying." Most cases of cyberbullying go undocumented because, fortunately, many kids are able to shrug off the 'unkind words' and look the other way. But there are some cases that make national headlines when they turn into tragedies, such as the Megan Meier case in 2006. Larger cases like this have prompted several states to adopt legislation that makes online bullying illegal.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Children's Health Education Center have partnered to create Bullyfree Basics, a program for elementary school students that transforms lessons on the dangers of spreading rumors and insulting classmates into animated, interactive games.

Frustrated by workers so plugged in that they tuned out in the middle of business meetings, a growing number of companies are going "topless," as in no laptops allowed. Also banned from some conference rooms: BlackBerrys, iPhones and other devices on which so many people have come to depend.

I'm surprised by this review of the Frontline program. I would have thought Eric would have been more critical. I agree that it's an important show to watch; however, I was concerned with a few things. One, I was concerned with the portrayal of a "helicopter" mom who wanted her kids' social networking passwords in case of emergency and I was also concerned about the kid who very cavelierly said he never read books. I also really wondered about parents who complained that their kids never turned off their cellphones at dinner time. I need to re-watch this program, but I think there is much here to be discussed that's not about the technology. It's about how we talk to and engage our students and children. It's really easy to blame bad behavior and scary incidents on technology.

[February 08] A summary of each chapter and commentary provided by Eric Grant.

How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools. One of the strangest things in this age of young people's empowerment is how little input our students have into their own education and its future. Kids who out of school control large sums of money and have huge choices on how they spend it have almost no choices at all about how they are educated -- they are, for the most part, just herded into classrooms and told what to do and when to do it.

The Internet has changed the playground bully into the in-my-bedroom-bully. It's true; the line between school life and home life is gone. Kids can no longer leave the social pressures, cliques, bullies, snootiness and the other highlights of adolescence at school.

Results from the most extensive U.S. study on teens and their use of digital media show that America's youth are developing important social and technical skills online - often in ways adults do not understand or value.

Schools can teach basic principles of good citizenship to help shape students' behavior in the virtual world.

Dave, a fellow 8th grade classmate needs help from the Club. Someone in Mr. B's class plagiarized their own paper-and since Mr. B has a bell curve it affects everyone. Dave's grade is lowered and his parents are sending him to Boarding School! Adina's Deck takes the case in order to help Dave get the grade he deserves. In this who-done-it, there are four main suspects, and the club needs to investigate each of their alibis to catch the cheater and save Dave. After a difficult case, the club learns about the true nature of plagiarism- and that doing things right the first time just might be a trustworthy solution.

The annual Horizon Report identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative inquiry on college and university campuses within the next five years. In each edition of the Horizon Report, six emerging technologies or practices are described that are likely to enter mainstream use on campuses within three adoption horizons spread over the next one to five years. Each report also presents critical trends and challenges that will affect teaching and learning over the same time frame.

The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research - and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions.

If a stranger came up to you on the street, would you give him your name, Social Security number and e-mail address? Probably not. Yet people often dole out all kinds of personal information on the Internet that allows such identifying data to be deduced.

Because many students had already taken part in the blogging challenge, it was decided in September 2009 to extend to two challenges - one for better bloggers and another for better commenters. Over 600 individual students and 80 classes totalling a possible 3000 students registered this time. Again we had participation from 15 countries of the world, some bloggers were only just starting, others had their blogs for over a year.\nIt is now 2010 and the student blogging challenge has its own blog. You can register here for the 2010 challenge: http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/about/march-2010-register-here/

In social networks, people can increase their defenses against identification by adopting tight privacy controls on information in personal profiles. Yet an individual's actions, researchers say, are rarely enough to protect privacy in the interconnected world of the Internet. The FTC is worried that rules to protect privacy have not kept up with technology. The FTC and Congress are weighing steps like tighter industry requirements and the creation of a "do not track" list, similar to the federal "do not call" list, to stop online monitoring.