Posted in digital change, digital devices, electronics show, parents and technology, technology changes

Best Coverage of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show – My Annual Reading List

Each year the parents of digital age children need to pay at least a bit of attention to the highlights of the 2013 Consumer Electronic Show (CES).

Although 2013 CES in Las Vegas just ended, take some time to explore these posts about the gadgets, wireless devices, new trends, and the like — technology that your children may well be coveting in the near future.

Below are the blogs and other media reports that I enjoyed. At many of the sites, you can find other CES articles in addition to my link.

Posted in digital parenting, kids changing lives, monitoring kids online, online communication, parent child conversations, parents and technology

Great Digital Parenting Blog Posts at Net Family News

When I finished reading Anne Collier’s two Net Family News posts, The Trust Factor in Parenting Online Kids and Parenting or (Digital) Public Humiliation, I leaned back to process all of the content in these two short articles. “Well done!” I thought.

trust parents kids 2Take some time to read these thoughtful and well-written pieces that address the challenges of parenting digital kids and offer solid guidance. They sum up just about everything a parent needs to know.

Collier examines the need for parents to build insightful and trusting relationships with their digital world children. She notes that we adults should think carefully about any decision to use secretive monitoring and instead consider recognizing the need for honesty and trust whenever we address the lives of children and adolescents who work and play in the connected world.

There’s no substitute for a parent being online, observing and adding his or her two cents when required. Yes, it is time-consuming —  but it’s best to communicate openly by transparently monitoring children’s digital activities and modeling the trust and honesty that we want them to develop in their own lives. Perhaps, Collier muses, we are even making digital kids safer, since they are less likely to be seeking ways to hide out or at least take cover online.

Best Quote in Anne Collier’s Posts  (… but there are many other good ones so check out these articles and others at Net Family News.) Continue reading “Great Digital Parenting Blog Posts at Net Family News”

Posted in 21st Century Learning, collaboration, digital learning, online research, parents and technology

Now This Is What You Want Connected Kids to Do!

geography-44729_640
Pixabay Public Domain Images

Sometimes when I sit quietly in a computer lab at school and observe my students, I overhear the most wonderful conversations about learning. Today, as I sat in a corner working quietly, several fifth-grade students came in and sat down to work on essays. Focused on work, they took little note of me.

A delightful conversation ensued when one student asked the other student for help with the name of a country. As soon as I realized that an interesting 21st Century learning conversation was happening, I started typing their dialogue rather than my parent letter.

The two children went online together, searched, made all sorts of comments and decisions about what they saw, discovered a few things that they were not looking for, and finally located the information that they needed. But their searching led to additional questions.

The entire conversation lasted less than two minutes, but they learned a great deal.

Student #1: I am trying to write about the country that broke off from India when India became independent. Do you know its name?

Student #2: I’m not sure. I know it’s right next door.

Student #1: Hummm. Maybe it’s Pakistan?  But I’m not sure.

Student #2: Maybe. Let’s go online and find a world map.

Student #1: OK. Are you going to Google it?

Student #2: Yes and look. If we go into Images there are lots of maps.

At this point the two students are both looking at dozens of world maps on Google Images and pointing at some of them. They talk about which map to look at. They choose one, but when the enlarge it, it doesn’t work.                  Continue reading “Now This Is What You Want Connected Kids to Do!”

Posted in 21st Century Learning, blogging, digital learning, educating digital natives, parents and technology, web 2.0, writing

If You Really Want Your Digital Kid to Write Well – Start a Family Blog

After reading a January 5, 2013 post on Edudemic, How and Why Teachers Should Blog, I want to share a blogging experience at my school.

I have the honor of working with a small group of amazing third-grade teachers — my colleagues — and last summer they decided to begin blogging with their students. This past fall each of the teachers set up a classroom blog at KidBlog. This student-oriented blogging site is designed to offer maximum privacy to young writers, but it also offers the opportunity for more access — and more readers — if desired. Interestingly, while the three classroom blogs are all similar, each has slight variations that reflect the personalities of the kids and the ideas of the teacher.

Visit KidBlog!
Visit KidBlog!

After orienting their students to the idea of blogging — discussing appropriate tone, privacy, and respect — the teachers let the children write. Third graders have learned to read one another’s work and make comments and suggestions. Sometimes they share complete stories, and at other times they write more spontaneously.

Continue reading “If You Really Want Your Digital Kid to Write Well – Start a Family Blog”

Posted in cell phones, digital devices, digital parenting, mobile phones, parent child conversations, parents and technology

Mom Writes Phone Contract for Middle School Son

cell phone vocab  image wordfoto
This cell phone vocabulary image created with one of my pictures and the app Wordfoto.
Note: Please check out my Digital Contracts and Agreements Page if you want to learn more about this topic.

Take a look at a terrific letter about cell phone conduct, appropriately written for a middle or high school age student. In a Huffington Post article, To My 13-Year-Old, An iPhone Contract From Your Mom, With Love, Janet Burley Hoffman shares a mobile phone contract that she wrote for her son after giving him a cell phone for Christmas. The post also includes a link to a video of Hoffman and her son appearing on “Good Morning America.”

This piece is cleverly written, focusing on cell phone issues that worry many parents of pre-adolescent and adolescent children. Hoffman’s contract addresses, in non-lecture style, the concerns that arise especially as parents watch their children using digital devices.

Last fall, my post, So You Want a Family Digital Device Contract or Agreement, included links to a broad range of web resources that can help parents set up contracts or agreements with their digital kids.

Interesting Ideas that Janet Burley Hoffman Incorporated into This Contract Continue reading “Mom Writes Phone Contract for Middle School Son”

Posted in 21st Century Learning, digital learning, digital parenting, evaluating web site resources, online research, parents and technology, research on the web

10 Ways to Help Students Evaluate Digital Information

goodwebsitebadwebsiteAlthough I am a big fan of encouraging students to begin any research project with curated resources such as the online databases at a school or public library, I know that many learners head straight for Google.

When students make garden-variety searches on Google, teach them to investigate and ask questions about what they find, especially if they are planning to use a website to learn more about a topic. The strongest 21st Century learners will make the process of asking evaluative questions second nature — examining each and every site before deciding whether or not to use the information.

Questions to Ask About Any Digital Resource          Continue reading “10 Ways to Help Students Evaluate Digital Information”

Posted in parents and technology, yearly WordPress report

Media! Tech! Parenting! 2012 in Review

WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.


This blog got about 8,900 views in 2012.

In 2012, there were 106 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 301 posts. There were 151pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 11 MB. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was November 1st with120 views. The most popular post that day was Hurricane Sandy: Finding Reliable Information That Helps You Learn as Well as Look.

Click here to see the complete 2012 report on MediaTechParenting.net.