In a way, social media's circling us back to medieval times, when media "products" were never really finished – they were crowd-sourced, adaptive, and usually shared by their developers (minstrels and storytellers) in public spaces, from castles to villages. The makeup and mood of the crowd had a lot of impact on the content of the story and how it would unfold. Social media products are just … [Read more...] about Social media more like medieval than mass media: Example
GromSocial.com: By a teen, for teens
No pressure or anything, but we'll be watching GromSocial.com – a social network site for people under 16 – to see if it isn't one of the best ways for kids to learn safe, constructive use of social media. It was started by 13-year-old Zach Marks in Florida after his parents kicked him off of Facebook, Florida Today reports. Even the county sheriff, Wayne Ivey, believes that there is no better … [Read more...] about GromSocial.com: By a teen, for teens
Safety tools for summer video viewing & search
Do the YouTube and Google search fans at your house know about SafeSearch and Safety Mode? Google made these safety tools available starting a few years ago (see my 2009 post about the former here), but software engineer Matthias Heiler just posted a heads-up about them for users who might be a little more active online during summer vacation. Even before summer was in full swing, 182 million … [Read more...] about Safety tools for summer video viewing & search
For families: ‘Digital detox’ vs connecting mindfully
It takes a lot more than "digital sabbaths" to become grounded, but it sounds like the creators of Camp Grounded in northern California get that. I think. As described by writer Matt Haber in the New York Times, the three days were as gluten-free as they were tech-free and packed with activities aimed at human connection, if not so much reflection. "Designed less to be a spiritual journey than a … [Read more...] about For families: ‘Digital detox’ vs connecting mindfully
Involving our kids in their own digital media learning
Just as neither blackboards (technology) nor the words or numbers on them (media) weren't the source of learning in the 19th century, digital devices and the games, apps, and other media on them aren't the source of our kids' learning in this century. They're just learning tools. It's how they're used by teacher and students, parents and children, that spells learning. "For teachers, in … [Read more...] about Involving our kids in their own digital media learning