Olivia Van Ledtje, just now 12, tells the story of giving a talk in a western Massachusetts elementary school auditorium that was packed with students and teachers from three school communities – when she was 10. She writes that, after her talk, the students wanted to ask “loads of one-of-a-kind kid questions – the kind I can never feel fully prepared to answer. “Luckily, the one-of-a-kind … [Read more...] about Spark Change: The book taking (digital) citizenship to a whole new level
School & Tech
2 kinds of bullying, 2 kinds of empathy: Research
It's an age-old social problem, but we have gotten so much smarter about bullying – both the problem and the solutions – since media became so very social. Not only do we now know that the age-old "schoolyard bully" is a stereotype, we know it's not the only one people all over the world entertain. There's more than one stereotype of bullying and more than one kind. But there's something else we … [Read more...] about 2 kinds of bullying, 2 kinds of empathy: Research
Student voice for meaning, self-actualization, safety (ISTE 2017)
"Our kids can be experts in the world," said visionary educator Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann), meaning right now, as students, in school, in digital spaces, in life. Then he asked, "How can we help them be that?" He was speaking last week at ISTE, the world's largest ed tech conference. I went to ISTE to see what educators were saying about student voice, and what I found was a trend: growing … [Read more...] about Student voice for meaning, self-actualization, safety (ISTE 2017)
Learning about ‘The Class’: Researchers on their year in middle school
There is no way a book about spending a year in the life of a middle school class – its 28 students' home, school and digital experiences – could be reduced to a single theme. But one main takeaway from The Class, by UK researchers Sonia Livingstone and Julian Sefton-Green, may surprise and sound familiar at the same time: the old saying that "the more things change, the more they stay the … [Read more...] about Learning about ‘The Class’: Researchers on their year in middle school
Handling toxicity: Insights for parents & teachers from Riot Games
There's real wisdom for parents, coaches and educators – not to mention gamers, athletes and social media users – in this business story about what toxic behavior does to a team. The game in question? League of Legends, a 30 million-player "team-based game" along the lines of Capture the Flag "or, more aptly, 'destroy the enemy base'," according to Google's re:Work's description. The game company … [Read more...] about Handling toxicity: Insights for parents & teachers from Riot Games