A Losing Battle

The race against the damaging effects of social networking sites continues to get tougher. Parents, teachers, youth advocates, and policy makers are all banging their heads against the wall about what to do with all of the unregulated, online chatter. The latest site receiving some attention? Formspring.

Through Formspring, users can send anonymous comments and questions for others to answer. Questions can be innocent ("What's your favorite color?"), investigative ("Do you like guys with red hair?"), or even invasive ("What size bra do you wear?"). The comments, however, can be much more sinister. Users, mostly kids, are often sending mean-spirited messages that are sometimes nothing short of cyberbullying.

What is most confounding about the site and process is that each user must accept the comment in order for it to become public and posted to their wall. In other words, if you are seeing a negative comment on someone's wall, it's because he/she posted it there! If your own kids are allowing negative posts about them to be public, how can we fight the damaging blows to their self-esteem?

As with so many issues kids are facing today, there is no one solution to this epidemic. As covered in this article, there are numerous sites that offer people a chance to post anonymously to others' pages (such as Tumblr or Honesty Box, a Facebook add-on). And, trying to regulate these sites or restrict their usage is a losing battle. Kids will find ways to log in, new options will pop up, and parents will be left scratching their heads.

We are not going to win the battle against the internet. What we have to do is continue to arm our kids with the tools to make informed decisions - both about what they read and believe, as well as what they write. Help them understand that the anonymity of the web allows people to hide behind comments they may not even believe as they are typing them. And, we need to build up their confidence so the negative comments don't lead to negative outcomes. Every ugly post doesn't have to hurt so much...

That's the hope, at least...

Would've Written This Sooner

But, had to reply to a few hundred text messages...

This scenario is probably not as far-fetched as it might sound. In fact, it's probably what teachers and parents are hearing from kids failing to do their schoolwork (or rather not hearing - who's going to admit the real reason?). The Kaiser Family Foundation has a study to prove it.

We've known for quite a while that kids are spending more and more time with their digital media - laptops, pda's, cell phones. What we didn't know was how much time. The results are startling to say the least: seven and a half hours a day! And, even that is not an accurate calculation as kids are multitasking and therefore combining about eleven hours of media usage into that time. It's scary...

But, what's even more surprising on the surface is that not all of these kids are happy doing it. One would assume that keeping in touch with friends or the latest song would provide hours of happiness. But, as reported in this NYTimes' article, "The heaviest media users were also more likely than the lightest users to report that they were bored or sad, or that they got into trouble, did not get along well with their parents and were not happy at school."

It is only surprising on the surface, because when you stop to think about it, it makes a lot of sense. In fact, it's what the older generations have been worried about. All of the concern for the lack of outdoor time or the loss of human contact, the physical pains from playing video games or the emotional tolls of constantly needing to be "up-to-speed" with all that is happening in the world are not just old folks who don't understand. These voices should serve to remind us that these devices and ways of communicating should never become our way of life, just add to it.

These technologies have become so intertwined in our lives, it's hard to see life without them. But, it's important to take a break from anything that is consuming our days to reconnect with people or just to reflect. And, technology is no different.

Books As Kindling?

This story is a few months old, but it's too fascinating to let die. Cushing Academy, a prep school outside of Boston, MA, has decided to take bold steps where books and the school library is concerned. Believing that the future is digital, the school is going to do away with most (if not all) of its 20,000+ collection of books.

Electing to invest $500,000 in a new learning center, Cushing is looking at technology to replace traditional books. Are gadgets like Amazon's Kindle, the iPod Touch, and of course computers making books obsolete? The schools actions seem to suggest so...

The mental image of a bookless library sounds completely absurd. How will kids learn to research? What about the benefits of looking at shelves where you might be reaching for one book, but notice three or four other related texts? What about students who don't have financial resources to pay for these technologies??

The reality? 1. Students are already doing most of their research online. 2. Search engines return more results than you could possibly find on a library shelf. And, 3. Schools (especially private schools like Cushing) are making sure every student has the same access to technology, often including sending students home with laptops and handheld devices.

It does indeed sound bizarre. Most of us would never want to give up our libraries. And, the experience of holding a device cannot compare to the feel and smell of a book. But, technological advancements in almost every arena bring about changes that we first resist. Newspapers are struggling in the face of free information online. DJ's have made the move from vinyl to mp3. The counter-arguments sound so familiar - about the look and feel of newspapers/records, etc. - and the thought was unimaginable a decade or two ago. Yet, here we are...

Not having books is a scary thought... But, is it scary because we're losing so much? Or, because we can't imagine what life is like without them...

When Facebooking Goes Wrong...

As social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter continue to grow in popularity, more and more related issues are being unearthed: Are we losing human contact and face-to-face interaction? What is appropriate to reveal online? Are we spending too much time updating our statuses?

Schools are restricting access; businesses are researching candidates' online "brands" before hiring; sports teams are enacting rules about what, where, and when you can "social network." Apparently, even our government is cracking down on tweeting...

What is clear, is that there is very little that is clear. When are inappropriate times to use these social networking sites? When is regulation impinging on free speech? How much information is too much to share?

We are very interested to hear what your school or organization's policies are where social networking sites are concerned. Can students be held accountable - by the school - for what they post on these sites? Have you encountered incidents of student bullying or harassment through these sites, even if not on school time? Please feel free to add a comment here or shoot us an email: javaid@gp-bp.org

No matter what the policy, there is one rule we should all learn from this story: If you're going to break into someone's house, don't use their computer to check your Facebook account!

(Or, at least logout...)

Tech Geeks Unite!

Having just returned from the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, DC, technology and computing are on the brain! It is quite refreshing to see the creative ways in which educators are implementing moodles, cell phones, iPods, and smart boards (among other tech options) with their students. Students are now actively communicating across continents using video, text, and websites. And, participating teachers join a global network of like-minded educators trying to use every available resource to educate their kids.

In that spirit . . . a few tips picked up last week. Enjoy!

- Google: If you have not explored the new options on Google, what exactly are you doing with your life?! The search engine giant has its hands in so many different arenas, you may wish to subscribe to their blogs just to stay current. But, be sure to check out the following (btw, these are all F-R-E-E!):

• FORMS - You can create surveys for your parents, teachers, students - whomever. The options are incredible (explore the "Gadgets" section - one favorite is "Word Cloud") and will easily replace paying for similar services. The best part? You data is updated instantly in spreadsheet or graph views. Whoa.

• SITES - Did you know you can create your own website on Google? It's true - and now you have a place where you can embed maps, videos, articles, homework, student contributions - whatever you like. You can also collaborate (similar to a moodle) with other educators on curriculum.

There are so many more - just be sure to visit the Google Apps (and Labs) section and explore on your own time.

- Handheld Learning: Are you using an iPod Touch or cell phone to your advantage in the classroom? More teachers are than you might think. It's hard to deny that the future is headed towards more technology than less, so why not be ahead of the curve?

• Tony Vincent - Tony is an educator whose website learninginhand.com is an amazing resource for handheld teaching. Take a look at how students are using the Touch and all of its applications in school.
  

• Hall Davidson - From Discovery, Hall runs workshops on using cell phones (among other things). His site link has interesting ideas and websites showing the potential of this [normally] banned device. Very cool...

That's probably a lot for now. If you are doing anything creative with technology that you wish to share, please let us know. Next year's NECC is in Denver - look into it; it was definitely worth the trip!

[Last "tip": If you are an educator or student and purchase a new laptop from Apple, you can get a free iPod Touch! (rebate)] :)