Posted in 21st Century parenting, 21st Century teaching, American history, citizenship, connected learning, digital learning, frightening events, Japanese internment, Library of Congress

Japanese Internment in the U.S. — Information to Share With Today’s Students

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https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a35053/

I have known six people whose families were forced to move into United States government Japanese internment camps. It’s been an honor for me and my family to listen to their stories — though not always easy to hear about or imagine the cruelty they experienced. The internment, a reaction to the war with Japan and called an evacuation by the United States government, began in 1942 and essentially imprisoned more than 117,000 people. Two-thirds of them were born as American citizens and over half were children,

February 19th, the day in 1942 that President Roosevelt signed an executive order known as the internment order, is a Day of Remembrance in many states. Educators and parents can use the day to understand more — and help 21st Century children learn more — about the internment of Japanese families during World War II. Today, as we deal with the challenges of increasing diversity in the United States and recognize our immigrant history, it’s more important than ever to understand what happened and why the United States now recognizes the internment policy as a mistake.

As U. S. President Gerald Ford said, “Not only was the evacuation wrong, but Japanese Americans were and are loyal Americans.”      Continue reading “Japanese Internment in the U.S. — Information to Share With Today’s Students”

Posted in 21st Century life, parents and technology, password security, personal data, privacy

Can Honesty With Security Questions Not Be the Best Policy?

Do your security question answers unlock too much information?
Do your security question answers unlock too much personal information?

We hear a lot of discussion about secure passwords, but now people are wondering whether we should pay more attention to the answers we give for security questions.

The article Why You Should Lie When Setting Up Password Security Questions, over at the Techlicious site, makes me wonder whether security questions — and the answers that we provide —  should be re-evaluated. The article emphasizes the lack of security and privacy in our lives and notes that by giving answers to security questions that describe our personal lives we set ourselves up for potential identity theft problems when hacks do occur.

Continue reading “Can Honesty With Security Questions Not Be the Best Policy?”

Posted in parents and technology

Can We Stop Using the Word Fake to Describe Made Up News?

Thought I’d republish this post, given some of the current events in the United States.

Marti Weston's avatarMedia! Tech! Parenting!

describing-real-newsFake is a generic term. We don’t use it much when we teach — in any subject — because it’s judgmental and doesn’t tell us much about whatever it’s supposed to be characterizing. Besides, anyone can say that something — anything — is fake or made up.

So let’s not use fake to describe the news.

I recently read The Fight Against Fake News Starts in the Classroom, an article that describes media literacy lessons developed by Project Look Smart (at Ithaca College) and the principles of evaluating, deconstructing, and applying unambiguous descriptions to the news. The literacy lessons aim to help students gain more understanding of the practice of media evaluation and inquiry rather than simply designating something as true or false. When I finished reading the article and look over the wonderful teaching units, I realized that every lesson can be completed without focusing much, or at all on the word fake…

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Posted in 21st Century Learning, 21st Century parenting, evaluating news, media literacy, news literacy, parents and technology

The News User Manual — A Great New MediaLit Teaching Tool

Visit the The News User Manual website.
Visit The News User Manual website.

If you have not discovered The News User Manual as a media and news literacy resource for 21st Century digital kids and yes, even for their parents, do check out the website.

Started by two seasoned broadcast journalists, Jim Kane and Rich Nagle, The News User Manual features ongoing podcast conversations (sometimes we call them casts) that encourage individuals to ask questions, think about, evaluate, gain an understanding of, and develop personal news curating skills. The News User Manual’s mission encourages listeners to ask lots of questions about the news. In one cast they comment:

The thing to remember is to neither believe nor disbelieve what you’re reading, hearing or watching online. Rather, ask yourself how, when, why and where it was reaching you.

How, when, why, and where — media literacy at it’s best!

Continue reading “The News User Manual — A Great New MediaLit Teaching Tool”

Posted in connected world problems, digital kids, digital life, digital literacy, media literacy, media messages, parents and technology

Media Literacy Educators Are Not Responsible for Society’s Digital Problems

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-10-39-42-pmThe Media Literacy community is dedicated and passionate about its work — but not according to danah boyd (yes she spells her name this way).

I’ve just read her article, Did Media Literacy Backfire? and honestly, I am puzzled. Boyd aptly describes today’s problems with unsubstantiated information and dramatic cultural divides, but she goes on to blame media literacy.

Medialit has no causal relationship with the cultural issues that divide us. In fact, if there is any connection between today’s digital information and cultural communication problems it’s that we don’t have nearly enough school literacy programs to help all students learn how to deconstruct and consume media.

Continue reading “Media Literacy Educators Are Not Responsible for Society’s Digital Problems”

Posted in 21st Century life, cell phones, charging digital devices, digital devices, digital devices and sleep, digital wellness, parents and technology, sleeping with digital devices

Sleeping Without a Mobile Device Nearby — My Discoveries

bedsideGoing to sleep has sometimes been challenging because have a difficult time relaxing and settling down. My iPhone was complicating bedtime and probably my sleep. So about a month ago, a few weeks before New Year 2017, I separated my iPhone from my bedside, charging it about 20 feet away in a smaller room. I keep a book where my iPhone used to charge and read at least a few pages before bed.

The results after just four weeks have been remarkable. I go to sleep more easily and stay asleep because I am not awakened by dings or the phone suddenly lighting up. I don’t even get up as often in the middle of the night, and at least a few times I’ve slept straight through for five or more hours. According to my Fitbit, my restless periods have decreased by half on most nights, though that took a couple of weeks to occur. Also, I’ve finally stopped glancing in the direction of the iPhone, because it’s not there! Continue reading “Sleeping Without a Mobile Device Nearby — My Discoveries”

Posted in 21st Century life, 21st Century parenting, digital devices, mobile phones, parents and technology

Thinking About Digital Life in 2017? Consider Simon Sinek’s Ideas

As you think about parenting or teaching digital natives in 2017, check out this presentation, Millennials in the Workplace, by Simon Sinek, an author and business consultant who writes on business, management, and communication. While some people may be put off, during the first few minutes by his characterization of the way  parents raised today’s young adult millennials, watching the entire video is well worthwhile. Sinek is the author of the best seller Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. His most recent book is Together Is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration

In the short video Sinek offers thoughtful ideas and sage advice about growing, learning, parenting, and living well in the 21st Century connected world. His ideas for modifying our mobile device behavior can motivate us to make  positive changes that affect civility, citizenship, and digital wellness in our lives.