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Just as YouTube has changed the way we watch video and Wikipedia has changed the way we find information, Kiva.org - the world's first online person-to-person microlending platform - is changing the way we give back. Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in third world countries, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. There are many great classroom connections here for global citizenship, math, geography etc. Kiva also allows you to develop a social network with other contributors supporting the same entrepreneur.

Kristin Hokanson's wiki showing how classrooms can connect.

Kristin Hokanson's excellent wiki with many Web 2.0 resources. Excellent site!

Excellent wiki full of resources from Kristin Hokanson. Wow!

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person's sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.

Six topics are available as free downloads online:
Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Current Volume
Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media
Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected
The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning
Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility
Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth

Online social networking site for kids age 7 and younger. Connected with ownership of webkinz plush toy animals. Used in a classroom setting by Maria Knee, kindergarten teacher at Deerfield Community School in Deerfield, New Hampshire, who has been named this year's winner of the Kay L. Bitter Vision Award for Excellence in Technology-Based PK-2 Education. The award is given by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) to recognize PK-2 educators who demonstrate vision and creativity in a project or program that effectively integrates technology in the classroom.

Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads
In this lesson, students draw conclusions from an analysis of propaganda techniques used in a piece of literature such as the novel Brave New World, the play The Crucible, or the movie Dr. Strangelove and political advertisements posted on the Internet. Students also make connections to their own world by looking for examples of propaganda in other media, such as print ads and commercials.

The largest student art gallery on the web. Another place for students to share online and connect to others.

This site claims to be the largest student arts gallery on the web! Looks fascinating. Not sure how they use first names and locations and get away with it. I'd like to know what those who have used it think about it.

Anne Collier has been writing about Family Internet issues through her weekly publication, NetFamilyNews for over a decade and her thoughtful opinions and analysis of noteworthy events are widely respected. Together with CBS Reporter, Larry Magid, she is co-author of MYSPACE UNRAVELED and co-director of the web site, CONNECT SAFELY.ORG. You can subscribe to her weekly publication. She also keeps a blog with timely updates in between publications.

Connecting education, learning & living in the 21st Century: How, why, and what we need to do differently.

Chatroulette, a Web site that connects videochatters with a limitless number of "random strangers" from around the globe, is an Internet sensation -- but it poses unique dangers for minors and new challenges for law enforcement.

It's easy to see new Internet phenomena and panic, especially when the technology in question opens up a portal to all of the weird parts of the Internet. This is precisely what is happening around ChatRoulette, a new peer-to-peer webcam-based video chat site. Although the site was built by a 17-year-old Russian high school student to connect with other teens, nearly every adult who has visited the site runs screaming that this is a terrible space for young people. In some senses, they're right. But the more that they panic and talk about how bad this is for teens, the more teens get curious and want to check it out. The result? A phenomenon generated through fear.

Around the World with 80 Schools started in January 2009 and is an ongoing project. The challenge is to connect your students with 80 schools from around the world via Skype (a free video conferencing tool).

Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads.
In this lesson, GR 9-12 students draw conclusions from an analysis of propaganda techniques used in a piece of literature such as the novel Brave New World, the play The Crucible, or the movie Dr. Strangelove and political advertisements posted on the Internet. Students also make connections to their own world by looking for examples of propaganda in other media, such as print ads and commercials.

When traveling in cyberspace, you provide information to others at almost every step of the way. Often this information is like a puzzle that needs to be connected before your picture is revealed. Information you provide to one person or company may not make sense unless it is combined with information you provide to another person or company. A summary of the more common ways you give information to others when using the Internet is provided.

School activity: Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see the winning posters from three elementary students who participated in an online safety contest. A similar contest could be held at school, in a district or county as part of cybersafety or digital literacy curriculum. This particular contest was connected with Hispanic Heritage Month.

This research is creating a lot of buzz because it illustrates the importance of managing our online identity and those of students. Online behavior is increasingly seen as a moral compass connected to behaviors offline. Whether it is for a job application, friendship, dating, or other purposes, when people want to learn about someone, they turn to this ever-growing pool of information. Online reputation, therefore, plays an important role in personal and professional life and has become a significant factor in making hiring decisions.

House rules that factor in limits to the influence of technology are vital to making your home a sanctuary allowing family members to connect and promote sensible use of the Internet and phones. Three key elements for cyber safe house rules are identified.

Salt Lake City's Granite School District is expected to approve a new policy this month barring students and teachers from connecting on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The policy - the first of its kind in Utah - provides an exemption for teachers' sites that are educational, not personal. Officials said there was no specific incident that spurred the new guidelines. But with the popularity of social networking sites in schools, Granite wants to eliminate any gray areas when it comes to teacher-student interaction, district spokesman Ben Horsley said. "The reality is if someone is going to interact inappropriately with a student, there's certainly lots of technology out there that can help them get around those rules and guidelines in a very nonpublic way," Horsley said. "This gives us some tools to move forward on a disciplinary track."

One of eight interactive case studies for kids (GR 4-8) from Cable In the Classroom: Power to Learn.
It's very popular for young people to meet and connect online at sites like MySpace.com. However, an awareness of the risks and steps for being safe can ensure a positive experience with social networking. Don't give yourself away! This unit explores the concepts of identity, at-risk behaviors and safety online. The graphics are Nickelodeon style. A short quiz assesses learning. For the entire series, check out: http://powertolearn.com/internet_smarts/interactive_case_studies/index.shtml

A spat on Facebook over a recent killing might have led to a fight at Knightdale High School last week. Dominique Royster's Facebook page erupted into expletives and insults after Royster called for the release of Mariah Wisdom from jail. After her Facebook posting and the angry response, Royster received death threats on her cell phone. She was kept out of school for several days until emotions cooled, and her parents had a chance to talk to school administrators about the situation. A member of the school staff who deals with disciplinary problems was assigned to shadow her as she went through the day March 26, her first day back at school after the killing. Four students were cited with misdemeanor assault and released to their parents in connection with the attack.

What happens if someone posts an unflattering, or worse, a scandalous or compromising picture of you on Facebook? What are your rights? That's a sensitivity that we need to start nurturing by training our kids -- and our employees -- to use online tools responsibly', says Anna O'Brian, a PHD student in digital technology. What happens when only some of us know how to use these connective technologies to improve our lives (as opposed to overwhelming ourselves even more). In other words, what happens when only a small portion of online users is actually digitally literate?