Mobile Devices for Learning

I found this video which outlines some of the projects that can come out of mobile learning. It is a few years old, but touches on some of the things we're trying to incorporate. Thanks to Amy Erin Borovoy at Edutopia for curating it. You can also find it on my What's Influencing Education Page.

Learning: How Struggle is Interpreted in East and West

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift

Interesting article on how we interpret struggle in Western vs. Eastern cultures. 

Struggle Means Learning: Difference in Eastern and Western Cultures

Brain: A Look at ADHD

http://www.adhd.org.nz/

I was perusing my blog reader and saw this article. I was flabbergasted at the statistic in the first sentence: the CDC puts the number of children with ADHD at 25% The Dana Alliance has outlined some of the research over the last ten years on ADHD and its origins in the brain. Interesting read, for sure.

ADHD: Ten Years Later

Scary: Geo-Stalking via Smartphone Photos

I came across this video on the blog Dangerously Irrelevant, and thought you all needed to see it. Hyper-awareness is the new black...

Connected Learning

Over the last few years, I've realized that tablets in and of themselves turn out to be about 5% of the change challenge. The other 95% is managing the BIG Shift in teaching and learning. Below is an infographic that does a great job of summarizing one of our goals through tablet learning, which is increasing connectivity.

How Can I Control My Kid's Smartphone?

By YUN-HEE KIM. [smartfone0729] Reuters.
A Nokia N9 smartphone.

This is a post from January of 2013 and I'm re-posting it for our 7th and 8th grade families who are a part of our inaugural Tablet Learning Program this year. 

Please also check out a post from February 2013 outlining the new paradigm of communication for our students in the digital world. 

I recently spoke with a mom who was concerned about smartphones - essentially mini-computers in the hands of their 12 year old.

What rules should she put in place?

How can I control what he/she sees?

If I don't like what I see, can I talk to the parents of the child who sent it?

What is the school doing about it?

In a much earlier post, I talked about the Internet as the Virtual Wild West and some of the strategies to try and infuse your family's values into the vacuum. Smartphones provide another layer (or thousand layers!) to the equation. I have some other thoughts from an earlier post that may help shed some light on the topic.

I thought I would cull some resources here for you to read that outline some good approaches to the smartphones that are being taken by families.

1. This article from theonlinemom.com does a nice job of outlining the basic questions to be asked if you are thinking of purchasing a smartphone for your pre-teen: The Smartphone Generation
2. This is a good resource from the cyber security perspective about ground rules for teens: Set Ground Rules for Your Teens and Their Smartphones
3. And my favorite: The iPhone Contract