For years we've heard about the potential of virtual reality, but even when the virtual world Second Life was a hot tech-news story, it hardly felt like a second life to most people. I wrote about it a number of times because of the amazing work some very cutting-edge educators and their students were doing in Teen Second Life, when it existed. Then it faded into the background, and those teachers … [Read more...] about FB & Oculus VR: The potential of a virtual-reality platform
Social Media
What’s (importantly) different about Snapchat
It's not what you might think – or what you might've read in the news. What makes Snapchat stand out in the crowd of social media apps, in fact what makes it "matter," as social media researcher danah boyd put it, "has to do with how it treats attention." Snapchat users don't just swipe through a gazillion photos in a stream or album. The app doesn't work that way. They actually pause and pay … [Read more...] about What’s (importantly) different about Snapchat
Yik Yak update: How the app came to geo-fence off US schools
After Yik Yak "fenced out" her daughter's entire high school in southern California, Diana Graber of CyberWise.org did some investigating to find out how the app was blocking use in schools. What she found out is an example of digital citizenship on the part of an app developer (see this for an example from the funding part of the mobile ecosystem). In "Yik Yak App Makers Do the Right Thing," … [Read more...] about Yik Yak update: How the app came to geo-fence off US schools
How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Based on news reports and conversations with educators about troubles with Yik Yak, the location-based anonymous texting app, at schools in many parts of the US, three scenarios leap to mind…. Remember that kid at school (or maybe that frat house) who felt the need or the pressure to set off the fire alarm to see what would happen, test the system, get attention or whatever social … [Read more...] about How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Social media reality check from Canadian youth: Key study
Before releasing its report on online conflict, MediaSmarts presented a much broader picture of young Canadians' experiences in social media: "Life Online." This is important context for any discussion about cyberbullying and other negative aspects of digitally informed life, whether we're setting policy at the household, school or national levels. "There are a lot of assumptions out there … [Read more...] about Social media reality check from Canadian youth: Key study