I'm thrilled to tell you that, after a successful crowdfunding campaign and with support from a number of social media companies and the Digital Trust Foundation, iCanHelpline.org, launched today. A joint project of Net Family News and #iCANHELP, it's the California pilot for a national social media "helpdesk" for schools. Though there are Internet helplines in many countries, none are just for … [Read more...] about iCanHelpline launched!
schools
Help us build & pilot a Social Media Helpline for schools!
Hey, everybody! We at NetFamilyNews and iCANHELP would greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about (and if possible contributing to) our just-launched crowd funding campaign at Indiegogo. We're in the process of creating a hotline schools can call for help with problems in social media which we'll pilot this coming school year in California. Please click to our page here. We'll … [Read more...] about Help us build & pilot a Social Media Helpline for schools!
Of student digital privacy & schools demanding passwords
For Data Privacy Day (1/28), let's take a look at students' data privacy – as in the data on their cellphones and whether school administrators have the right to search the devices. The ACLU says they don't. It called out a school board in Tennessee for violating the constitutional rights of students by implementing a policy that allows school officials to search digital devices kids bring to … [Read more...] about Of student digital privacy & schools demanding passwords
Our kids’ privacy & a White House report on ‘big data’
Referring to a new report from the White House that she contributed to, social media scholar danah boyd points out how impossibly simplistic it is to view "big data" as either all good or all bad. I'm thankful for the balance it struck in its findings on big data in education between the tremendous opportunities it represents for students and educators and the risks to student privacy. It … [Read more...] about Our kids’ privacy & a White House report on ‘big data’
New state anti-bullying law challenges schools
The New Jersey anti-bullying law passed after the suicide death of Tyler Clementi went into effect this week and is "considered the toughest legislation against bullying in the nation," the New York Times reports. This is good news for New Jersey parents of targeted students who have found schools unresponsive but apparently tough news for schools. School officials worry that the legal requirement … [Read more...] about New state anti-bullying law challenges schools