Tech News & Tips for Parents

An iPod is not (just) a toy!

Sure, iPods are great for listening to music, but there's so much more they can be used for, including education! I recently attended the CoSN (Consortium for School Networking) conference in Washington D.C. and had the opportunity to hear an informative and inspiring presentation on iPods in Education, given by Kathy Shirley and Joe Morelock, Apple Distingushed Educators.

Many websites now include podcast versions of their audio and video programming, and iTunes offers hundreds of resources on a variety of subjects, many of them free. Podcasts can be particularly effective for language learners. Check out this list of 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better.

What do you know about using the Internet?

The BBC offers Webwise, an informative tutorial on various aspects of the Internet, including getting hooked up, browsers, email and more. The interface is definitely oriented toward younger students, but the content is solid. Want to see how much you know? Go through the tutorials, and then take the online quizzes. There's also a comprehensive glossary. You may learn something new!

Infinite Campus link change

Our Infinite Campus program has been updated. The new link is: https://epm825.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/cdh.jsp. Please change your bookmarks.

Interactive Learning Online

The web sure makes learning fun! One example: from Geometry to DNA to literature to ancient civilizations, the Interactives website has more than 20 practical hands-on lessons, mostly for high school and middle school students (but also fun for adults). Give it a try!

What does that text message mean?

The shorthand kids use online and on their phones is going mainstream. Today I found messages written in this cryptic language on the Valentine Tootsie Rolls I brought to school! If you need help translating your valentine candy messages (or other messages!), try this helpful list from NetLingo: The List of Chat Acronyms & Text Message Shorthand.

Growing Up Online

Last week PBS aired an eye-opening Frontline episode, Growing Up Online. Some thought-provoking quotes from the program's producers:

• Online Predators: One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child's vulnerability to predation. (Rachel Dreitzen)
• Presence and Importance of Online Communication: Despite the research we did, I don't think I was prepared when we started talking to kids for the extent to which the Internet and other electronic communication has permeated all aspects of being a teenager. Almost every kid expressed the utter importance of being connected with friends all the time and how unthinkable a life without that connection would be. I think a lot of kids were bemused by our list of questions about "life online," because they don't sit around thinking about the Internet in their lives. It's just there, always, another tool for them to use or place for them to go. (Caitlin McNally)
• Social Networks Can Be Good: While there is certainly an abundance of stories about the dark and potentially dangerous places kids can form for themselves online, there were a lot of online kids we came across who seemed to really benefit from reaching out over the Internet. (John Maggio)
• Kids Consider EMail Old-Fashioned: Writing an e-mail for a lot of the kids we talked to is equivalent to sitting down and hand-writing a letter for me. They described e-mail as a slow, archaic way to keep in touch with your aunt halfway across the country or apply for a summer internship. Even the most articulate kids who aced all their English classes could switch effortlessly into IM or text-speak; quick, pithy, shorthand Internet language was second nature to almost all the kids we met. They're bilingual, and they intuitively understand an entire culture generated by the Internet, with customs and vocabulary that we had to learn step-by-step. (Caitlin McNally)

This program is well worth your time;  you can still view it online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/.

What's right and wrong?

Information ethics has long been a passion of mine; just ask all the students who have been subjected to my weekly article reviews on the subject! It goes without saying that I believe technology provides incredible tools for us. At the same time, I've always been concerned that the speed of development allows us little time to stop and consider where we're going and what we're doing.

So I was intrigued by David Pogue's New York Times blog entry, The Generational Divide in Copyright Morality. He poses some thought-provoking questions which would make great dinner table conversation. And don't miss the comments he's received in response - even more food for thought!

Subscribe to this blog's feed (RSS simplified)

As you browse the web, you may have noticed links like the one in the left menu on this blog: Subscribe to this blog's feed. For those who are unfamiliar with RSS, it allows you to have updates from various websites come to you in one place, saving you the time and effort of checking each of your favorite your favorite sites. This is one tool that is invaluable to me; I can quickly scan a number of sites and keep up with what's new in technology (and knitting and gardening too!).

Common Craft has published a very helpful video explaining how and why to use this tool: RSS in Plain English. Warning: using RSS can become adictive! Enjoy!

Do you use public computers?

If you use computers in coffee shops, the public library or other places, your information is vulnerable unless you follow safe-computing practices such as those offered in this article from PC Magazine: Stay Secure on a Public PC. Follow these tips for a safer computing experience.

Who is the Millennial Learner?

First, my apologies for the long gap between posts. Our transition to GMail absorbed all my time in the past few weeks, but I'm happy to say that it is now complete!

In mid-November I was fortunate to attend the Huether Conference in St. Louis, an annual gathering sponsored by the Christian Brothers. This year's topic was Literacy, and one one of the best sessions I attended was entitled Literacy Skills for the Millennial Learner, presented by William Merriman, Ph.D. and Br. Augustine Nicoletti, F.S.C. of Manhatten College.

Merriman and Nicoletti describe the Millennial Learner as social, optimistic, collaborative, achievement oriented, impatient, skeptical, and focused on teamwork. Their "Information Mindset" can mean that they favor multitasking, prefer the internet to TV, have zero tolerance for delays, and consider staying connected essential.

What are they looking for in a learning environment? This generation learns best by interactive graphics or trial and error. They prefer gaming behavior and having many options, and they gravitate toward group activity and teamwork. Interestingly, they tend not to see computers as technology, rather computers are an assumed part of life. Lectures are their least-preferred method of learning.

More information on the implications for education, visit the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website.

* Cross-posted at Tech Tips for Teaching and Learning.