A new survey suggests teens who spend time on Facebook and other social networking sites are at greater risk of substance abuse compared with teens who don’t visit the sites. An estimated 70 percent of teens spend time on social networking sites in a typical day, the survey found.
MTV has produced a new resource to help grown ups (parents and educators) use A Thin Line to “open up a conversation on digital abuse, test awareness, and help encourage action on the issue at home or in school…”
Dr. Shaheen Shariff and her team at McGill University have launched a critical new website on cyberbullying called ”Define the Line“ which has already received wide press by Stanford University College of Law, YouTube and Twitter. The site does not attempt to provide any ”quick fixes” for cyberbullying (as we know there aren’t any), but instead “defines” many important “lines” between cyberbullying and socially responsible digital citizenship under separate tabs for kids, teens, parents, educators and policy makers…
Common Sense Media announced last week it is expanding its free digital literacy and citizenship curriculum to include content for high school students, as well as their parents and teachers.
The San Francisco-based nonprofit youth media watchdog group unveiled a curriculum in April of 2010 to target grades 6-8, and since had broadened its focus to K-8. The addition of high school-level material, like that at other levels, is based on research from Howard Gardner and the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
The curriculum covers Web safety and security, privacy, and cyberbullying, among other related issues.
Also last week, the Davie, Fla.-based Students in the Know Foundation unveiled its more narrowly focused free online program, The Bullying Academy, which will aim to educate students in grades 4-8 about bullying and cyberbullying.
The program’s founder, Tommy Walser, is a former program director and executive assistant for the Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach and a current law student at New York University, according to the program’s website.
Knewton just published an infographic that evaluates “The State of Digital Education.”
The infographic points to how the Internet has been a disruptive technology in entire industries outside of education, until now. It looks at the rise of technologies and increased drop out rates for the setting of the stage for education’s disruption.
According to the infographic, three new trends bringing education into the 21st century:
- Digital content
- Mass distribution, and
- Personalized learning.
Another interesting infographic from Knewton posted in June is on Blended learning: A disruptive innovation.
Salman Khan’s March 2011 TED Talk on how his YouTube instructional videos comprising Khan Academy started and are now flourishing—what Bill Gates refers to as “the future of education.”
Edutopia Blog, 8/3/11:
This guest blog post was written by Brian Greenberg, Envision School’s former Chief Academic Officer.
…Readers of this blog are likely familiar with project-based learning (PBL), but may be less familiar with the notion of “blended learning.” Blended learning generally refers to incorporating online learning into traditional brick-and-mortar schools to create hybrid learning experiences for students. So how do the generally progressive ideals of PBL merge with the more reform-oriented blended learning approach? Beautifully, at least in theory….
Inside Higher Ed, August 17, 2011
WASHINGTON — For most advocates for student aid, the biggest casualty in the debt ceiling compromise reached by President Obama and Congress last month represented the least bad option: a change that would make graduate students responsible for the interest that accrues on their loans while they’re in school but leaves Pell Grants and other financial aid programs untouched (for now).
But for graduate schools, the cut presents a challenge: how to help students and encourage enrollment as state and federal resources decline.
Top 10 health concerns include risks associated with children’s use of technology, including internet safety and sexting. Top concerns are dramatically different in the eyes of white, black, and Hispanic adults.
By Casey McDemott, USA Today
Virginia joins a handful of states, including Missouri, Utah and Tennessee, that mandate a class in financial education. Similar legislation aimed at improving students’ financial literacy has been introduced in Maryland, while several states require teachers to weave personal finance lessons into existing coursework.
Combined with grassroots efforts by non-profits and financial institutions, it’s all part of a nationwide push to keep Generation Y from making money mistakes that could haunt them long after they graduate from college.
