Playtime and Screen Time
Pokémon Go was the viral sensation of the summer, engaging kids and adults alike in the pursuit of rare digital creatures across neighbourhoods and parks. Now, another nostalgic brand has launched a product to catapult kids into the digital world. With a new app that brings plasticine sculpture to life inside a virtual world, Play-Doh Touch is part of a trend that blends digital play with real world experiences. The app is hitting the market not long after American Association of Pediatrics released its updated recommendations on screen time for our quickly changing digital world, in part to help parents navigate this new wave of hybrid experiences. "Children learn best by doing and, traditionally, screen time has been largely passive and inactive," says Paul Darvasi, a media studies expert who uses game-based learning strategies in his teaching at Royal St.
Why Students Forget—and What You Can Do About It
Teachers have long known that rote memorization can lead to a superficial grasp of material that is quickly forgotten. But new research in the field of neuroscience is starting to shed light on the ways that brains are wired to forget—highlighting the importance of strategies to retain knowledge and make learning stick. In a recent article published in the journal Neuron, neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland challenge the predominant view of memory, which holds that forgetting is a process of loss—the gradual washing away of critical information despite our best efforts to retain it. According to Richards and Frankland, the goal of memory is not just to store information accurately but to “optimize decision-making” in chaotic, quickly changing environments. In this model of cognition, forgetting is an evolutionary strategy, a purposeful process that runs in the background of memory, evaluating and discarding information that doesn’t promote the survival of the species.
The latest dangerous "addiction" parents need to worry about: Mobile devices
Follow me at @drClaire For parents of teens, “addiction” is a scary word. It brings to mind all sorts of things we never want to have happen to our children, from overdoses to arrests — and so we talk to our kids about drugs and alcohol. But is there another addiction we should be worrying about, too?
Children won’t be saved by a digital detox
The idea of a “digital detox” makes my eyes roll so far back I see memories from a past life as concubine number 6. When will we come to terms with our own desires and, rather than banning something we fear altogether, try to understand it? Whether booze or sugar or Celebrity Big Brother, there is a more adult way of dealing with something we feel has a hold over us than writing it off completely. You see the fear most clearly in the eyes of a parent scrolling through their child’s Instagram.
The Influence of a Digital Math Game on Student Number Sense
Abstract This study sought to determine if playing a digital math game could increase student number sense (mathematical proficiency in numeracy). We used a pre- and post-assessment to measure the number sense of two groups of third grade students with the same mathematics teacher. One group played the game Wuzzit Trouble and the other did not. Overall, the group who played Wuzzit Trouble showed a significant increase in number sense between the pre- and post-assessment, compared to the other group who did not. A qualitative analysis of a novel problem revealed differences between the treatment and comparison groups from pre- to post-.
Trauma Training for Educators – Communities In Schools Of Central Texas
Click the red “PLAY” icon below to view the training video. Scroll down for facilitator resources and information about the training. Be sure to read the important notice below for best accessibility of the video. See facilitator resources below Click here for the Facilitator’s Discussion Guide & Handouts (WORD) Click here for the Facilitator’s Discussion Guide & Handouts (PDF)
Pros and Cons of Cell Phones Becoming a Major Part of Children's Lives
Cell phones are becoming an extremely popular electronic for people to purchase and in some instances they are even replacing house phones. They are also becoming more technologically advanced; most can take and send pictures and videos and connect to the Internet for web surfing. Many children, even as young as kindergarten-age, are becoming cell phone owners. The potential of things that can be done with these phones is endless.
Online disinhibition effect
Online disinhibition effect is the lack of restraint one feels when communicating online in comparison to communicating in-person.[1] People feel safer saying things online which they would not say in real life because they have the ability to remain completely anonymous and invisible behind the computer screen.[2] Apart from anonymity, other factors such as asynchronous communication, empathy deficit or individual personality and cultural factors also contribute to online disinhibition.[3][4] The manifestations of such effect could be in both positive and negative directions. Thus online disinhibition could be classified as benign disinhibition or toxic disinhibition.[1] Classifications[edit]
Device Use at Bedtime
Bedtime use of cellphones or tablets by children — even just having access to them — is consistently linked to excessive daytime sleepiness and poor sleep, researchers say. They called on teachers, health care professionals, parents and children to be educated about the damaging influence of device use on sleep. The portable media devices have entered the bedroom, giving children unprecedented access to technology and media before researchers have had a chance to explore the positive and negative impacts. To explore whether there's an association between use of, or access to, media devices and sleep quantity and quality, researchers reviewed 20 sleep studies involving 125,198 children aged six to 19.
edutopia
Teaching students basic knowledge about the brain’s potential can have a positive impact on their motivation, grit, and achievement. In particular, explicitly teaching them that learning changes the structure and function of their brains can be transformational in building a stronger belief in the value of working hard to master new material. Teachers who explain these findings report that the knowledge has a positive effect on students’ perceptions of their abilities as well as on their expectations for success. Examples From Elementary Classrooms Diane Dahl of Texas, a participant in our brain-based teaching program, enjoys teaching her elementary students about the brain and strategies for learning. Students learn what neurons, dendrites, and axons are and how connections between neurons created by axons and dendrites create learning.
You May Have #FOMO, or is it #FOKU?
Even though I have an awareness of my relationship to my smartphone, even though I take measures to limit my use, even though I have strong boundaries with my kids around their usage, if you asked me whether I feel like I have a handle on my relationship to it, I’d give you an unequivocal NO! The more I talk to people about their relationship to their tech, the greater sense of belonging I feel. For most people, every time they see someone reach for their phone there’s a bell that goes off in the mind that creates an urge to grab their phone. Every time they’re slowing down or waiting anywhere, the idea or urge to check the phone arises.
Internet Addiction, Sleep Deprivation, or ADHD ...
With the diagnosis of ADHD on the rise in American teenagers, there is a risk of mislabeling teens with ADHD when the cause of their inattentiveness and falling grades may be related to something else entirely—like anxiety, family issues, or their media-infused lifestyle. This misdiagnosing was especially striking to me with a sixteen-year-old girl named Joy, whose family came to consult me a few months ago. Up until last year, Joy was a straight A student.
Screen Time and Storytelling
Allison S Henward, University of Hawaii Recently, at a child’s birthday party, I overheard a conversation between parents discussing their concern about “screen time.” Phones, computers, iPads and the good old television are all around us. And this can be a source of anxiety for parents, caregivers and teachers.
