Posts Tagged ‘Common Sense Media’
Posted by Marti Weston on December 3, 2012
Image from Children, Teens, and Entertainment Media: The View from the Classroom
In case you missed it, check out the November 1, 2012 New York Times article, Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers Say.
Technology reporter Matt Richtel shares information about two recent studies that examine, on the basis of educator surveys, how today’s digital children may be learning differently than in the past. Although individual responses are subjective, the results of the surveys “are considered significant because of the vantage points of teachers who spend hours a day observing students.”
One survey, conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, examined responses from 2,462 teachers. The other, conducted by Common Sense Media, surveyed 685 educators.
It all comes down to attention span. In both surveys teachers expressed concern that students, used to fast-paced, always changing activities, are less able to focus on an academic task for a prolonged period.
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Posted in digital change, digital parenting, educating digital natives, kids changing lives, parents and technology, teachers, teaching digital kids | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital learning, educators, media, Pew Internet, schools, teaching | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on July 23, 2012
Watch the video at Common Sense Media.
Yet again we are living through a horrible tragedy, this time in Aurora, Colorado, and this incident is extra frightening because the shooting and killing occurred as people went about normal activities in a movie theater. What’s more a part of kids’ daily lives than movie theaters?
Any connected child or adolescent can learn about this event and others via a digital device or television. In the digital world, the news cycle never stops, and most children do not possess the media literacy skills to evaluate the sources of information. The traditional walls that used to insulate kids from information about violent events just aren’t that thick anymore.
What are digital parents and teachers to do?
If you need support or at least some extra perspective before you initiate a parent-child conversation in your family, check out a video, Explaining the News to Our Kids, over at the Common Sense Media. This short presentation provides thoughtful suggestions that can help adults get started with difficult conversations about the news when scary and discomforting events occur.
Posted in digital parenting, family conversations, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: Aurora Colorado, Common Sense Media, digital devices, digital kids, digital parenting, media, news coverage, violence and news | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on May 18, 2012
Check out 10 Simple Steps to Internet Safety over at the Common Sense Media website. Actually it looks like there are eleven items for parents to review at the page.
As always, Common Sense Media hits the nail on the head with clear, well written, and to-the-point parenting information. I’ve inserted a list of the questions.
Pay special attention to the two questions that I’ve listed below:
- How do I teach my kids to recognize online advertising?
- Should I let my kid get a Facebook page?
Posted in acceptable use, digital citizenship, digital parenting, online safety, parents and technology | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital citizenship, digital kids, digital parenting, digital safety, digital security | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on May 13, 2012
Our digital society hasn’t figured out what to do about privacy. More importantly, it hasn’t figured what to do about the privacy of our kids — we keep confusing privacy with transparency.
It’s problematic enough that adults are diving willy-nilly into the digital world, sharing everything about themselves, private and not so private, but it’s even worse to observe a world where everything a child does and almost every mistake he or she makes is now public. These days we are giving children and adolescents no cover and no protection as they blithely explore the digital world while making what in any other era would be common and developmentally appropriate errors.
Lest I sound like a digital Luddite, I’m not. I love participating in the activities of my digital world, actively but moderately, and I have an arsenal of digital gadgets in my purse, book bag, and lying around my house. As an educator, however, I am keenly aware of how much we are forgetting to nurture and honor kids’ developmental stages as they grow up in this digitally dense world. Part of solving that problem involves ensuring that children have a guaranteed amount of privacy.
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Posted in digital footprints, digital parenting, marketing to kids, media literacy, parents and technology, privacy, teaching digital kids | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, James P Steyer, privacy, public policy, Talking Back to Facebook, The Atlantic, The Other Parent | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on February 7, 2012
Read the bill.
Today, February 7, 2012, take a few minutes to ask your United States Representative to support the Do Not Track Kids Act, a bill that seeks to prevent the tracking and collecting of kids’ online information and activities.
Parents and educators know how much children and teens love to explore the digital world, and that’s not going to change. What needs to change is the way companies collect information about kids’ digital activities and then use it for marketing purposes, much of it exploitative. The Do Not Track Kids Act aims to stop tracking the activities of children and adolescents and encourages companies to adopt a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens.
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, kids changing lives, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, Do Not Track Kids Act, online tracking, privacy, tracking kids, United States House of Representatives | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on February 4, 2012
I have a big problem with online web surveys and quizzes aimed at kids. Many are tricky digital techniques using old-fashioned fun and emulating magazine quiz features of the past, but with a contemporary cyber-twist that encourages today’s web users — and many, many children — to happily divulge all sorts of personal information.
When you encounter a quiz or survey on a website, it’s a good time to chat with children about privacy and the methods that websites use to collect personal information. Remind them that no kid-friendly erasers are currently available to whisk things away once children provide information. To learn more about how websites and companies track the online activities of children read the Common Sense Media policy brief, Protecting Our Kids Privacy in a Digital World.
You may also want to visit the I Look Both Ways blog, where Linda Criddle has posted Online Quizzes and Surveys and the Real Risks These Represent. Linda’s post offers a comprehensive overview of the subject along with supplemental images.
Here’s a short excerpt — applicable for home and at school — from my November 2011 post at the Teaching Tolerance blog.
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Posted in parents and technology, digital parenting, parent education, privacy, family conversations | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, online tracking, privacy, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, tracking kids | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on December 22, 2011
Common Sense Media recently posted Six Ways to be a Media Savvy Parent in 2012. The December 2011 report suggests all sorts of ideas that can help parents (and other adults) develop stronger media (and media literacy) skills.
Suggestions include downloading a game to play with the kids, trying out a social media site, investigating YouTube, and much more. Some these can ideas will provide great fun for kids and parents over the holiday vacation.
Visit Common Sense Media and try out some of these features.
Thanks to my colleague and friend Renee Hawkins for spotting a good media post (one that I had missed). Renee blogs with another friend and colleague, Susan Davis, at The Flying Trapeze.
Posted in answers to media questions, digital parenting, media literacy, parents and technology, social media, social networking | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital kids, digital parenting, Flying Trapeze blog, media literacy, social networking | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on October 26, 2011
Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America, p 11
The New York Times has reported on a Common Sense Media (CSM) sponsored study, Zero to Eight, Children’s Media Use in America (PDF). The Times article, Screen Time Higher Than Ever for Children, describes the study and points out that kids are in front of a screen more than ever despite the recommendations of their doctors.
After reading this I am feeling a bit more pessimistic than usual. Adults are used to tossing health caution to the wind for themselves, but we were vigilant about protecting the health of our children. Now we seem to disregard the recommendations of pediatricians — the very people who can help us do the most possible to ensure that our kids grown into strong and productive adults. Are we as a society less and less concerned about the development of strong minds? Times reporter Tamar Lewin writes:
Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics’ longstanding recommendations to the contrary, children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens…
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Posted in American Academy of Pediatrics, answers to media questions, digital devices and gadgets, media literacy, parents and technology | Tagged: American Academy of Pediatrics, Ari Brown, children, Common Sense Media, James Steyer, media, media literacy, screen time | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Marti Weston on September 20, 2011
Common Sense Media recently published a solid piece aimed at helping parents and kids refine and strengthen digital research skills.
Teach Your Kids the Secrets of Smart Web Searching focuses on good research practices, with tips on how to search effectively and and explanations about why it matters. This piece can help parents stay front and center, guiding their kids (and themselves) on the road to becoming stronger digital information consumers.
Also included are a few Google tips — ideas that can help Google work for the learner rather than the other way around.
Also check out two posts from this blog, Digital Research Tips and Online Databases as well as How Much Does Your Child Search Links?
Posted in digital learning, digital parenting, online research, parents and technology | Tagged: Common Sense Media, digital parenting, digital research, Google, research skills, searching, students | Leave a Comment »
