More than 230 million Americans aged 13 and up used mobile phones this past July, according to comScore's just-released figures, a little less than one-quarter of those phones were smartphones (basically media and app phones). Here's comScore's breakdown of phone-based activities: Two-thirds sent text messages; one-third used their phone's Web browser; 31.4% downloaded apps; 22.3% played games, … [Read more...] about Latest on cellphone use of Americans 13+
Archives for September 2010
How 5th-graders stole show, saved ‘Splash’
It took less than two minutes for a video produced by 5th-graders to accomplish what a dozen concerned (adult) citizens set out to do: convince the Sacramento, Calif., Board of Directors not to slash "Splash" in yet another round of budget cuts. "Thanks to Splash, thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students have explored life in Sacramento’s streams and, in the process, have come to … [Read more...] about How 5th-graders stole show, saved ‘Splash’
The Net to youth: No big deal
It's symptomatic to me that the headline – "Logging Off: The Internet Generation Prefers the Real World" – contradicts the story. Symptomatic of the conclusions or pronouncements to which many of us adults, including editors (who write the headlines), so quickly jump, where young tech users are concerned. The Der Spiegel story, by Manfred Dworschak, tells of 17-year-old Jetlir in Cologne, one … [Read more...] about The Net to youth: No big deal
Why some MN high schools use social media
If anyone's either building a case for social media in school or worried about such a crazy idea, check out this 2-min. video at The Educator's PLN blog (PLN for personal learning network). In it, English teacher Delainia Haug at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis says, "My take on education is that if you don't engage the kids you might as well be talking to the wall." So Twitter is one of the … [Read more...] about Why some MN high schools use social media
Fresh takes on ‘cyberbullying’ & how to deal with it
A subhead to this post might be "The flaws of laws" – but also the flawed term "cyberbullying" itself. Every kid is very individual, so every case of bullying or cyberbullying is very individual. It's therefore difficult and probably very unwise to make generalizations about the cases, the children involved, or bullying in general. And increasingly I'm hearing from risk-prevention experts, even as … [Read more...] about Fresh takes on ‘cyberbullying’ & how to deal with it