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This is an interesting and challenging examination of learning in the three ages of information by Bill Rankin. It looks at the role of information in learning and in shaping culture through Western history and the effect that access to information has had on education. I don't agree with everything that Bill says but he is affirming of the continuing role of teachers and librarians in this third information age.

"New research from the ACMA is casting a clear light on what Aussie teens are involved in, online. It shows that kids from 14 - 17 years are, unsurprisingly, active players in Australia's digital economy, who are online more often than ever before, use the internet and mobiles for everything from entertainment to shopping, research, banking and sharing with friends."

"As edu­ca­tors, it requires con­sid­er­ing what it means for our stu­dents- when they are grow­ing up in a media sat­u­rated world. Access to mobile tech­nolo­gies and the Inter­net have increased ten-fold. The Inter­net is now a two-way process rather than a broad­cast model, and the impli­ca­tions of this are huge."

"Facebook is planning to make users' addresses and mobile phone numbers available to apps that people use on the site, although it says it would require users to give explicit permission for it to happen."

"Robyn Treyvaud is the founder and director of CyberSafeWorld, a website that addresses the whole spectrum of online safety issues, including cyberbullying, risks, security, ethics and addiction.Her trail-blazing efforts have provided an essential resource for schools and parents to protect and educate the world's first generation of kids to 'grow up digital' in an environment where computers, the Internet, video games and mobile phones are ubiquitous. In addition to her work as director of CyberSafeWorld, Robyn is a senior ICT consultant at Australia's Center for Strategic Education."

"Mobile devices are now found in the hands of most children, and school leaders are using that to their advantage by incorporating devices that students already own into classroom lessons and projects. Concerns remain about students who are unable to purchase or borrow a device for use in the classroom, but districts might find creative ways-such as asking local businesses or community organizations for help-to provide devices in such instances, advocates of the trend say. With access issues in mind, allowing students to bring their own devices from home can offer educational benefits, as well as some surprisingly positive results when it comes to creative thinking and classroom behavior."

It's interesting that the school districts mentioned in this article are embracing "BYOT", while other schools around the world continue to clamp down on students' tech use, banning devices instead of educating about ethical use.

"That training isn't just for the kids interacting on the site. Everloop also educates parents about how kids make use of social media channels. Parents can help shape the online experience for their kids, but they aren't allowed to participate in the tweens' space. Everloop is a Toolkit for Parents There is a growing trend toward use of monitoring for digital parenting. Location services can be buried deep in the firmware of smartphones and other mobile devices to allow parents to keep tabs on their kids. CheckPoint, an internet security firm, offers software to alert parents to patterns of destructive online behavior on Facebook without granting direct access to the content. Facebook itself has taken steps, including an upgrade to their Family Safety Center, to improve education and member reporting of destructive content. Everloop focuses on a user group younger than these technologies address."

"Over the last few months, Facebook has launched several initiatives and features to help you keep your account and data secure. Back in May, the company revealed it was switching over to the secure HTTPS protocol and announced details of its login approvals feature. Facebook has also teamed up with Web of Trust to help protect you from scam websites and recently added its social reporting tool to its mobile website. In addition, the company has launched a bug bounty program that rewards security researchers for finding flaws in the social network's security systems. To help you understand the social network's security features and how to protect your account, a Guide To Facebook Security has been launched. The guide, which you can download from Facebook, is 14 pages long and offers all kinds of tips on how to protect your account, including how to spot and avoid scam apps and clickjacking."

If you worry that your child is being harassed, there's a way to keep the cowards in check. BullGuard Mobile Security is a parental control app and web service with the ability to monitor Internet activity: messages, pictures, downloaded content, and Internet sites. Remote access gives you the ability to apprehend any mean messages before your child does and delete them if necessary. You can then blacklist any unwanted contacts from messaging systems, email, and social networks. GPS tracking is included too, so you can make sure your child arrives at school on time and even locate a lost or stolen phone. If the phone is stolen, you can remotely lock and wipe out the device. And conveniently, if you can't find it all of your contacts, calendars, and other info are backed up on a server -- so you can reload onto a new device.

"The 20-year-old from Sydney's western suburbs is at the centre of Australia's first ''sexting'' case, after a schoolgirl sent a nude photo of herself to his mobile phone. The maximum penalty he faces is a two-year jail term."

Thursday, April 21, 2011 Cybersmart has released new lesson plans about sexting for both middle and upper secondary students. Sexting is the sending of provocative or sexual images or messages generally using a mobile phone. Sexting can have serious social and, increasingly, legal consequences for students.

"The Australian Human Rights Commission says in the world of the web, cyber bullying is an abuse of human rights. Cyber bullying is when a child or teenager is threatened, harassed or humiliated by another child or teenager using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones."

Summify creates a beautiful daily summary of the most relevant news from your social networks, and delivers it to you by email, web or mobile.

learning, technology, education, steve, wheeler, social media, internet, mobile

A recent article by Lauren Davis in the Schoology (LMS) website that unpacks a survey of 16000+, mostly USA teachers, about the impact of digital learning. It includes some interesting insights into enablers and barriers for DLE. A good starting point for the 523 Assessment 3 environmental scan.

[Infographic] via Tatango. What's interesting is that social networking and mobile gaming rest just above average.

This infographic comes from liGo and gives us a stunning amount of information about our mobile habits with social media. Prepare to make some interesting discoveries here that range from the technical through to the financial, and even include the emotional.

"Information and communications technologies (ICT) policies in schools have two dimensions. One is to ensure that students are protected from pernicious materials on the Internet. The other is to enable student access to the extensive resources on the Internet for learning and teaching. While these two dimensions are not intrinsically in conflict, in actuality, such can become the case."