Does too much nostalgia make us shy away from our parental responsibilities?

A Father's Dilemma: When is it time to introduce a child to what the digital age has in store? 

by Jason Fry

This WSJ article made me think a bit.  For the most part, I feel that our children's lives are so filled (or soon will be) with digital paraphernalia we don't need to consciously introduce or facilitate use of technology -- especially not at a very young age.  

However, is that perspective guided by a desire to replicate my own (relatively tech-free, except TV) childhood?   

I can't help but feel that this author has it 99% right, but the conclusion (or rather his dilemma) is misstated in some way.   I do think we wax nostalgic for our childhoods (as fueled by refined sugar and Love American Style as mine certainly was) and want to instill a bit of that innocence in our sophisticated kids.   

But how much credit (or blame) can we really take for what our kids will take away from their early childhood experiences?   I think we can create a positive environment, make choices & decisions based on our values, but also let our children's knowledge develop on its own trajectory.   Maybe.  I waiver on this as much as the next control freak.    

Maybe today's teens will cordon off a part of their brains all on their own - and protect their memories of childhood from all the jump cuts, violent images, and blurry MySpace pictures they were exposed to during this era.   My own selective memory of middle and high school indicate this may be possible.  

What is wrong with a Facebook study group?

Seriously, I'm asking.  

Somehow this Canadian University has leapt to the conclusion that a Facebook discussion group that is completely out in the open (much more so than a group that meets in person) is the same as cheating.  That the potential to cheat is somehow just as bad as actually doing it.   And that expulsion is the right reaction to an innovative use of technology.    It's all very confusing to me.  

"Canadian University Faces Off with a Digital Generation"

Natasha Elkington, via Yahoo News

March 20, 2008

Currently watching ...

... Stanford University's free course podcasts. My lord! I tweaked out my computer downloading all the ones I thought sounded interesting at the same time.

Just finished watching Byron Reeves talk about what researchers know about learning processes during video gaming. I took a couple of (very crappy) screenshots of his slides ... just posting for my own future reference. I encourage you to download and watch the whole presentation via iTunesU.

"Psychological Engagement in Complex Multiplayer Games and Implications for Learning and Work" (search on iTunes or find WMV file here)

Byron Reeves, talk for Terry Winograd's HCI speaker seminar at Stanford

Multitasking media mongers

A new study updates us on how many forms of media a child can consumer (or produce!) in one sitting:

The study reveals that 73% of TV-online multitasking kids are engaged in "active multitasking," defined by Bethesda, Md.-based Grunwald Associates as content in one medium influencing concurrent behavior in another. This trend represents a 33% increase in active multitasking since 2002. While kids are using more media, their attention primarily and overwhelmingly is focused on their online activities.

According to the study:
• 50% of 9- to-17-year-olds visit Web sites they see on TV even as they continue to watch
• 45% of teens have sent instant messages or e-mail to others they knew were watching the same TV show
• 33% of 9- to-17-year-olds say they have participated in online polls, entered contests, played online games or other online activities that television programs have directed them to while they are watching

I must admit - I do all those things. I also go online while reading, especially the newspaper. I have to create the links even when I'm not dealing with new media.

The Megan Pledge

Another blogger posted about The Megan Pledge - an anti-cyberbullying pledge and awareness campaign started by a local (NJ) divison of Tweenangels. The campaign hasn't been officially launched yet but was announced at a recent Wired Kids Summit. (Don't bother going to their website, it was last updated for the 2005 Summit!)

(Almost) automatic podcasting of class lectures

This article takes notice of a new technology that helps college professors link visual aids to digital recordings of their lectures, thus creating a rich podcast of each class for student use. Profs say it's not negatively affecting class attendance , and it's certainly useful for test prep. Better yet, it's already trickling down to high schools (well, AP classes at least), although it's really going to take some effort to get teachers to create the final product. Most universities have a way to help professors with that kind of media-production endeavor.

"Reviewing for a test could be just a click away on your iPod"
Sherry Saavedra, San Diego Union-Tribune

Couple of teen stories from the NYT

Two New York Times education stories of possible future interest ... 

For Some 'A' Students in Brooklyn, a Cellphone and 130 Free Minutes

Um, did someone forget that they banned cellphones in NYC public schools?

History Survey Stumps U.S. Teens

Not even sure why they were doing this kind of survey over the phone.  Was it to make it as casual as possible?   I don't think I would have taken a phone survey of any kind seriously, and I'm pushing 40.  

Random clippings

Some things jotted while listening to an interview with Kathryn Montgomery to follow up on later ... 

-- How does use of technology change the meaning of childhood?

-- Advertising companies are both making commercials that look like homemade YouTube videos, and asking for customers to make videos to be used as core advertising.   Neat trick! 

(Seriously - a YouTube mashup of filmstrip-y "I just got my period" video and an ad for Wendy's hamburgers?  Who greenlighted that project?)

Girlz rule

From today's semi-loathed Thursday Styles section of the New York Times:

Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain
Stephanie Rosenbloom, February 21, 2008

Research shows that among the youngest Internet users, the primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics, photographs, Web sites) are not misfits resembling the Lone Gunmen of “The X Files.” On the contrary, the cyberpioneers of the moment are digitally effusive teenage girls.

...

The “girls rule” trend in content creation has been percolating for a few years — a Pew study published in 2005 also found that teenage girls were the primary content creators — but the gender gap for blogging, in particular, has widened.

As teenage bloggers nearly doubled from 2004 to 2006, almost all the growth was because of “the increased activity of girls,” the Pew report said.

The findings have implications beyond blogging, according to Pew, because bloggers are “much more likely to engage in other content-creating activities than nonblogging teens.”

Then, of course, the article goes to to state that most computer science majors and industry professionals are men, and the gender gap seems to be increasing rather than correcting itself. Something to think about.

APA study debunks myth of stereotypical internet predator

press release from the American Psychological Association:

WASHINGTON—Contrary to stereotype, most Internet sex offenders are not adults who target young children by posing as another youth, luring children to meetings, and then abducting or forcibly raping them, according to researchers who have studied the nature of Internet-initiated sex crimes.

Rather, most online sex offenders are adults who target teens and seduce victims into sexual relationships. They take time to develop the trust and confidence of victims, so that the youth see these relationships as romances or sexual adventures. The youth most vulnerable to online sex offenders have histories of sexual or physical abuse, family problems, and tendencies to take risks both on- and offline, the researchers say.

...

For example, in spite of public concern, the authors found that adolescents' use of popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook do not appear to increase their risk of being victimized by online predators. Rather, it is risky online interactions such as talking online about sex to unknown people that increases vulnerability, according to the researchers.

"Most Internet-initiated sex crimes involve adult men who are open about their interest in sex," Wolak said. "The offenders use instant messages, e-mail and chat rooms to meet and develop intimate relationships with their victims. In most of the cases, the victims are aware that they are talking online with adults."