Two distinct, game-changing themes that emerged from the complexity of South by Southwest (SXSW) this year are worth following wherever they turn up – in Washington and other places where policymakers gather, in business, and in people's Internet use: anonymity and meaningfulness. Sometimes they intersect. Both are vitally important to all of us. The former is good and bad but always essential to … [Read more...] about 2 key SXSW themes: Anonymity & meaningfulness
Archives for March 2011
A film I *hope* won’t have much impact
Brace yourselves, people. "Trust" is coming to a theater near you. As the first comment under the trailer in YouTube put it, "To Catch a Predator The Movie?" I've only seen the trailer of David Schwimmer's film, but I've been watching the blogosphere about it since last fall, frankly in a little bit of denial, because it worries me greatly. I didn't even want to draw to it the teeny bit of … [Read more...] about A film I *hope* won’t have much impact
80% of US kids under 5 are online: Study
Those 0-to-5-year-olds are on the Net at least weekly, with about a quarter of three-year-olds online daily, increasing to about half by age 5, according to a just-released review of seven studies from the past five years by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. The percentage of daily Net users rises to about two-thirds by age 8. "Children ages 5-9 average about 28 minutes online daily. In 2009, the … [Read more...] about 80% of US kids under 5 are online: Study
Helping Japan with our brains as well as hearts
It's important for us to point out to our children that millions of people are looking for ways to help survivors of Japan's earthquake-related disasters. This is the social norms approach that encourages everybody to take positive action. This is also an opportunity to teach media literacy, as we look at how people are helping via social-media tools and how they can be vulnerable in doing so – if … [Read more...] about Helping Japan with our brains as well as hearts
Toward social media tools in school
You all may have noticed I'm a strong proponent of educational social media in school – in the core curriculum, pre-K-12. Why? So students can not only collaborate in basic civic engagement (the class being a tiny community in which they're engaging) and maybe broader participation beyond the classroom, but also practice media, tech, and social literacy (citizenship) while they're in core classes. … [Read more...] about Toward social media tools in school