Ad4dcss/Digital Citizenship

If nothing else, the Iranian election has shown how important social-networking technologies have become in participatory politics. This trend was particularly evident in Iran because nearly half of the country's 46.2 million voters were under the age of 30. These voters have come of age as citizens in an era of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and instant messaging.

An Interview with Sonia Livingstone (Part One). According to the study, UK Children Go Online, children were neither as powerful nor as powerless as the two competing myths might suggest. As the Myth of the Digital Generation suggests, children and youth were using the Internet effectively as a resource for doing homework, connecting with friends, and seeking out news and entertainment. At the same time, as the Myth of the Columbine Generation might imply, the adults in these kids' lives tended to underestimate the problems their children encountered online, including the percentage who had unwanted access to pornography, had received harassing messages, or had given out personal information....

The decline in family time coincides with a rise in Internet use and the popularity of social networks, though a new study stopped just short of assigning blame. The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California is reporting this week that 28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That's nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006.\n\nThese people did not report spending less time with their friends, however.

Sen. Menendez's bill, the School and Family Education about the Internet Act, would provide for grants for educational programs and award them based on objective criteria, with the grants adjustable from year to year based on changing needs and technologies.

More than ever before, employers are searching the Internet for information about potential hires. From your personal website, to your LinkedIn profile, to postings you made on an industry blog, you might be surprised by the amount of information that exists about you online. And in today's employment environment, hiring managers have become increasingly cautious about new individuals they bring on board, meaning that any red flags could carry extra weight. A bit of digital dirt that simply would have been a minor embarrassment only a few months ago might be a deal-breaker today.

Twenty eight percent of teenage girls have been victims of cyber-bullying, says GirlGuiding UK, a result of the research the group has put together advice on how young girls can deal with cyber-bullies. eight percent of teenage girls have been victims of cyber-bullying, says GirlGuiding UK. As a result of the research the group has put together advice on how young girls can deal with cyber-bullies.

The laws governing "sexting" should be overhauled so naive teenagers sending raunchy images are not lumped with serious sex offenders, experts say. Under current legislation children who send sexually explicit images or video of themselves to others can face child pornography charges and even be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

In 2002, The No Child Left Behind Act said that students should be technologically literate by the end of the 8th grade. Texas developed a long list of specific technology skills students should know, but nobody has required that students learn them. "We have a difficult time finding the time for the students to be taught these technology skills since teachers have to focus on preparing students for the TAKS test," said Mark Gabehart, AISD's technology chief.

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

Saywire is a safe, social learning community that provides access to a single network where teachers, staff, and students can reside and work together. There is no public access. Saywire provides teachers with a platform in which they can safely communicate and collaborate in their traditional and virtual classrooms.

Gina Healy didn't expect to hold an assembly with her middle schoolers about sexting. But after the school newspaper wrote about an alleged incident involving 8th graders sending nude photos over cell phones, Healy consulted with the Newton, PA, police department-and then talked to her students.

To Willard the key is not to frighten children, but instead teach them proactive ways to protect themselves while adults keep an eye out as well. Willard charges students to act responsibly, such as "Stay Out of the Garbage," and avoid pornography or other "gross stuff" online, and also to "Connect Safely," reminding kids not to send mean or nasty messages. Adults get some advice as well-with Willard cautioning them not to make a big deal if a child brings up something that happened online, such as a stranger trying to gather personal information. Any kind of extreme response, like taking away Internet privileges, could discourage them from bringing up concerns again.

Today's students live in an incredibly high tech world- from cell phones to Facebook to YouTube to iPods- K-12 schools are faced with a multitude of new challenges that must be addressed in your student handbook. How can you restructure your student handbook to include the potential issues that may arise as a result of students' increased use of these technologies? Join us for a live, 60-minute audio conference where you and your colleagues will learn:
* Keys to Drafting K-12 Handbook Policies for Today's Students
* Online Use Policies: Facebook, MySpace & Online Communities
* Crafting Guidelines & Policies for Cell Phone & iPod Use at School
* Protecting Your School from Liability: What You Need to Know
* Cyberbullying & Technology Misconduct: What Educators Must Know

More employees are asking for and viewing social networking sites of job applicants. Most employees like to get a clear picture of the person they are hiring. Lets face it most companies want to make sure they know what they are getting before they spend the time and resources to hire and train a person. Recently officials in Bozeman, Montana requested for all job applicants to turn over their usernames and password of all of their social networking sites as part of the background check. Is that crossing the line?

Writer, tech consultant, and educator Clay Shirky just gave a talk at the State Dept. explaining the media sea change we're experiencing globally. Keeping participatory media, the most fluent though not necessarily most literate users of which are youth, out of school only solidifies the firewall between formal and informal learning and holds school back from 21st-century relevance. Isn't the idea of adults unidirectionally disseminating to students info that the latter have actually never encountered before beginning to sound quaint?

If Congress wishes to address cyberbullying through federal legislation, it should focus on education-based approaches instead of criminalization, argue Berin Szoka and Adam Thierer in "Cyberbullying Legislation: Why Education is Preferable to Regulation," released today by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Criminalizing what is mostly minor-on-minor behavior will not likely solve the age-old problem of kids mistreating each other, a problem that has traditionally been dealt through counseling and rehabilitation at the local level.

One problem with most of today's Internet safety messaging campaigns is that there is only one set of messages for the entire population of youth and parents. But, an extensive literature review conducted by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force Research Advisory Board found that "not all youth are equally at risk" and that "those experiencing difficulties offline, such as physical and sexual abuse, and those with other psychosocial problems are most at risk online."

Some educators have expressed an appreciation for the irony of experienced instructors who have had to learn about social media later in their careers teaching it to younger students who have grown up in an Internet environment. Despite what may seem to be somewhat of a disadvantage, the experienced teacher brings life lessons and the ability to guide students in a positive direction no matter the topic being taught. The tips, tools, and resources listed here can assist any teacher with the basics about social media and ways to share that information with students.