I'm tooting our ConnectSafely horn, here, but we had a launch of our own this week: that of our Google+ guide for parents. You can download the PDF at PlusParents.org, or read it chunk by chunk at the Google Safety Center. In it, my co-author and ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid and I offer you a little context on where this service fits into both the rest of Google and teen social networking … [Read more...] about Check out our ‘Parents’ Guide to Google+’!
Social Media
Google+ for teens launched
Google has just made its Google+ social networking service teen-friendly. What that means is, all the features that some 90 million Google+ users have now – Circles, Hangouts (group videochat), photo-sharing, games, etc. – are available to people under 18 but now with added protections in place. For example, the San Jose Mercury News reports, "Google+ will ask [teens] to confirm a public post … [Read more...] about Google+ for teens launched
SOPA & citizenship in a digital age
You could call Internet users "citizen lobbyists." This week, in a post-Arab Spring sign of how participatory media – and its participants – are powerfully changing things, they successfully went head-to-head with some powerful forces and won. Christopher Dodd, the head of the film industry trade group that lobbied and failed to push through the Stop Online Piracy Act (along with the US Chamber of … [Read more...] about SOPA & citizenship in a digital age
A class as a team of co-learners
…with the focus on the learners, which can certainly include the teacher. This is the conceptual infrastructure, presented in educator Jackie Gerstein's User-Generated Education blog, for using tech in the classroom. How does it play out? More emphasis on learners and learning, using technology to facilitate that. Starting when a class first meets. Literally – as in everybody really meeting each … [Read more...] about A class as a team of co-learners
It’s time to outgrow the ‘kids, these days’ cliche
Every generation, we adults seem to swing between fear of young people and fear for them. Of course now, with the advent of social media, it's really justified, right? Actually, no, even less so. More on that in a second. In a commentary at Forbes.com, parent and tech policy analyst Adam Thierer at George Mason University asks a very good question: "Why Do We Always Sell the Next Generation … [Read more...] about It’s time to outgrow the ‘kids, these days’ cliche