Why Banning Social Media Often Backfires Humans have a natural proclivity to want what they cannot have. Our insatiable appetite for sharing information, combined with the nearly limitless ways to access the web have thus far frustrated the most sophisticated attempts to block access to social media services. From the Great Firewall of China to the public schools of Britain, IT security experts are finding that restricting Internet access can have the unintended consequences of civic backlash, poor worker productivity, and students unprepared for cyber threats. Here are a few examples that illustrate the ban and backfire. In Schools My own university bans the Internet in some large lecture halls. Meanwhile, some schools in Britain have chosen to "lock down" their systems, allowing access to only verified websites. Additionally, children were less likely to understand proper Internet safety when outside of school. In the Workplace I once worked the night shift at a business that attempted to ban Internet access. By Government
Children and Media Texts, Snapchats, Instagram: Translating Teens’ Online Behavior How much surveillance should parents have over their teenagers’ social media lives? Why are kids’ online roles so different from their realities? How does technology change the way teens relate to each other and to adults? Continue Reading A Look Into Teenagers’ Complicated Online Lives In the world of social media research, danah boyd is a star. Continue Reading Kids’ Video Games: Source of Fun, Pain, and Profit Getting under a kid’s skin has become science. Continue Reading Reward, Educate, Occupy: Using Technology as Parenting Tool This generation of parents grew up with TVs, video game consoles, and computers, so digital media is one of many tools they use in their parenting repertoire. Continue Reading Teaching Respect and Responsibility — Even to Digital Natives As with any behavior involving kids, mistakes will be made with online behavior — and that’s a vital part of the learning process. Continue Reading Continue Reading
Should Parents Have the Backdoor Key to Kids’ Facebook Accounts? Culture M. Markus Concern about children’s safety and privacy online has led to a number of initiatives and programs — by schools, by private companies, and by government entities. These efforts are all aimed at protecting children and teens from what are perceived to be the big dangers on the Internet: sexual predators, advertisers, and bullies, for example, but they’re also at protecting children and teens from themselves. A new proposed piece of legislation in California (SB242) aims to mandate new privacy policies and practices for social networking sites. Should laws mandate children’s online activities, or should parents and children work that out together? Facebook still does not allow users under 13 to register for an account – and the legislation won’t change existing age restrictions. Nonetheless the bill raises a number of interesting questions about how we think privacy and security online works — and for whom. How will these parental requests work? Related
The Pitfalls and Promises of Facebook, Social Media, and Kids Big Ideas Culture Teaching Strategies Flickr:HoyasMeg With more than 500 million Facebook users across the world, it’s hard to refute that the social networking site has profoundly changed the way we communicate and share information. “Parents have to give kids the opportunities to figure out what it means to be digital citizens.” Parents worry about what’s age-appropriate, what should be kept private, and exposure to cyberbullying, among many other issues. “Parents can and should moderate sites, but they have to give kids the opportunities to figure out what it means to be digital citizens, and allow kids to be empowered,” said Carrie James, who’s conducting a qualitative survey of kids and social networks at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For better or for worse, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and their ilk provide ways for kids to connect with each other and to express themselves. But at the moment, it’s not a high priority at most schools, Sheninger says. Related
5 Ways Twitter Has Changed Education Digital Tools 8 Social Media Sites Just for Kids Digital Tools Flickr: P i c t u r e Y o u t h By Sara Bernard Technically, Facebook doesn’t allow kids under the age of 13 to register for the site. But kids under 13 don’t have to be left out of the social media world. Of course, it’s still just as important to educate kids about Internet safety and appropriate online behavior as it is to create technological barriers between them and unsafe situations. “As a teacher I see it as my responsibility to teach students how to engage with their peers online in a healthy and productive way,” writes teacher Catlin Tucker in response to an article about how social media is changing education. To that end, here are eight kid-friendly social media options: Dizeo: A fully-monitored site that calls itself “social networking training wheels,” complete with video and music sharing, homework help from subject-specialist tutors, and educational videos on Internet safety. My Secret Circle: This one is girls-only as well as kids-only.
Schools and Students Clash Over Use of Technology Big Ideas Culture Digital Tools Teaching Strategies By Katrina Schwartz When it comes to using technology in school, the tension between what students and parents want and what schools allow is becoming more apparent — and more divisive. Students want more control over how they use technology in school, but many classrooms are still making it difficult. Students aren’t just posting personal pictures and stories on Facebook — it’s just as much a part of their social lives as it is a place where they connect with each other for school work, too. 65 percent of school principals said it was unlikely they would allow personal devices in the coming school year. That connection might be found in students’ own mobile devices. More than half of students – 56 percent of middle-schoolers and 59 percent of high-schoolers – reported that they would like to be able to use their own devices and learning tools in the classroom, something that many parents surveyed said they would support. Related
6 Ways Social Media is Changing Education Uncategorized Flickr: ivanpw By Sara Bernard “The fact that we as educators even have to have discussions on whether or not social media is good for schools is sad,” writes Steve Johnson, a teacher and Edutopia guest blogger. “Social media just IS…..it’s life.” He’s right — as of July, there were half a billion active Facebook users alone (not counting other social networking sites), and that number grows daily. To that end, here’s a handful of the ways that social media is infiltrating, influencing, overtaking, and game-changing the educational landscape: Galvanizing students: Social media, with its lightning speed and viral powers, is the perfect tool for activism, and students are no exception. Defining boundaries: The fine line between personal and professional lives gets stickier when it involves teachers and students. Redefining parent communication: Social media is both opening and altering the lines of communcation between teachers, parents, and students. Related
Mashable’s 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools Uncategorized Edu2.0 Connecting personal Facebook accounts between teachers, students, and parents can be problematic for a slew of different reasons. Do students want their teachers knowing they’re watching “Glee” instead of studying for their exam? 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers The possibilities for social media tools in the classroom are vast. In the hands of the right teacher, they can be used to engage students in creative ways, encourage collaboration and inspire discussion among even soft-spoken students. But we've already made our case for why teachers should consider using social media in their classrooms. Even when people say they want to incorporate social media, they don't always know the best ways to do so. To help, we've collected seven of the the best classroom tools for incorporating social media into your lesson plans. EDU 2.0 is a lot like online course management systems Blackboard and Moodle, but with a couple of distinct advantages. The founder of software company The Mind Electric, who has roots in education, self-funded the development of EDU 2.0 in what the site describes as a "labor of love." 2. The popular visual organizing and sharing tool Symbaloo launched its "EDU" version last month. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.