I watched 20-something Dan Brown's compelling 6.5-min. "Open letter to educators" on YouTube this morning after an educator I admire and follow on Twitter, Tom Whitby, tweeted about it. In it, Dan, aka pogobat, very engagingly asks what it means to receive an education now, in these discontinuous times, and explains how the institutional education we've long revered is beginning to fail many … [Read more...] about Smart young YouTube vlogger on education’s fail
Archives for April 2011
Kids these days: Overparented?
"We are raising our children in captivity," British psychologist Tanya Byron has said many times (including here). Some kids are monitored and scheduled to within an inch of their lives, it seems, leaving little time for reflection and creativity. In a thorough look into this question of over-parenting, USATODAY found a US psychologist, Laurence Steinberg at Temple University, who agrees with … [Read more...] about Kids these days: Overparented?
Of school policy on sexting
The Cyberbullying Research Center has some helpful policy-development advice for schools – policy all middle and high schools should have in place, says Sameer Hinduja, author, researcher, and co-director of the Center. I so agree, because clearly stated and implemented policy reduces the emotion and politics that only add to the emotional harm some students incur by having extremely embarrassing … [Read more...] about Of school policy on sexting
Voice added to text chat on Facebook
All the more reason for kids to be friending only people they know offline: Facebook just added audio to its chat feature. By installing a free app called Bobsled by T-Mobile, users can make it so Facebook chat is like talking on the phone. T-Mobile's new Bobsled service lets PC and Macintosh users make calls between Facebook pages, add voice to any Facebook Chat and leave voice messages and wall … [Read more...] about Voice added to text chat on Facebook
Facebook’s new Family Safety Center
I serve on the site's Safety Advisory Board so of course I have a bias, but where Facebook says (at the top of its new safety center), "We believe safety is a conversation and a shared responsibility among all of us," belief and bias really aren't at issue. You can see this is pure logic right? In today's social, user-produced media environment, safety and privacy are by definition a shared … [Read more...] about Facebook’s new Family Safety Center