Group items tagged

"The folks in Common Sense Media have designed this beautiful poster for you to print and use in your classroom. The poster is an excellent guide for students to help them make the right informed decisions when it comes to photo sharing."

"The internet is awash with exciting and innovative tools, and your students have grown up immersed in this world - get in on the act. The digital revolution has given us instant communication and easy global connectedness, with mobile technology in particular growing at warp speed: in 2013, there are almost as many mobile phone contracts as there are people in the world. This digital transformation has produced some extraordinary online tools for flexible education, which enhance students' learning and promise innovative pedagogy for teachers. However, they can also be daunting and challenging for educators. It is clear that teachers cannot ignore these tools, which go far beyond just Facebook and Twitter. Educators are now dealing with Generation Z - students born after 1995 who have hardly known a world without social media and have always lived a life measured in bits and bytes. Most have access to iPads and smartphones as well as textbooks and, therefore, the massive resource of the internet."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum's world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum's website for non-commercial use-including in scholarly publications in any media-without permission from the Museum and without a fee. The number of available images will increase as new digital files are added on a regular basis.

DERN is the Digital Education Research Network. DERN is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in Melbourne, Australia. DERN is a network for, leaders, researchers and educators interested in the use of digital technologies for learning. Users of DERN may have an interest in ICT, media, pedagogy, emerging technologies and related areas and are probably well briefed in the area of elearning research, as well as scholars seeking details about what research has been done, possibly for their own research purposes.

It is commonly recognized that our nation's progress depends on improving learning, thereby creating healthier communities and a stronger workforce. In today's world, that requires us to take advantage of new learning tools to ensure that our children's learning is practical and prepares them for the challenges of the 21st century. The advantages of digital media now greatly outweigh the disadvantages and require that schools update their thinking and policies to provide guidance on the use of these tools to improve student learning and achievement.

"Common Sense Media's K-12 Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum is now available in the iBooks Store. Download our interactive, multimedia Teacher Editions and Student Workbooks today!"

Interactive guide introducing students to using social media in academic/professional ways.

"The latest social media application to stir up controversy among teens has prompted one Lincoln Park school to ask students to delete Yik Yak and parents to make sure their child doesn't reinstall it."

"When I was 10 years old I was hitting a digital puck across the screen with a digital paddle playing Pong. My son at age 10 was learning metallurgy and materials management in an online multiplayer game called Runescape! I knew nothing of the game at the time, and he soon showed me how he learned to collect items in the world in order to make new things that he needed to complete quests and gain experience. In particular, he showed me how he needed to collect certain metal ores, take them to a smelter to extract metals, and then take those to a forge to create tools or to a craftsman to make other things. This is one of the reasons that I am still excited about Minecraft."

"Parents often fear technology. They worry that their children might be exposed to inappropriate pornographic or violent content online, or be negatively influenced or explicitly hurt by a stranger through social media. After hearing news coverage of horrific events, parents also fret that their kids might be bullied or bully someone else using digital tools."

"Call someone a 'cyber-utopian' and it's likely to be taken as an insult, according to leading media theorist Ethan Zuckerman. But we'll meet some self-confessed utopians (of the digital variety) who are out of the closet and proud! While cyber-utopianism - that is, the idea that the internet is the ultimate empowering force - can get a little disconnected from reality, cyber-utopians say that's what they like about it. It's a testing ground for future opportunities they say -- a way of encouraging us to think big and make the most of the Internet and new technologies."

Written from a business point of view but interesting take on content curation with  a few curation tools discussed that are different from the ones discussed in my education learning networks. 

"There are no limits to what a great educator can achieve when they have the right tools. Graphite, a free service from Common Sense Media, helps teachers find, understand, and share the best digital learning products available."

"Students at Het 4e Gymnasium Amsterdam have had their history class infused into their digital lives...The students have built Facebook Timelines for four history subjects:..Historical events were represented by uploading a variety of media including audio, video, photos, maps, and historic documents."

A neat set of videos from the ABC looking at the Digital World, Mobile and portable devices, New ways to watch TV, Podcasting and Social Media.

"A star political blogger for Grist.org, David Roberts spent so much time posting and Tweeting and staring at screens that he almost went nuts. So he pulled the plug for a year, restarting his relationship with technology and actively seeking health, balance, and adventure in the real world. What he learned just might save you from meltdown."

"Last November, a young man was ordered by a NSW court to pay A$105,000 in damages for defaming a teacher at his former school on Twitter. The decision, which only came to light earlier this week, should serve as a reminder to all users of the legal risks involved in using social media."