Group items tagged

The survey showed tweens' online presence doubles or even triples among 8- to 10-year-olds and 11- and 12-year-olds: The 42 percent of children 8 to 10 with personal e-mail accounts increases to 71 percent for those 11 and 12, for instance, and 41 percent of 11- and 12-year-olds have an instant-messaging screen name, compared with 15 percent for kids 8 to 10.

Half of the 11- and 12-year-olds have their own cell phones -- used for text messaging and taking and transmitting digital photos as well as for traditional calling -- while 19 percent of those 8 to 10 have their own cell phones.

Under the agreement, MySpace now allows parents to submit their child's e-mail address to prevent anyone from using that e-mail address to set up a profile (e-mail addresses are required in order to set up an account for either Facebook or MySpace, and people may search for "friends" by entering e-mail addresses). For anyone under 16, MySpace will automatically set the profile to "private," allowing only approved people to view the profile. There is now a closed "high school" section of the site set aside for users under 18.

Like Facebook, MySpace officials will also "obtain and constantly update a list of pornographic Web sites and regularly sever any links" between the sites. MySpace agreed to provide a way to report abuse on every page that contains content. The site's officials also prom­ised to respond to complaints of inappropriate content within 72 hours.

So what literacies must we educators master before we can help students make the most of these powerful potentials? It starts, as author Clay Shirky (2008) suggests, with an understanding of how transparency fosters connections and with a willingness to share our work and, to some extent, our personal lives

Publishing content online not only begins the process of becoming "Googleable," it also makes us findable by others who share our passions or interests.

Although many students are used to sharing content online, they need to learn how to share within the context of network building. They need to know that publishing has a nobler goal than just readership—and that's engagement.

As Stanford researcher Danah Boyd (2007) points out, we are discovering the potentials and pitfalls of this new public space. What we say today in our blogs and videos will persist long into the future and not simply end up in the paper recycling bin when we clean out our desks at the end of the year.

Although Laura is able to connect, does she understand, as researcher Stephen Downes (2005) suggests, that her network must be diverse, that she must actively seek dissenting voices who might push her thinking in ways that the "echo chamber" of kindred thinkers might not? Is she doing the work of finding new voices to include in the conversation?

Here are five ideas that will help you begin building your own personal learning network. Read blogs related to your passion. Search out topics of interest at http://blogsearch.google.com and see who shares those interests. Participate. If you find bloggers out there who are writing interesting and relevant posts, share your reflections and experiences by commenting on their posts. Use your real name. It's a requisite step to be Googled well. Be prudent, of course, about divulging any personal information that puts you at risk, and guide students in how they can do the same. Start a Facebook page. Educators need to understand the potential of social networking for themselves. Explore Twitter (http://twitter.com), a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to exchange short updates of 140 characters or fewer. It may not look like much at first glance, but with Twitter, the network can be at your fingertips.

Based on brain research and new media, the UDL framework proposes that educators design lessons with three basic kinds of flexibility: 1. Multiple formats and media are used to present information.

Examples: Illustrations, pictures, diagrams, video or audio clips, and descriptions 2.   Teachers use multiple strategies to engage and motivate students. 3.   Students demonstrate learning through multiple performance and product formats.

UDL calls for three goals to consider in designing lessons: 1.  Recognition goals: these focus on specific content that ask a student to identify who, what, where, and when. 2.  Strategic goals: these focus on a specific process or medium that asks a student to learn how to do something using problem solving and critical think skills. 3. Affective goals: these focus on a particular value or emotional outcome. Do students enjoy, and appreciate learning about the topic? Does it connect to prior knowledge and experience? Are students allowed to select and discover new knowledge?

Resources you might want to use: Scholastic Keys, Kid Pix, Inspiration and Kidspiration, digital camera (still and video), recording narration/music, United Streaming.  Let your imagination go!

This project begins on March 15, 2007.  Materials need to be e-mailed by May 31, 2008.

compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged unconstitutional search, violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, invasion of privacy, and defamation.

The court ruled that the student had stated a claim for the alleged violation of his right to be free from an unreasonable search.

here was no basis for them to search the text and voice mail messages stored on the phone.

unlawful access to the stored voice mail and text message communications.

(2) A person shall not willfully and maliciously read or copy any message from any telegraph, telephone line, wire, cable, computer network, computer program, or computer system, or telephone or other electronic medium of communication that the person accessed without authorization. (3) A person shall not willfully and maliciously make unauthorized use of any electronic medium of communication, including the internet or a computer, computer program, computer system, or computer network, or telephone.

Cyber-bullying tactics include humiliation, destructive messages, gossip, slander and other “virtual taunts” communicated through e-mail, instant messaging, chatrooms and blogs. The problem, of course, is what to do about it. While most schools do not allow pupils to use their mobiles in the school building, an outright ban is deemed unworkable. Advances in technology are throwing up new problems for teachers to deal with. Children use their phones to listen to music, tell the time or as a calculator. Cyber-bullies sometimes disclose victims' personal data on websites or forums, or may even attempt to assume the identity of their victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames them or exposes them to ridicule.