Some Apps Aren’t for Kids

The truth is that not all apps are for kids. The recent Yik Yak (the anonymous sharing app) debacle is proof of that, as things got so bad that the app makers have now made plans to shut down the app’s access at middle and high schools in the US.

So how should you manage apps with your kids? Take a look at the ideas in Not all Apps are for Kidsfor some common sense approaches including disabling the ability to install new apps on Apple devices, using Restrictions for younger kids, or trying an app monitoring service like AppCertain or Mobicip.

Essential Social Media Rules

Taking stock of what more you should be doing to keep your kids safe on social media? Take a look at these 8 Essential Facebook Rules for Teens to find out if you have covered all of the basics. We all need a little reassurance every now and then that there isn’t anything that we’ve missed.

Tablets and Aps Designed With Children in Mind on the Rise

Tablets built specifically with children in mind are on the rise. Cased in protective plastic and preloaded with apps, tablet manufacturers like Fuhu are targeting consumers ages 3 to 14 with their Nabi tablets. Selling for between $100 and $300, these machines can be customized with stickers featuring film and TV characters and more. Kids can use the tablets to watch TV shows and movies, play games and explore the Web, but parents can set strict controls so that only certain features and sites can be viewed or used.

Is Self Reflection Being Hurt by Social Media?

Young peoples’ abilities to engage in self-reflection, analysis, and quiet contemplation -- "intrapersonal intelligence" -- have been compromised, asserts educator and school administrator Naphtali Hoff in his post entitled Is Twitter undermining kids’ intrapersonal intelligence?. Hoff writes that the focus now is on interpersonal intelligence, also known as being "people smart," with social media tools such as Twitter encouraging users to be "out there" constantly, leaving little time for private thought. After reading the post you have to wonder if young people are being deprived of opportunities to think “out of the box,” becoming too dependent on what everyone else thinks since they can ask that question constantly. It’s definitely something to think about.

Essay Grading Software – Two Sides of the Issue

There is no doubt that it takes time for teachers to grade essays and anything that can help with that process would be of help. But, there seems to be two sides to the issue as Common Core Standards come on the scene, because of their push for students to become better writers – which, of course, requires more writing. Critics contend that machine grading doesn’t do much more than count words and can’t replace human readers, including one critic who was able to get a high score for an essay full of gibberish. The other side cites, that on a comparability study, a scoring engine performed better than two trained teachers. Perhaps, the most important thing for you and your children to know is a) WHEN machine grading is in play, and b) WHAT your kids need to do to please the machine. While that may not be anything different than what they would do normally, if you have a child, who likes to write in creative ways – short sentences or in a particular “voice,” they need to be aware that a machine may not understand that kind of natural language.

Do Debit Cards Make the Internet More Dangerous?

A new economic study shows that switching people from paper welfare checks to electronic debit cards is linked to a drop in assaults, burglaries, and robberies. Of course, that is good news, but because of the Law of Unintended Consequences, there are other ramifications. Instead of violent person-to-person crimes, skilled hackers are increasingly probing corporations and individuals for gaps in security. A robust industry, generating at least billions of dollars a year, has grown up around hacking. And, the more we move away from cash, the more vulnerable to these attacks we become.

Is Social Media the Death Knell for High School Dances?

In an opinion piece on the Business Insider site, Caroline Moss outlines how school dances may be the latest victim of social media. Citing high schools in Westchester as an example, she cites dwindling attendance at and outright cancellations of school dances at many suburban schools. So, where are the kids and what are they doing on a Saturday night?  Everyone seems to want to stay home with his or her phone texting, Facebook messaging, or Snapchatting each other, several students interviewed by Moss claim. Her premise for predicting the demise of school dances?  Technology has allowed teenagers to be more independent, with greater access to one another — unsupervised by adults — than the students of decades past ever had – with no more need for the kind of connections made in the school gym. Is that true where you are?

Internet Privacy – A List of Tools

No matter what you think of Edward Snowden, the one thing everyone can agree on is that he has raised our collective awareness of potential digital privacy issues. Some claim that digital privacy is something only the rich are going to be able to afford in the future, but aren’t there some simple things we all can be doing now to protect our digital privacy and that of our children?

To get started with protecting the privacy of you and your children, take a look at this list of simple solutions that you can put in place right now. Browser add-ons like Ghostery can help you see who is tracking you and you can choose whether you want them to or not. Anonymous browsers like DuckDuckGo can help you keep what you search for on the Internet private. Check it out.

Is Your School Struggling To Establish Social Media Guidelines?

Perhaps your school is struggling to establish a set of guidelines for social media, or maybe, you are trying to understand the guidelines your school has set. Either way, checking out the resources in the Edutopia “Creating Social Media Guidelines” feature can help you either guide your school or understand why they have put certain guidelines in place.

The Case for Taking “Tech Breaks”

Having trouble getting your kids to understand the importance of taking a break from all the technology? Have them take a look at "What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains" for a less than four-minute quick explanation of why taking a break helps them pull together and retain all those wonderful things they are finding online and lets them make quantum leaps of understanding and knowledge. And for fun, turn on the captions, and enjoy a secret bonus clip of John Cleese explaining how the brain works. Enjoy more brain related videos from the Five-Minute Film Festival: Learning and the Brainwhile you are at it.