A flurry of social media news stories hit the airwaves this past week from Google, Facebook and Snapchat. Here are the ones most of interest to parents and educators: Snapchat: The Federal Trade Commission has apparently been wanting Snapchat to be much clearer about just how ephemeral its disappearing messages really are. The Commission filed a complaint and reached a settlement with Snapchat … [Read more...] about A little social media news roundup
classroom
Some mobile learning myth-busting
As I read "5 myths about mobile learning," I realized how literal we are in our assumptions – and how much we base them on a technology's physical properties. When you really think about it – or compare the assumptions to the reality – it can make you smile (if you don't let yourself get discouraged by the resistance these assumptions symbolize). The first few myths educator Nicky Blockly shares … [Read more...] about Some mobile learning myth-busting
Now there’s YouTube designed for school
Because most schools block entire social media sites in an effort to keep out inappropriate content, they also block all the perfectly appropriate and even educational content on the social Web. That goes for YouTube too, of course. But "YouTube has a vast library of content, much of which can be used for educational purposes," PC Magazine reports, so Google launched YouTube for Schools, which … [Read more...] about Now there’s YouTube designed for school
A (digital) return to village life?
Did you ever hear someone speak nostalgically about "the good ol' days" of small-town life, when neighbors and people you cared about kept tabs on you? It had its downsides, but there's no denying everyday life (at least in the developed world) has gotten so much less personal. It's almost dehumanizing in some ways. People sometimes argue that the Internet has contributed to that. It can also be … [Read more...] about A (digital) return to village life?
Classroom surfing ban?
This isn't totally on-topic (kid-tech news), because it's primarily about adults: college students' in-class surfing habits, from a professors slightly angst-ridden perspective. But it could be on the horizon of high school teachers and students too. "I should be clear that there is no good a priori argument against multitasking. The case is at best an empirically-informed hunch about what is the … [Read more...] about Classroom surfing ban?