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Talking on cellphones is passé for students who use them for networking and sending photos. Mobile Social Networking Software - the next wave of virtual community - is already appearing on cellphones, beginning with college campuses. These under-25s (the target market for early adoption of hot new gadgets) are using what many observers call the next big consumer technology shift: Mobile Social Networking Software, or Mososo. The sophisticated reach of cyber-social networks such as MySpace or Facebook, combined with the military precision of GPS, is putting enough power in these students' pockets to run a small country.

Last year, the Court ducked an opportunity to determine in Morse v. Frederick whether public schools have authority to restrict student speech that occurs off of school grounds. The Court's refusal to address this issue was unfortunate. For several decades lower courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, however, courts have struggled with this same question in a new context -- the digital media. Around the country, increasing numbers of courts have been forced to confront the authority of public schools to punish students for speech on the Internet. In most cases, students are challenging punishments they received for creating fake websites mocking their teachers or school administrators or for making offensive comments on websites or instant messages. More often than not, the lower courts are ruling in favor of the schools.

8-minute video from Wired Safety. Find out what cyberbullying is, from teens who know and have experienced it. Cyberbullies are divided into four categories: vengeful angel, power hungry, mean girl and inadvertent cyberbully.

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".

Podcast from Dan Schmidt on developing student inquiry and articulation and the power of finding their voice and letting it resonate beyond the classroom. He uses The Question Game and Bloom's as a framework from finding questions that move us toward higher levels of exploration.

2008 National Educational Computing Conference also touts collaboration as a key to 21st-century learning

It only takes a minute to change your life. In this collaboration with the Kaiser Family Foundation, the PAUSE campaign recognizes that in a minute, everything can change. Impulsive behaviors are part of being young. Through the campaign, Fox Networks Group and Kaiser hope to encourage young people to "pause" - even if just for sixty seconds -- when confronted with a difficult or risky decision, consider the best option, and reach out to get more information and help if they need it. In that minute, they have the choice to make a good or bad call. As PAUSE indicates, "it only takes a minute to change your life." For a young person, that kind of power can be intimidating, yet also very empowering. Site includes PSA's targeting youth and informational resources.

a very powerful article about the need to improve how filitering occurs at schools or other public facilities like libraries; ignorance among people like the late Justice Rehnquist and other US Supreme Court justices is disconcerting; it appears that the 19th century education practices in the training and professional development of our doctors, lawyers and chiefs in service to us through our government exacerbate the modern day problems with technology use and an open society.

Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement. Discover the power of social media while promoting your students' civic engagement.

Archives of past events. The Berkman Center's Interactive collection features conversations with and talks by leading cyber-scholars, entrepreneurs, activists, and policymakers as they explore topics such as: the factors that influence knowledge creation and dissemination in the digital age; the character of power as the worlds of governance, business, citizenship, and the media meet the Internet; and the opportunities, role, and limitations of new technologies in learning.

This research group out of Harvard includes Danah Boyd. Live web casts and chat. The Berkman Center's Interactive collection features conversations with and talks by leading cyber-scholars, entrepreneurs, activists, and policymakers as they explore topics such as: the factors that influence knowledge creation and dissemination in the digital age; the character of power as the worlds of governance, business, citizenship, and the media meet the Internet; and the opportunities, role, and limitations of new technologies in learning.

Ask a teacher to name the most irritating invention of recent years and they will often nominate the mobile phone. Exasperated by the distractions and problems they create, many headteachers have ordered that pupils must keep their phones switched off at school. Others have told pupils to leave them at home. However, education researchers at The University of Nottingham believe it is time that phone bans were reassessed - because mobile phones can be a powerful learning aid, they say.

A kid-safe search engine powered by Google custom search. It uses a combination of Googles safe search mode and their own database of restricted elements. It also has a site removal request form if something does get past the filters

Powerful lessons for future generations. Read, watch and listen to interviews conducted by high school students at the Urban School of San Francisco.

We can never eliminate all risk; but there are ways to maximize our students' safety while using these incredibly powerful tools. Each tool needs to be analyzed individually to ascertain its benefits and the specific risks it might present. From there, thoughtful people can find solutions to the student safety issues that may arise.\nAs educational leaders we need \nto be safety conscious. We need to be prudent, reasonable; but we won't live in \nfear and we won't act from fear.\nIt is by opening doors, not closing \nthem that we create new possibilities for our children and new futures for \nourselves.

Power will soon belong to those who can master a variety of expressive human-machine interactions. Already, various thinkers about the future have proposed a number of candidates for the designation "twenty-first-century literacy." That is, what are the key skills humans must possess in order to be considered literate?

Use the powerful medium of the web, and advances in streaming video technology to help you think, speak out and act on important issues happening in the real world outside your windows.

These powerful stories teach teens to examine their behavior and encourage them to be proactive in preventing victimization of themselves and others.Teens share their own "Real-Life Stories" about issues affecting them on the Internet such as cyberbullying, online enticement, and giving out too much personal information. At CTAP, we love these videos and frequently feature them in our workshops and trainings "Feathers in the Wind" and "You Can't Take It Back" are two of our favorites. "Amy's Choice" is also a compelling video clip.

This forum, entitled "The Power of Youth Voice," brought together experts in digital media and learning to share their research and experiences using digital media in and outside of the classroom. Speakers included: Renee Hobbs, Founder, Media Education Lab,

The Six Principles of e-Teaching: Integrate, Lead with "Hands-On," Build Hard Skills, Involve Students, Connect Students with Real World, Showcase student work. A database of lesson plans is included on this site. LearniT-TeachiT is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting business, industry, governmental agencies and other organizations to use the power of technology to prepare teachers, students, and learners of all ages to develop 21st century skills that will provide a basis for their ongoing engagement in learning and personal achievement.