Parenting & Video Games

WHYY's radio show Voices In The Family produced a wonderful episode on kid's use of video games. It's a call-in show, which can make it hit or miss, but this episode spent most of its time speaking with the two guest experts: Douglas Gentile and Lawrence Kutner. Both are established researchers who now focus on the effects of violent video games on children, but the episode spoke about many more issues surrounding video game use. I used research from both authors (Gentile's book, Kutner's book) on my recent developmental psychology paper on early-adolescent play + video game use.

Similar to their Teens & The Internet show from November 2007, the show addressed the risks, but did so in a positive way -- with no fear-mongering or simplistic platitudes. I appreciated one of the speaker's use of developmental milestones to address screen-time limits, rather than just using guidelines from the APA, etc. Both found evidence that playing video games with your children and discussing them has significant positive outcomes. Worth listening to from a research/professional or parenting/advice perspective.

"Digital Disconnect"

While this survey doesn't say anything that new about what teens do online, it did coin a phrase I hadn't yet heard: the digital disconnect between parents and teens, in this case referring to online activities and time spent using the computer.   This is a potentially new area for research and development, for both nonprofit and commercial purposes.   

Uniquely 21st Century Parenting Decisions

How do you gauge the developmental appropriateness of gadgets for kids? Here are some guidelines for using cognitive development benchmarks (heavy reliance on Piaget) to match techie toys to age ... but no mention of social-emotional developmental pros & cons. Still, it is a good starting point for parents so we can thoughtfully introduce these new types of toys and gadgets into our kids' lives.

(I printed this out last week, but forgot to post ... thank you to swissmiss for reminding me of the article.)

Plugged In - Zoned Out

Great title. This Baltimore Sun article touches on how teachers need to instill a sense of balance between heavy tech use and going off-line for short periods of time. Use of yoga is specifically mentioned, also made me think of the need to juicing up reflective and critical writing practices in the classroom.

YouTube is TV 2.0 with educational use

Interesting observations from Milton Chen, director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation (and former Sesame Street-er) about how YouTube makes the promise of educational television come true in tangible and beneficial ways.

web time = playtime

The NY Times wrote a fairly comprehensive article on where kids (not teens -- the younger ones) go to play online.  Each site is sponsored by some kind of commercial entity that is seeking young business - a good thing to point out to unsuspecting parents.   (I sincerely hope there are fewer of those around these days!)

Manage the risk - don't ban the device

That is the message in this smart article that starts off being about NYC's cell phone ban, and ends up imparting some very useful information about how to use web 2.0 technologies in the classroom.   

I initially thought this piece would go in a different direction, and point out the dangers of banning a device that has become the first place one would go to broadcast (via text message) an urgent bulletin.  It's morbid to even consider, but when I learned about the ban on cell phones in NYC public schools the first thing that came to mind was:  what if (god forbid) something like Columbine or Virginia Tech happened?   I want our schools to make use of the simplest, clearest means to convey information to people - information that should be coming from a legitimate, informed source.   But, as far as I know, there is no such system in place or even in development.

The core of that idea comes through in this article - let's plan the messages (the content) of what is being delivered, instead of trying to control the devices.  The devices are going to change and morph a million times, and they are useful conduits, but it's the message that is truly important.  

"Cramming Down" technology in schools won't work for long

Ed Week has a review of a new book by Harvard business school professor Clayton Christensen about the future of schools: nearly half of all class will be offered online. I agree with the premise; schools have long tried to smush (or "cram down" in his lingo) technological innovations into their 19th-century buildings, systems of teaching & learning, and value structure. It has not worked - not by a long shot. And soon enough (the author estimates by 2019, to be precise), another model of education will take over.

Here is a good synopsis:

Like the leaders in other industries, the education establishment has crammed down technology onto its existing architecture, which is dominated by the “monolithic” processes of textbook creation and adoption, teaching practices and training, and standardized assessment—which, despite some efforts at individualization, by and large treat students the same, the book says.

But new providers are stepping forward to serve students that mainline education does not serve, or serve well, the authors write. Those students, which the book describes as K-12 education’s version of “nonconsumers,” include those lacking access to Advanced Placement courses, needing alternatives to standard classroom instruction, homebound or home-schooled students, those needing to make up course credits to graduate—and even prekindergarten children.

By addressing those groups, providers such as charter schools, companies catering to home schoolers, private tutoring companies, and online-curriculum companies have developed their methods and tapped networks of students, parents, and teachers for ideas.

Those providers will gradually improve their tools to offer instruction that is more student-centered, in part by breaking courses into modules that can be recombined specifically for each student, the authors predict.

Spying on your kids (their grades that is)

The New York Times published a story this weekend about parents who obsessively check their kids' grades via online tools provided by the school. I thought it showed very clearly how technology tools can easily add to the stress of raising a teenagers without providing very much in the way of positive benefit. If your child is failing a class, there should be direct communication - hopefully between everyone involved, the parent, the student, and the teacher. In my experience, a single grade does not accurately express what is happening over the long term in a given class. And it is emphasizing the final product over the process of learning.

But that is just my opinion. I pulled out a couple of paragraphs to illustrate how some of the experts (by which I mean teenagers and educators) quoted in the story feel about these online grade-checking tools.

From [one] teenager: “Before, the screaming and disappointment only had to be endured four times a year. Now it can happen every night.”

And this: “ive been grounded twice for the same grade ... once when my mom found it on edline and again when I actually got the grade a week later.”

Some parents refuse to use the software, but many students check their grades to the point of obsession. Denise Pope, a Stanford lecturer who consults with secondary schools, worries that these programs can aggravate student anxiety. “When the focus is on the grade so much, you’re saying to kids, ‘It’s more important to get the grade, by hook or by crook, than learn the material,’ ” she said. “And that leads to the rise in rampant cheating.”

and

“Family involvement is not about serving parents,” said Joyce Epstein, director of the National Network of Partnership Schools. “It’s about mobilizing all the resources that support student success. These technologies can hurt or help, depending on how they are done. But the interpersonal connections of teachers, parents, students and counselors really are necessary to go beyond the impersonal technologies.”

some ideas about how to use Twitter in the school setting

I like the way this teacher is thinking ... Twitter can help connect students & parents (a special interest of mine), students and other students, teachers and parents (or the greater school community) through short bursts of info.   Interesting application of an already popular technology.

One could also make excellent use of Twitter on a field trip, which of course makes me think of Into The Outside, based here in New York.   (Disclosure:  I am on the board, so it's my job to get the word out about this great organization!)   Students could be out in the field (together in one location or scattered on different trips) and report to each other on findings.   Hmm, maybe a curriculum-based scavenger hunt, with teams linked through Twitter?   I have to try to get a pilot going of this in one of our ITO classrooms.