Reporters and reviewers write about Minecraft as if it's just like any other videogame. Even this highly readable piece about its creator (Markus Persson, aka "Notch") and its parent company (Mojang) by Harry McCracken in Time magazine doesn't cover what makes it different from other games specifically for its kid (and parent) players. But he does bring out this extraordinary differentiating … [Read more...] about Minecraft & the shared, creative safety of gaming, social media
Search Results for: Safety by design
Mining Minecraft, Part 3: Safety & citizenship in games (do try this at home!)
Guest post by Marianne Malmstrom I’m thrilled by the competency and resourcefulness of my young students. But I also feel an urgency to inform parents and teachers that our children need us to be present and involved online. Just as in “real world" spaces, they require supervision and guidance in virtual spaces. They don’t know to ask for permission to make accounts, connect with friends, … [Read more...] about Mining Minecraft, Part 3: Safety & citizenship in games (do try this at home!)
Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
There seems to be something automatic about responding immediately when a text comes in. Maybe it's because a text is just part of a conversation. But whatever that reflex is, it needs an override when we're driving – an override either in the software between our ears or some "I'm not available right now" software in our phones. AT&T has an app for that called "DriveMode" that sends a text … [Read more...] about Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
What’s wrong with Net-safety ed … and what we can do about it
A look at what does and doesn't work in risk prevention from top researchers in the US By Anne Collier It being "National Internet Safety Month" and this being the last week of the month, let's look at Net safety from a different angle…. "Grumpy researcher has doubts about Internet safety programs." David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the … [Read more...] about What’s wrong with Net-safety ed … and what we can do about it
The 7 properties of safety in a digital age
In Part 1 of this series, I pointed you to a recent talk by John Seely Brown on the whitewater-kayaking kind of learning we need today and in Part 2, examples of that in Marianne Malmstrom's New Jersey classroom. Both touch on "safety" in and for the learning process. Here, Part 3: zooming in on how they and other wise educators have clarified my view of child safety today. What safety is … [Read more...] about The 7 properties of safety in a digital age