Designing websites and related media for kids presents plenty of opportunities for Web designers. Openings are available at many businesses and schools, as well as through parents and kids themselves, giving designers many ways to find work on electronic and print projects that appeal to kids. The types of work range from interface designs for video games to websites for birthday parties.
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I worked as a counsellor last year at an American camp, primarily with under 13s, most of which had Facebook. Below I questioned one of the smarter children I met. I don’t think his answers are particularly telling and I’d have to provide some follow up questions to get a more complete picture.
The main points to take away:
How old are you?
I am 12
When did you join Facebook?
I joined Facebook at 10
Why did you join?
I joined, to be honest, it was the cool thing to do (peer pressure)
How many of your friends were on Facebook when you joined?
65 Friends (approx.) were on Facebook
You have almost 200 friends now. Roughly what percentage of these are over 18 years old?
13.2% people are over 18 (25 people)
How often do you visit Facebook?
Three times a day (mostly on phone)
If Facebook shut down tomorrow, how would you communicate with your friends online?
Twitter, foursquare, email, buzz, text, call, talk, write letter.
How many of your friends have you never met in real life?
185 people or 97% or 98% I met in real life
Have you or a parent looked at and modified your privacy settings?
My mom controls everything daily
What’s the best thing about Facebook?
Best thing is that I’m reminded of birthdays
What’s the worst thing about Facebook?
The worst thing is that people know when you’re on so there no way of avoiding the chats or messages when you really don’t want to talk to the person. And then I can’t go offline because I want to chat to other people.
Source: wearesocial.net
The new GlobalWebIndex Social Networking Map 2011 is designed to give a quick look overview at the state of social networking around the world. Some interesting trends are immediately visible that separate emerging market consumer from advanced market consumers.
Source: emergingedtech.com
TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”, bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. If you’re not already a fan of TED, maybe these will open your eyes to this wonderful resource.
Education is only one of the vast array of topics covered in TED talks, so if you enjoy any of the videos below, you might want to click through the the site and check out some more of them.
Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
This delightfully illustrated video entertains while educating. The video does a wonderful job of explaining how today’s factory-like education model is outmoded and how it needs to evolve into a more personalized model if we are going to take it to a new level. [This video is featured below. Frustratingly, the sound cuts off in the last 30 seconds of the video.]Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education
This video discusses “The Hole In The Wall” experiment that Mitra started in New Delhi in 1999. Children deprived of learning opportunities available in other parts of the world nevertheless figured out the computer at their disposal and started using it to learn and to teach each other. These results repeated themselves as the experiment was conducted in various other locales. Kids can and will teach kids. How can we take advantage of this to improve on education across the world?Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers
Math as it’s taught in classrooms rarely echoes math as it used in the real word. Wolfram (the driving force behind the Wolfram-Alpha “knowledge engine”) suggests that we consider changing the math teaching model, to teach kids to conceptualize problems and use computerized tools to apply solutions, as opposed to the present model of spending inordinate amounts of time teaching how to perform calculations “by hand”. He methodically addresses many misperceived ideas behind today’s approach to math education.Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together
The notion put forth here is that the Arts and Sciences are and should be integrated in education - they are absolutely connected, but we do not teach that way. There seems to be a stigma surrounding the idea of creativity and logic existing in the same space. How can we overcome and suppress this limiting notion? (In my personal experience, I love both disciplines and find they go together brilliantly, but that people are often surprised by that idea).Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums
Leadbeater explains that the vast majority of population growth in the next three decades will occur in poor, crowded cities, and that we need to reach kids in these situations if we are going to educate the majority of the world’s young. In this video, many examples of innovative approaches to teaching in these circumstances are offered. Leadebeater notes that, “you have to engage people before you can teach them” (sounds familiar, doesn’t it!). In these challenging environments, a “pull” approach is necessary in order to succeed (versus the forced “push” approach used in richer nations). Education only works if it is motivating and inspiring in these situations, and the approaches being used offer many new ideas that can be leveraged in schools everywhere to improve the educational process.Arthur Benjamin’s formula for changing math education
In this brief video, Benjamin makes the bold suggestion that the culmination of math learning should be statistics and probability, not calculus. “The mathematics of games and gambling” can not only be fun to learn, it is far more practical and relevant to our daily lives. (To watch a pretty fascinating demonstration of “mathemagic” from Benjamin click here).Bill Gates on mosquitos, malaria and education
In the second half of this video, Bill Gates provides ideas about measuring successful teaching and using this data to enable improvements in educational processes.Let’s use video to reinvent education: Salman Khan
In this video, Khan explains his popular and impactful work with Khan Academy (check out this recent post for more on the Khan Academy).
What do you think is the best way to deal with the increasing number of under 13s using social networks like Facebook?
Communication. Talk to your kids, have honest conversations with them about it and explain why it can be dangerous and how to keep safe. I have an under 13 who uses it under these conditions: he is not allowed to have photos of himself on his profile, not allowed to disclose his real age, must have friend requests approved by me, has maximum privacy settings in place and must not communicate with people he doesnt know.. It has been brilliant for keeping in contact with family that don’t live nearby. I don’t think it’s a problem if parents supervise usage and teach their kids how to use it properly.
The Wrong Alice (Source)
When things aren’t working, the natural inclination is to throw more at the problem. More people, time, and money. All that ends up doing is making the problem bigger. The right way to go is the opposite direction: cut back. So do less. Your project won’t suffer nearly as much as you fear. In fact, there’s a good chance it’ll end up even better. You’ll be forced to make tough calls and sort out what truly matters.
Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson - Rework -p. 83
This section really stuck out to me when reading this book per the request of my boss. I really wonder what would happen if this was really the way that the education sector worked. So many people think that the education sector needs to reflect the business world. But what about things like Last In, First Out and cutting funding for non-academic areas?
(via aneducationineducation)
Source: emergingedtech.com
1. Video and Podcasting - One of the most widely adopted internet technologies for use in instructional settings is video streaming. Between YouTube, TeacherTube, EduTube, and many other video hosting sites, there are an abundance of lectures, how-to videos, and supporting materials available in the form of web based video. Podcasting has also been used to provide similar offerings of audio materials through popular sites like iTunes. [Click here to learn more about video hosting for education, or hereto learn more about podcasting for education.]
2. Presentation Tools - This category is vast and rich. There are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of tools on the Internet that can be used to create and share presentations, from simple Powerpoint slide players like Slideshare to multimedia timeline tools like Vuvox and OneTrueMedia. These tools can be used to support classroom teaching or distance learning, or for student reports and presentations.
3. Collaboration & Brainstorming Tools - This is another wide ranging category, including thought-organizing tools like mindmap and bubbl.us, and collaborative tools like web based interactive whiteboards and Google Documents. Additionally, some of the other tools in this list, such as wikis and virtual worlds, also serve as collaboration tools.
4. Blogs & Blogging – Bloggers and many other regular Internet users are well aware of blogs and blogging, but there are many other professionals who really are not frequenters of the “blogosphere”. In addition to a basic familiarity with this technology, educators should be aware of sites likeBlogger and WordPress, where users can quickly and easily create their own blogs for free.
5. Wikis – The use of Wikis in educational settings is growing every day. Sites like Wetpaint and others allow users to create free wiki web sites and are a great way to get started with using wikis for educational applications.[Click here to learn more about the use of Wikis in education].
6. Social Networking – All educators should have a basic understanding of sites like Facebook and MySpace and how they are used. This doesn’t mean they need accounts on these sites (and many educators would recommend against using these sites to communicate with their students), but they should understand what they are and how they are being used. Educators should also be aware of the professional social networking site LinkedIn.
7. IM – A large percentage of students use IM regularly, via Aim, IM aggregator site Meebo (Meebo allows users to combine messaging from Aim, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, and other sites), or other tools. It behooves educators to be aware of this, and I have even come across various articles about using IM within the classroom setting (such as this one from Educause).
8. Twitter – This listing is really focused on technologies, not specificapplications, but this application is currently just too popular to ignore. You should at least understand what it is and the fundamentals of how it is used.[Click here for some insight into how Twitter can be used in education.]
9. Virtual Worlds – This technology has received a lot of press, with SecondLife being the clear leader thus far in this application area. In my experience, the use of SecondLife has been somewhat constrained by high bandwidth and processing power requirements, but this also means that there is still considerable room for increased adoption of the application as systems continue to become more powerful and higher speed bandwidth more prevalant. Active Worlds is one of a number of competitive technologies, and provides a “universe” dedicated to education that has been popular with educators.
10. RSS Feeds - RSS allows users to create their own “push” data streams (that is, define data flows you want coming to you automatically, rather than having to go and “pull” the information with a Google search or other browsing effort). RSS feeds enable you to take advantage of streams of published content that will be sitting in your In Box, or in an RSS reader, when you want them. There are RSS feeds available for many topics and many web sites.
While many readers may have their own interpretation of which technologies are essential for educators to be aware of, I think this is a great list to get started with. Of course, this list will require updating over time, as technologies change, and as educator’s uses of these technologies evolve. As always, reader input is welcomed. What do you think? Is this a good top 10? Would you like to see some other technologies listed here? Feel free to comment and offer your insights, please. Thanks!
I’m reading The Changing Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century in teachers.net Gazette and it presents a common theme - teachers are stuck with teaching methods from the 1960s, while students need to be prepared for the 21st century.
Yes, I agree with much of what is being said. Teacher as…
What do you think is the best way to deal with the increasing number of under 13s using social networks like Facebook?
I’m not sure what you mean by ‘deal with?’
Personally, I don’t add students to my facebook, my profile is private and I don’t wish to be-friend students.
As far as in class, I do cover internet safety with students. For instance, we have analysed the CEOP videos (which are fantastic and have been featured on my blog previously) We have also discussed how to make your profile private, created online safety scripts and leaflets and discussed other possible safety precautions, such as children not having a picture of themselves as a profile picture.
I think it is important students realise how accessible any information they post online is to anyone, and also that things like photographs and videos are impossible to delete forever.
Another concern I do have is cyberbullying, again I have covered this in lessons but I do feel it makes student more vulnerable than in times before social networking. In fact social networking in general has opened up many issues that were not a consideration 10 years ago.
Students’ online presence can be a good thing for their education, as we know, but the risks do need considering. There is only so much a teacher can do, parents also need to take an active involvement in the child’s online life. For instance, my aunty has 3 children under 14 and the only computer they have access to is in a public place where she can see over their shoulder.
Miss D’s English and Literacy Blog (Source)
What do you think is the best way to deal with the increasing number of under 13s using social networks like Facebook?
Thanks for your question
I’ve co-authored a paper on Internet safety:
Sharples, M., Graber, R., Harrison, C. & Logan, K. (2009) E-Safety and Web2.0 for children aged 11-16. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, 25, 70-84.
I also like these rules, which are written in child-friendly language
(from this site: http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/)
Kids Rules for Online Safety (for pre-teens)
1. I will not give out personal information such as my address, telephone number, parents&r
(Source: colinharrison83)
(via dnltms)
What do you think is the best way to deal with the increasing number of under 13s using social networks like Facebook?
Oh my goodness, I’m not sure. Part of me thinks that social networks need to crack down more - I saw someone suggest that it should be raised to 16 & you need to enter a driver’s license number. At first I thought that was a great idea, but then I thought about it more & more & what do you do about people who don’t have a license, therefore they don’t have a number they can enter? Does this mean they automatically can’t join a social network until they get their license? What if they have a medical condition that doesn’t allow them to have a license?
My other thought was - fine, allow 13 year olds. Allow younger. Just make their privacy settings as private as possible, and unchangeable. Then, I realized that this doesn’t fully solve the problem of 13 year olds fudging their age. It’s easy to pop your birth year up by 3 years. That’s when I start thinking that maybe this is when the whole “it takes a village to raise a child” thing comes into play. I can think of multiple girls from my church who have definitely fudged their age on facebook. I see their profiles and I’m like “wow. You have absolutely no clue how to be safe on here.”
Maybe this is when we develop a new form of reporting kids - for changing their birthdays, for practicing unsafe facebooking. Maybe they have to take a “safe social network” quiz before they can log back into their account. Maybe they have to change their birthday to their actual birthday. I don’t know. I haven’t thought this through thoroughly & I’m sure there’s holes everywhere.
I think, regardless of anything else, parents need to be monitoring their kids social network use more than they are. It’s a rule in my parents house that they have to have your password to social networks. They don’t sit there & comb through our facebook messages. However, they do keep a close eye on us through their personal facebooks. If my mom notices that my sister has a status telling all 650 of her friends the exact dates we’re out of town, she’ll go in and delete it. My brother once had our exact address listed…and that got removed.
When I was 17, I hated it. Now that I’m 21, I get it & I fully support it. I think, in general, parents shouldn’t bury their head in the sand when it comes to their children on social networks. Don’t trust them. I’m not saying your kids are bad - I’m saying they’re kids. They’re the same kids who would stick a hose in an airduct, because it made sense that this thing goes there. You’re their parents for a reason. Act like a parent.
& lose it in the sweet music & dance with me (Source)
