Susan Benesch, founder of The Dangerous Speech project, tells the story of how worried people in Kenya were in the run-up to their national election in 2013. Dangerous, inflammatory speech around the previous election in 2007 had led to widespread violence involving more than 1,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people being displaced, she said in a talk at Harvard’s Berkman Center, where she … [Read more...] about Counterspeech: New online safety tool with huge potential
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Social media in Saudi schools … sort of
In the US, social media is banned in most schools but ubiquitous in the rest of students' lives. In Saudi Arabia, social media is banned but will be taught in school. Maybe we could learn something from each other. "The textbook for [Saudi Arabia's] first year secondary students, entitled Computers and Information Technology, would contain information on using, designing and managing websites … [Read more...] about Social media in Saudi schools … sort of
Popularity: The other kind of vulnerability
A study cited in "When Popularity Backfires" at Time.com found that socially ambitious kids can be just as likely to experience bullying and harassment as "social outcasts" at school. Interested in the "hotspots" of social aggression in students' social experiences at school, sociology professors Robert Faris at University of California Davis and Diane Felmlee at Pennsylvania State University … [Read more...] about Popularity: The other kind of vulnerability
The benefits of agency, choice, and student-centered learning
"More and more of society at large, and consequently many students, are demanding an educational system that works for and with them," wrote high school math teacher Paul Bogdan in Edutopia (emphasis mine). "A student-centered learning environment encourages students to become independent learners and ultimately to be in charge of their own education." Student-centered learning just makes sense … [Read more...] about The benefits of agency, choice, and student-centered learning
Digital media’s power for all kinds of good: One student’s story
Rarely do we hear stories about how playing in digital environments in school – much less playing a popular videogame not originally designed for school – can be life-changing in a good way. So here's one (names in the story have been changed to protect everybody's privacy): For four years, starting in 2008, when he was in middle school, "Zach" participated in the WoWinSchool Club every day … [Read more...] about Digital media’s power for all kinds of good: One student’s story