Tag: cell phones

Posted in cell phones, communicating with grandparents, family conversations, gadget ownership, online communication

Grandma’s iPhone

Posted on by Marti Weston
Over Easter weekend we’ll help my parents learn how to use Skype.

When it comes to her iPhone, few learning difficulties have popped up for my mom, age 84. I am delighted at the ease with which she has transferred from her old flip phone to this one — a 3G that I retired when I updated my iPhone.

How Mom is Using her iPhone

  • Her first lesson focused on typing in her contacts, and she caught on right away and also understands how to make a call using the contacts app.
  • The visual cues on the iPhone screen are terrific.
  • She loves being able to sit in a comfortable chair and play solitaire — no lessons required for this!
  • She enjoys using the speaker feature rather than holding the phone up to her ear.
  • She likes to use Safari anytime and anywhere when she wants to look something up, though like me, she is sometimes frustrated when the phone is slower because there is no wi-fi.
  • She is starting to use the map app.

Continue reading “Grandma’s iPhone” →

Posted in cell phones, fraud, parents and technology, scams and fraud

Fraudulent Text Adds Service to My Cell Phone! Don’t be Scammed!

Posted on by Marti Weston

This text message arrived out of the blue on my iPhone the other day.

This text message arrived on my mobile phone.

I had not ordered LoveGenie Tips, nor did I want to receive these messages. Moreover, I did not want to reply either to ask for help or to tell them to stop, because I worried that a reply might allow them to harvest more information about me.

Continue reading “Fraudulent Text Adds Service to My Cell Phone! Don’t be Scammed!” →

Posted in cell phones, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, iPhones and iPads, parents and technology

Kids’ Cell Phones? Who’s in Charge Here?

Posted on by Marti Weston
Made at Wordle.com.

Read You Make the Call on Kids’ Phones in the Sunday, November 27, 2011 Washington Post. Written by columnist Michelle Singletary and aimed at the parents of digital kids, the article examines the practice of giving children cell phones at younger and younger ages. The author believes that, in reality, cell phones are simply playful gadgets that easily confuse children about the difference between needing things and wanting things.

Most Compelling Thoughts from the Article

Posted in cell phones, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, distracted driving, gadget ownership, parents and technology

BMW PSA: Cell Phones, Texting, and Distracted Driving

Posted on by Marti Weston
Click here to watch the video on YouTube or watch below.

In my years as a teacher and parent (now with a with a young adult child), I’ve seen lots of public service announcements that focus on improved parenting, better health, preventing substance abuse, and the like.

However, I’ve never watched one with the impact and shock quality of this distracted driving video PSA, produced by BMW (see below) and released in June. Read a short report about the video at Auto News. BMW also put out a press release in, BMW Launches National Campaign Against Distracted Driving in Time for the Summer Driving Season.

Bravo BMW!

Continue reading “BMW PSA: Cell Phones, Texting, and Distracted Driving” →

Posted in cell phones, copyright, digital photography, electronic communication, plagiarism, resources to read, setting technology limits, tech free time, writing for the web

9 Family Digital Citizenship Tips: Back-to-School Reading #5

Posted on by Marti Weston

The beginning of a school year is a good time for families to set limits, explain rules, and in general, clarify expectations about technology use. Getting started in the fall, when everyone is off to a new grade and a fresh beginning, encourages healthy tech habits.

Depending on the age of your children, you may want to accomplish some or even all of the tasks on this list, encouraging everyone to think responsibly and become committed digital citizens.

Nine Back-to-School Technology Tasks

1. Place computers in central, well-traveled locations — away from bedrooms and private spaces.

2. Be sure adults, not children, are administrators on the computers and devices in your  home — including laptops and other digital devices.

3. Print and post rules and expectations next to each computer. Specify the times when you do not want your children using computers. Emphasize that your family rules are in effect when children go to a friend’s house. Share my digital citizenship poem that highlights issues to consider. Continue reading “9 Family Digital Citizenship Tips: Back-to-School Reading #5” →

Posted in cell phones, digital parenting, online safety, online security

Clear Explanation About Cell Phone Hacking

Posted on by Marti Weston

Think seriously about securing the cell phones in your family. Over at NetFamilyNews Ann Collier has written a clear explanation of hacking and spoofing (and some links, too).

If you find you are glued to the news from Great Britain’s News Corp scandal, but still a bit fuzzy about how to implement better security on your own mobile phones, please read Collier’s post.

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Posted in digital parenting, healthy media images, media literacy, parents and technology, technology support

Location, Location, Location (Services, that is…)

Posted on by Marti Weston

A tech-savvy middle school parent sent me the link to the video at the end of this post. She added a comment: “This is scary. Should I let it upset me?” As of mid-April 2011, according to YouTube, the video has been viewed nearly 2.8 million times

There is nothing quite like the queasy feeling a parent gets when a media outlet airs a story with shrill content that aims to frighten and questions the safety of their children. In this case, the report included a solution at the end of the news segment, but by then many viewers were probably too upset to focus. YouTube makes it all so easy, and we can view the segment again and again and then pass it on to others. If each of us had more media literacy skill, we’d hit the stop button, move on to something else, and not even think about forwarding it to our friends.

Specifically, this video addresses two concepts: geotagging and location services on smartphones. Setting aside the anxiety about the information revealed by digital pictures, the video highlights a critical digital-age dilemma for parents: how to develop basic knowledge about the digital devices that they purchase for their children. Location service happens to be the current concern, but by the time the next round of must-have gadgets arrives on the scene, another issue will emerge. Knowledge is power.

Continue reading “Location, Location, Location (Services, that is…)” →