How a primary teacher approached student blogs as part of their digital portfolio, but after they had learnt to blog as a whole class. Very interesting. From another Diigo site.
American Heritage Dictionary site. This is kind of like a word cloud but makes a portrait with words. It originally came from the OZ/NZ educators diigo group. Another great tool!
A great Edudemic blog by Jeff Dunn on characteristics of a 21st Century teacher. Has a good visual to reinforce the 10 skills modern teachers must have, in his opinion. Came from another diigo group.
A very high level overview. It's not that engaging or interesting and remains focused on safety without extending into how to contribute to society, but has some useful resource links. Including similar suggestions for kindegarten and year 2 (US context)
The announcement said, “Scientific research and policy statements lag behind the pace of digital innovation,” and noted that the organization’s screen time policies were written before the rise of the iPad (Brown, Shifrin, & Hill, 2015)
The AAP’s current guidelines are that television and other entertainment media should be avoided for children younger than 2 years old and that older children and teens should limit screen time to 2 hours per day (AAP, 2015)
Is abstinence from screen time realistic for children younger than 2? Can older children navigate a digital world with no more than 2 hours per day of screen time?
“The question before us is whether electronic media use in children is more akin to diet or to tobacco use. With diet, harm reduction measures seem to be turning the tide of the obesity epidemic. With tobacco, on the other hand, there really is no safe level of exposure at any age. My personal opinion is that the diet analogy will end up being more apt” (Kamenetz, 2016).
The risks of excessive screen time have been well-studied, although many of the cornerstone studies in this area focus on television viewing rather than the use of mobile media devices like smartphones and tablets.
n general, screen time exposure is associated with less physical activity, poorer diet choices, disrupted sleep cycles, and a higher body mass index (BMI)
Even with the evidence above, it is difficult to say exactly how much screen time is excessive screen time and how newer forms of digital media compare with traditional media like television.
2016 article looking at screen-time and how much is too much. Picks up on moves to change recommendations, but includes discussion of problems and strategies.
The Australian Governments "online safety and security website" providing a range of information related to "cyber safety" targeted at the broader Australian community.
Back-to-school time often coincides with the arbitrary banning of toys, apparel and assorted nick-knacks from our classrooms and playgrounds. It seems as if instinct takes over whenever administrators encounter something kids care about. The reflexive impulse is to forbid these objects from the educational environment
There are several reasons for taking a deep breath and exercising caution before enforcing the next pog embargo.
We risk alienating children from school and missing potential curriculum connections.
High-tech devices allowed today may integrate prohibited technologies in the future. Convergence will bring increasing power to kids and headaches for administrators. What happens when the book bag contains a laptop, the laptop contains a cell phone or sneakers contain a laptop and a cell phone?
Reducing classroom distractions is often cited as the rationale for this rule, but this is nonsense. If you walk into Carnegie Hall or an airplane, a polite adult asks that you please turn off your phone for the comfort or safety of those around you. Why can’t teachers do the same
If a student disrupts the learning environment then that action should be punished in the same way we address spitballs, note passing or talking in class. It is irrational to have different rules for infractions involving electronic devices. We must address behavior, not technology