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Blog with play game activities for young children. Australian teacher group blog. Inspiration for teachers.

Fast-paced bytes of information gathered from today's social networks and video games are responsible for rewiring kids' brains, says UK neuroscientist Susan Greenfield. Though she doesn't cite any research, she connects these new technological habits to the behaviors of infants and autistic children.

"With support from the Governor 's Productivity Investment Fund and the Virginia Department of Education, Radford University and participating schools in southwestern Virginia are exploring how the iPod Touch can be used to enhance effective teaching and learning. The last several years have seen an explosion in the amount of young people playing video games as well as the number of children and adolescents using mobile handheld technologies, such as portable music players, gaming platforms, and smart phones. As school systems struggle with how best to deal with this cultural and technological shift, it is highly likely that the technology will continue to progress towards more powerful, wireless handheld computers that can deliver high quality, multimedia, computer processing power. Viewing this phenomenon as neither a panacea nor a plague, the iLearn team is exploring if and how these technologies can be leveraged for enhanced learning. "

Share This MTV clip from 1995 is excellent. It shows reporters and celebrities telling us all about this wonderful new thing called the "internet" - all of a sudden it's everywhere and it's so popular! (Thanks, Sandra Bullock.) While a lot has changed, the issues of the internet as of 1995 weren't all that different from what they are nowadays, actually. Then as now, the web was mostly being used for chatting to like-minded people. But there was a lot more fear around it, with much concern about hackers and debates about protecting children from porn. Not that you could really look at pictures, porn or otherwise, back then, with dial-up being the connection of the day. Remember those crackly modems? We don't miss those. The word "cyber", on the other hand, that looks due for a revival. Who's with me?

"PaintGo! is an online paint, color and drawing activity for children. It features many colors, fun stickers and children's artwork."

"NSW Police have been made aware of a Facebook page that has allegedly made disturbing death threats against baby-faced singer Jack Vidgen. Telephones don't stalk children, Social Media doesn't intimidate them either. People do. Investigate People. Don't blame the online community tools. Thank the tools - they shine a spotlight on all that is horrid in our society. We cannot heal until we know what is wrong with us and acknowledge and address it. And newspapers are not here to heal us, believe me!"

"VIDEO games have become one of the most notable features of our culture, yet the industry receives relatively scant attention in mainstream media. This is not only curious, it is unfortunate; because many parents and carers and educators remain unnecessarily wary of this crucible of creativity. The reach of these games is expanding with the take-up of smartphones and tablet computers. A recent study by the head of media communications and technology at Bond University, Jeffrey Brand, found that about 95 per cent of Australian children under 15 play video games."

This report is designed to give an accessible overview of media literacy among UK children and young people aged 5-15 and their parents/ carers (-1-). The purpose of this report is to support people working in this area to develop and promote media literacy among these groups. This report is the third full report since our survey began in 2005. It is therefore able to show trends over time for many of the questions asked. Due to different survey periods and focus, some comparisons are made with 2005 and 2007 data, and others with 2007 and 2008, and change over time is highlighted against either 2007 or 2008 accordingly.

Pinky Dinky Doo harnesses the power of television, print, and interactive media to promote reading and imaginative storytelling. To achieve this, Pinky invites children to participate in funny and fantastic stories, games, and songs that support critical early literacy skills.

Using an iPhone or iPod touch as his brain, Romo puts highly advanced robotic technology in the hands of children ages 8 and up. After downloading Romo's free app from the App Store, kids will be introduced to Romo's hilarious and charming personality as they journey with him across the galaxy, playing challenging missions which introduce the simple concepts behind the programs and software that run our technological world.

Interesting piece by Danah Boyd challenging the belief that we should track our children and wall their digital wall.

"Why do we keep telling children that the law cannot protect them against severe cyberbullying? Time and time again politicians and the press claim that there is nothing police or parents can do if a child is being bullied on the internet, and that government needs to step in."

"Rather than taking Kang's words as a warning against wanting your brain cake and eating it too, I took them as a reminder that our children are entering a time when traversing context has never been as complex as it is now. When it's time to drop a verse, can they demonstrate eloquence and elaborateness? And then, in times when we need to speak a language which eliminates ambiguity in favour of transferable clarity and concision, will our kids be able to write a masterclass algorithm?" Reminded me of the discussion brought up during the interview with Ian Guest where Daryl and Tony mused about teaching code.

"A CYBER safety expert has slammed primary schools for letting students as young as eight use Twitter. Roxburgh Homestead Primary School is one of a number of schools to set up classroom Twitter accounts so students can share snippets of their work with the outside world. Parents have been encouraged to 'follow' the accounts for an insight into their children's school life."

Our pace of life should not be a race against the clock Very often, the cause is to be found on the side of the excessive occupation of the young and their lack of rest. Parents, wanting to give them the best and see them succeed, sometimes do too much. As soon as the school is finished, the children go on with their extracurricular activities (sports, music, language lessons), their homework, bathing, dinner ... They follow the rhythm of life, often hectic, of their parents forever do more and better. A race against the clock difficult to hold in the long term for children as adults.

Children who love to do something productive in their free time can definitely use it to make some extra money. These jobs can play by their skills or strengths and your child is definitely free to choose whatever type of job appeals to them. If you liked our previous article about making money for kids, then here's another one for you. Read more http://www.make-lots-of-money.com/child-friendly-ways-make-money/