Big Brother Knows Where You Are

It's called social mapping, and it means that people can tell where you are through your cell phone connection. You see it on television shows all the time. CSI investigators locate criminals without a problem, don't they? It doesn't work exactly like that in real life for citizens like our students and us. To use social mapping, the software has to be loaded onto phones (or computers, in some cases) and users must specify who they will allow to locate them. They also can tell the software to reveal their exact location or perhaps only that they are in a certain city. Keep in mind that if the system uses GPS, the locating can be very accurate; if it's by phone towers, it can be miles off. Google is coming out with Latitude, a system that works with Google Maps, and there are other social mapping programs like Loopt and BrightKite. With the mapping programs, parents could keep track of where their children are and friends could find each other. —But when you consider the possible problems of pre-teens and teens with peer relationships and the worry that some young people might open their tracking to "friends" they don't really know, questions arise about this type of software. Could peer pressure cause some students to opt-in to tracking when it's not wise? Very likely.

New GPS Device May be a Parent Tool, Too

Wondering where your kids are or an older relative with Alzheimers?  Location Based Technologies’ PocketFinder is a GPS device that lets you locate the holder anywhere in the United States via the Internet. The little disk, that looks remarkably like an errant Oreo cookie, can figure out its location is within 30 feet and can be tracked on the Internet or a Web-enabled smartphone, or by text message or phone.

Worried about certain places or areas where you’d like to keep your kids away from? PocketFinder lets you designate safety zones and danger zones, and alerts you if the device enters or leaves such areas. It can also track how fast the device is moving and notify you if a preset speed limit is exceeded (parents of teenage drivers, take note).

You can also place the PocketFinder, which is waterproof, on your pet’s collar or your luggage. The device can run up to seven days on a charge and will text, call or e-mail you when it’s running low on juice. The PocketFinder will be available in March for $130 and a monthly service fee. Just in case you were wondering, there are also Pocketfinders for pets and luggage.

Fun Kids' Activities for iPhone & iPod Touch

For $2.99, you can download to iPhones and iPod Touch interactive "children's books" packed with activities young children will enjoy. They can "rub" the screen to uncover pictures, listen to stories, color pictures, read aloud, and create paintings—right on an iPhone or iPod Touch. The first book is available at the Apple Apps Store, and new ones should be coming out about once a month. The reviews look very positive for this new type of book for preschool and primary level students. You can link to the Apple Apps Store from ikidsplay.com or from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Print versions of the books are available online and at bookstores according to CoolestGadgets.com.

Music, Movies, Software—Digital Citizenship

It's a must that we integrate digital citizenship into school curricula today, but finding appropriate materials that fit into our classrooms is difficult. Microsoft has just launched its Digital Citizenship and Creative Content curriculum, which is free of charge. Targeted to students in Grades 8-10, the curriculum addresses real-world issues related to use of creative content in music, software, and movies. Included are lesson plans, reproducible materials, and classroom-based assessments. Students explore the meaning of intellectual property through the backdrop "Battle of the Bands". They dive into research as they learn about their own rights, rights of their peers, and rights of others who develop creative products. Using the site MYBYTES, students are able to publish original creative material and learn more about what professional writers and musicians have to say about this topic.

The Organized Family: Bento to the Rescue

If you are using Mac OS X Leopard, you'll certainly want to take a look at Bento. It's a personal database with an iTunes-like interface. When you load it onto your computer, it automatically enters your address book and calendar information into its database. Those who have used FileMaker will find Bento much less complicated. That's because it's designed for computer users who just want to get the project done. It comes with 20 ready-to-use templates to help you get organized with just about any type of project. Besides working on your Apple computer, it can be used with iPhone and Mac through the Address Book and iCal. Your information can be displayed in a number of ways such as spreadsheet format or form format. It is a great way to keep a sports team organized, your Christmas card list in order and any kind of collection in line. Why not take a tour of Bento or watch the video to see if this product is for you? For less than $50, it looks like a great way for parents without much spare time to get organized or even for kids to keep track of a collection.

Where Are We in Internet Safety?

It seems as if we've been writing about online safety on the Web forever, and even before the Web became so popular we were writing about safety on online services. Are we getting anywhere with keeping our children safe online? Certainly there are more programs to keep kids safe today, but there are also more problems-probably because so many more people are online and kids have learned to get around the safety nets we put out for them. Like drugs, smoking, and alcohol abuse education, we've tried scare tactics, monitoring, and reasoning. With technology, we've also tried filtering. Through it all, we've learned that we (teachers and parents) are the best Internet filters, monitors, and guides for our children-better than any program. One of the problems we face is that kids think they know so much more than we do about the Internet and think we are overreacting when it comes to their safety online. So what do we do? Because we can't watch our students all the time, we have to educate them and hope that they'll make the right decisions when we are not there to watch. What else can we do? Ideas?

Photoshop Meanders Online

Adobe, the maker of the popular photo-editing software Photoshop recently launched a basic version available for free online. With so much photo-editing going on online, the company is hoping to get its brand out there among young people who spend a lot of time editing, storing and sharing photos online. Never tried editing a photo before? Why not give it a try? A good skill to have as well as a bit of media literacy for parents as well as kids.

Its Mission IS to Help Grownups with Tech Selections

Since 1993, Children's Technology Review (formerly called Children's Software Revue) has been providing monthly reviews of tech products that are targeted to kids. For example, if you are not one who understands video games, the Review will help you decide whether a game might benefit kids at school and/or at home. In fact, this publication, which can be accessed online or in print, takes on all types of electronic media including Internet sites, computer software and DVDs, video games, and interactive toys. Subscribing means you'll get access to a database of over 8200 product reviews and each month will learn about new trends, great Internet sites, and products you might want to investigate for you classroom-or perhaps, recommend for home use. Just download a sample issue to see if the Children's Technology Review would be valuable to you. Be sure to note that the Review doesn't include any advertisements.

Our Overscheduled Lives/Our Childrens' Overscheduled Lives

We worry about how many projects we have going and how we are going to keep up. We worry about our kids and how many activities they have both in school and after school. For the kids there's basketball on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, piano on Wednesday, three major tests on Wednesday, a quiz on Monday, a project due on Tuesday.... Sound familiar? Is there ever time for all of us-parents and kids-to relax and think? Probably not, for we are running from activity to activity and project to project, aren't we? MIT's Dan Ariely in his book Predictably Irrational tells us that we simply have difficulty giving up our options. Maybe it's like being hesitant to get rid of clothing we think we might possibly someday, some time wear again? Maybe it's like over-scheduling our kids so that they'll be able to get scholarships for sports or dance or playing a musical instrument? Maybe we just don't know how to let go? We want to keep all our options open. To check into this problem, Ariety had students at MIT play a game in which they could get higher scores if they gave up options. The students didn't want to give them up even for better scores. You and your family can try the game to see if you can fight the urge to keep all your options open. What's the answer to our over-scheduled lives? Perhaps Professor Ariety's book can help.

Free Internet Safety Newsletters for Teachers & Parents

At the iSafe site you can sign up for i-EDUCATOR Times, a free newsletter featuring the latest in information about Internet safety for your students. You'll find articles on ethics, useful tips, the iSafe curriculum, and information about what's going on that you need to know. iSafe also has an i-PARENT Times, which you may want to recommend to the parents of your students. Take a look at the iSafe pages. It's a great site not only for you and parents, but also for teens and kids. Articles on Internet safety are available in the i-Safe Newsroom.