parents and technology – Page 3 – Media! Tech! Parenting!

21st Century life, 21st Century parenting, 21st Century vocabulary words, evaluating video, family conversations, media literacy, parents and technology

Building Habits of Video Evaluation into the Conversation & the Curriculum

Posted on July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by Marti Weston

Videos are everywhere on social media, but quite a few that we view on various sites are doctored and edited, often seeking to muck up the facts. Understanding how to evaluate and identify red flags in a video is now a critical 21st Century media literacy skill that everyone — parents, students, and educators — needs to acquire.

Recently the staff at Washington Post Fact Checker created a useful teaching and learning tool that can help all of us — young people and adults — understand more about today’s video landscape.

Seeing Isn’t Believing, the title of this guide to manipulated video, says it all. In today’s always- connected world, with people able to create and publish just about anything they want, we cannot always believe what we see in a video. Instead it’s necessary to take the time to evaluate — considering how the video is made, thinking about the purpose it serves, and looking closely to see if it has been doctored in some way. Continue reading “Building Habits of Video Evaluation into the Conversation & the Curriculum” →

evaluating news, Evaluating Web Resources, health information on social media, medical information, misinformation, parents and technology

Misleading Medical Info — Be Aware

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Marti Weston

inaccurate health info — Click to visit the Health Feedback site and view this graph.

You’ve just visited your physician or your child’s pediatrician and still have questions, so you decide to look up some health information online. Be careful and be aware that what you see on Facebook and on many websites, even some well known and respected media sites, may be misleading.

When you need to seek medical or health material on the internet, be sure to use curated sources — websites that are posted by hospitals, medical schools, medical libraries, and the National Institutes of Health. This post at my other blog, AsOurParentsAge, offers lots of information about identifying and using sources with accurate health and medical information. Continue reading “Misleading Medical Info — Be Aware” →

calculating digital footprints, curating digital footprints, digital footprints, digital habits, parents and technology

You can Explore, Calculate & Curate Your Digital Footprints

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Marti Weston

Screen Shot 2019-06-25 at 9.42.12 PM — Check out this digital footprint site.

Once in a while something appears on my screen that is more than a couple of years old, in this care from 2011, but it’s still current and timely eight years later.

This Digital Footprint information and Exploration Site was created by two graduate students, Sarah Bean and Abbi Brenoel, in The Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Their website helps users examine their digital footprint profile from a variety of vantage points. Moreover, individuals who use the site can learn just how easy it is to participate in normal, everyday digital activities that multiply, many times over, those digital footprints. Continue reading “You can Explore, Calculate & Curate Your Digital Footprints” →

21st Century life, American Academy of Pediatrics, defining screen time, parents and technology, screen time, young children

Screen Time?? What Counts & What Doesn’t?

Posted on June 19, 2019July 4, 2019 by Marti Weston

How do you count screen time? Screens are so much a part of our lives, and in just a few moments we can check texts, read the newspaper, and map out a bike route. Our kids see this.

Remote Video Grandchildren Skype Grandparents — Facetiming! A public domain image at Dreamstims.com

It’s been fascinating to watch my grandson gradually become interested in light and then screens over these past four years. Early on he’d glance at any area that was lit up — a window, a lamp, a toy — and eventually I’d see him study, with rapt concentration, a lit up screen or unusual light anywhere in the vicinity. When he was a bit over two, his parents got him a fake toy screen — not at all interesting — but real screens, the type we use in almost every part of our lives, grabbed his attention, and fairly soon he wanted to do things with those devices.

Now four, he thinks screens are a big deal. He’d love to play games, watch TV, or just get mom or dad’s iPad or mobile phone to play a game. However, although he lives in a home with multiple screens, his time is limited, and digital devices are rarely used as a baby sitter or diversion. Besides, he has books, lots of books.

Yet, if I take out my cell phone, or his mom gets out her iPad, he’s right there checking it out and ready to go. When I babysit, it is not uncommon for him to ask if he can watch TV. (Usually, my answer is not right now.) Continue reading “Screen Time?? What Counts & What Doesn’t?” →

21st Century life, 21st Century parenting, digital kids, digital parenting strategies, parents and technology, personal data security, security questions

Should You Make Up Answers to Security Questions?

Posted on June 13, 2019June 13, 2019 by Marti Weston

Why You Should Lie When Setting Up Password Security Questions , over at the Techlicious site, makes me seriously consider whether the use of security questions — and the answers that we provide — should be re-evaluated. The 2018 article emphasizes the lack of security and privacy in our lives, and it notes that by giving responses that describe our personal lives we provide virtual keys that can open doors to potential identity theft problems.
Like a lot of people in the educational technology field, I spent a good deal of time helping 21st Century children understand the importance of not lying, especially about their ages. I encouraged them not to engage in anonymous activities, and I counseled them to avoid sharing made-up information, gossip or innuendo via social media. Continue reading “Should You Make Up Answers to Security Questions?” →

21st Century parenting, adolescent digital problems, digital health and wellness, digital parenting, parents and technology, social media, teens and technology, tweens and technology

Maybe Technology Itself Is Not the Primary Cause of Adolescent Digital Problems?

Posted on June 9, 2019June 21, 2019 by Marti Weston

I’ve just finished reading a June 3, 2019 New York Times article, When Social Media is Really Problematic for Adolescents, by pediatrician Perri Klass and published for her New York Times Check-up column. It’s an engaging read for parents of digital kids and for educators. (Check out other New York Times articles by Perri Klass.)

Dr. Klass makes a strong case for using a new paradigm when we consider the 21st Century digital world challenges of preteens and adolescents. She writes that technology activities such as gaming and social media may not be the primary cause of problems such as cyberbullying, addiction, or suicide, but rather interactive factors that further complicate the existing social-emotional and psychiatric problems of many young people.

Continue reading “Maybe Technology Itself Is Not the Primary Cause of Adolescent Digital Problems?” →

21st Century life, 21st Century parenting, connected world problems, digital change, digital life, digital parenting, parents and technology, social media

Panic & Fear About Technology — Especially Social Media

Posted on June 3, 2019June 4, 2019 by Marti Weston

Do you find yourself nervous and at wits end about all the problems with social media and kids? Do you dread hearing the next news report about kids, screens, and digital addiction because it feels too close to home? Are you regularly worried about the intensity of your own digital activities?

Few people will argue with the notion that our digital world needs tweaking. With data collecting running amock, hackers breaking into corporations around the world, bad actors using social media for espionage, parents’ worrying about screen time, and our personal privacy and information challenged day in and day out, people tend to panic about their kids and themselves. But panic is nothing new. Continue reading “Panic & Fear About Technology — Especially Social Media” →