After Yik Yak "fenced out" her daughter's entire high school in southern California, Diana Graber of CyberWise.org did some investigating to find out how the app was blocking use in schools. What she found out is an example of digital citizenship on the part of an app developer (see this for an example from the funding part of the mobile ecosystem). In "Yik Yak App Makers Do the Right Thing," … [Read more...] about Yik Yak update: How the app came to geo-fence off US schools
School & Tech
How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Based on news reports and conversations with educators about troubles with Yik Yak, the location-based anonymous texting app, at schools in many parts of the US, three scenarios leap to mind…. Remember that kid at school (or maybe that frat house) who felt the need or the pressure to set off the fire alarm to see what would happen, test the system, get attention or whatever social … [Read more...] about How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Major study of teen online conflict in Canada, insights for all of us
Though "cyberbullying" is in the title, the just-released study from Canada's premier digital and media literacy organization, MediaSmarts, is about far more than that. The study offers a wide range of insights from young people themselves on the full spectrum of negative behaviors that turn up in digital media, including meanness, gossip-spreading, acting out of anger, "drama," threats and what's … [Read more...] about Major study of teen online conflict in Canada, insights for all of us
A teacher on what teaching in Minecraft looks like
No need to leave connected learning to the imagination. Well, sort of – plenty is left to students' imaginations! Teacher Jacqui Murray in southern California spells out in a blog post exactly how she uses Minecraft for students to work on reading comprehension, writing and problem-solving. She agrees with New Jersey K-8 teacher Marianne Malmstrom on what makes Minecraft so great for learning: … [Read more...] about A teacher on what teaching in Minecraft looks like
‘The gold’ of connected learning, innovation worldwide: The learners
You know that maxim that "necessity is the mother invention" (it goes back at least to 16th-century England, according to Phrases.co.uk). Well, South African journalist Tony Shapshak recently showed in a TED Talk in Edinburgh how necessity is the mother of (tech) innovation, and that innovation is certainly not just happening in Silicon Valley, Bangalore, or the Zhongguancun part of Beijing, but … [Read more...] about ‘The gold’ of connected learning, innovation worldwide: The learners