Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

Houle: Your Kids Are Different and It's Okay!

Futurist David Houle has an interesting series of articles over on Oprah.com that explore the world of Millennials and the challenges of raising kids in the digital age.

The thing that I really like about Houle's column is that he takes a rational and, unlike so many other guru's, non-alarmist approach to the subject.

There are so many fear based stories out there about kids, digital technology and social media, so it's refreshing to see such a balanced approach on the subject.

The one area where I disagree slightly with Houle is his use of the term "digital natives." I'm sure from his perspective and based on his conversations with CEO's and other corporate types, that Millennials in the workplace, compared to their older colleagues, appear to be super digital, technology gifted whiz kids.

Coined by author Marc Prensky in 2001, the phrase has its usefulness in helping us adults grasp the major media shift we're experiencing and embrace young people's openness to it.

But two leading new-media thinkers – Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics and Henry Jenkins at the University of Southern California – both have concerns about the phrase becoming too definitive.

Sure kids can work an iPod or update their status on Facebook, but what about using technology in an authentic, useful context? But when it comes to using technology in a situated context to complete a task, navigating privacy settings and all around digital literacy, or using technology at school kids still come up a bit short. 

Over the last decade there has been lots of talk, in both the press and educational circles, about the technological prowess of digital natives. We've heard a lot about what's exciting in educational technology, but the reality is that teachers still see a lot of kids struggling to use technology.

In the end, what's important here, and I'm sure Mr. Houle would agree, is to take a balanced position when it comes to kids and technology. As a parent or teacher, don't be afraid to jump into the technology and social media pool and get your feet wet. Use this as an opportunity to spend time with your kids and  learn more about how they are using technology, mobile phones and social media in their lives.

Most importantly, don't panic! As a wise man once said, 'your kids are different...and it's okay!'

Image Credit: www.oprah.com

Weekly Wrap: Hello Kitty Death Watch, University Ditches Kindle, Facebook Community Pages, Disney Tweets, Social Media ROI, Digital Parenting & More!

For Many Blacks, Twitter Enables a Vibrant Social Life: Some researchers have surmised that African-Americans might use Twitter more heavily because they use it in a more conversational way than other groups.

Twitter's "trending topics" - popular subjects on a given day - often center on issues African-American users are tweeting about. [NewsObserver]

Instead of Banning Your Kids from Social Networks, Consider Teaching Responsible Usage: I’m glad my parents didn’t ban me from them. I’m glad that my parents taught me basic principles to live my life by, principles that have served me both online and offline.

They weren’t particularly tech savvy. They didn’t hover over me at all moments. The family computer wasn’t locked down and it didn’t have any monitoring software. But, they taught me how to be safe as a kid. [ManagingCommunities.com]

More Cyberbullying on Facebook Than Rest of the Web: Thirty-two percent of online teens have experienced some form of harassment via the Internet, a problem also known as "cyberbullying."

According to recent data, 15% of online teens have had private material forwarded without permission, 13% have received threatening messages and 6% have had embarrassing photos posted without permission. [NYT]

Facebook Privacy Research: There is significant concern about the exposure of personal data to facebook’s advertising partners and to external sites, often governed by the decision of friends rather than the personal subject of the data. [Frances Bell]

Hello Kitty Death Watch: Hello Kitty fatigue is hitting Japan first, and hard, the company indicated. Analysts say part of the problem is that Sanrio has oversold Hello Kitty, which appears on products as various as T-shirts, toilet paper and toasters. [NYT]

How Facebook’s ‘Community Pages’ and Privacy Changes Impact Brands: While there’s been plenty of coverage about user privacy concerns, attention on Facebook’s changes on brands hasn’t been adequately covered, this analysis is intended to unravel what’s at stake –and what brands should do.  I’ve spoken to a handful of brands and their representatives to learn what’s eating at them. [Web Strategy]

Tweets From Disneyland: Our weekly roundup of some of the best--and the worst--tweets from the park that's only sometimes the happiest place on earth. [OC Weekly]

Business School Ditches Kindle DX: The Kindle isn't doing as well in academic environments as Amazon—and educators—had originally hoped. The Darden Business School at the University of Virginia is near the end of its Kindle "experiment," already concluding that students are not into the Kindle when it comes to classroom learning. They are, however, fans of the Kindle when it comes to using it as a personal reading device. [Ars Technia]

The Real ROI of Social Media: If you're asking the ROI question about social media and expecting to be able to show it all on a spreadsheet, you're still looking at social media as a channel, most likely for just one or two business functions, such as marketing or recruiting.

While it's true that social media can be used in that way, it has become something else entirely: an essential communication utility. What's the ROI of the telephone? Or email? It's a ridiculous question, right? [American Express OPEN]

Josh Shipp: Class of 2010 Graduation RAP Speech

Greeting Class of 2010
MySpace Twitter followers and Facebook friends
I've prepared something that makes sense to use in your journey
Know who you are own it cuz you're worthy

-- Class of 2010 Graduation RAP Speech, Josh Shipp

The Myth of the Digital Native

“If we over-estimate their skills we underestimate the support they need and misunderstand their practices.” – Dr. Sonia Livingstone

Over the last decade there has been lots of talk, in both the press and educational circles, about the technological prowess of "digital natives." We've heard a lot about what's exciting in educational technology, but the reality is that teachers still see a lot of kids struggling to use technology.

Sonia Livingstone 2010 Digital Media and Learning Conference Keynote

During her keynote at DML 2010, Dr. Sonia Livingstone (London School of Economics) shared the following examples from her research and interviews with both parents and kids on the difficulties "digital natives" face using technology:

• Example: Going to a Web site–can take a half hour, involve parents & most give up.

• Example: Parents thought their child was very savvy, but something about the style of her use didn't reveal her struggles. "Megan" is confident, but one can observe her many struggles while she uses technology.

• Example: 17-year-old, quoted: "With books it's a lot easier to research. I can't really use the internet for studying." Another, "Every time I try to look for something, I can never find it. It keeps coming up with things that are completely irrelevant."

• Example: Teens often didn't know how to change their privacy settings, unsure about what to click to manage this task. (Nervousness about unintended consequences: stranger danger, parental anxiety, viruses, crashed computers, unwanted advertising, etc.)

When it comes to youth and digital media we tend to be conservative in the type of content we give young people and far more aggressive when approaching them with digital media tools.

It’s important to remember that just because we include digital media doesn’t mean youth know how to make meaning or engage with these technologies.

Join Josh Shipp & Brooks Gibbs to Learn How to End Bullying Now

Josh Shipp just sent out an email about a webinar he's co-hosting with Brooks Gibbs about the epidemic of bullying--both online and offline--that is way to prevalent in our schools.

This is a great opportunity for educators, youth ministry, parents and anyone else who works with kids to learn how to prevent and respond to bullying.

Here's the scoop from Josh:

As you know, bullying is a HUGE problem in our country. 160,000 students skip school everyday in America to avoid being bullied. For those that are brave enough to go to school, 6 out of 10 of them witness bullying at least once a day.

When teens go to school, they are often going into a verbal war zone. The angry words of the bully are becoming more venomous. The bullies are also taking the dirty smack talking off campus and online.

It is online where ordinary students who have never bullied anyone, find themselves caught up in cyberbullying, causing serious damage to their enemy. As a result, the hurt is deeper now than ever.

That is why I'm hosting a free teleseminar on Thursday, April 29th with bullying expert Brooks Gibbs to share real solutions to END BULLYING. This program is being used by students, parents, and schools all over the country.

We have limited spots available, so please go here quickly and sign up for the FREE Teleseminar to END BULLYING: Here's the link:  http://www.BullyingExpert.com

Update: Here's the link to the Josh Shipp & Brooks Gibbs 'End Bullying Now' Teleseminar!

Mind the (Generation) Gap

"The problem is that in most companies, the Web is considered a strange and unnatural thing, and the process of designing it is disconnected.

In fact, there's an age gap where many of the very senior people in companies, who are making decisions about these things, aren't online.

So they're approving, looking at, reviewing things that they're never accessing themselves, nor are they part of the culture of how people use the Web." | Bran Ferren

Trend Watch: Tim Stock on 'Culture Networks'

Culture Networks (Lecture)

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

The idea is that there is a flattening of time and space and therefore a flattening of our traditional understanding of the relationship between subculture and pop culture. The new model of interaction is more ambiguous and requires a more expressive than reflexive view of how influence works.

This lecture on culture networks is part of Tim's Analyzing Trends class at Parsons the New School of Design.

Jamie Oliver's TED Talk: How We're Killing Our Kids With Bad Food

“I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.” -Jamie Oliver

 

For his contributions to better eating at school, his social enterprise restaurant Fifteen and his vision to change the way kids eat at home and at school, TED has awarded Jamie Oliver their 2010 prize.

 

“We’ve got to start teaching our kids about food in schools. Period.”

 

Please take a few minutes and listen to Jamie's TED talk about kids' health, school lunches, how you as a parent (or teacher, auntie or uncle) can take concrete actions to help your kids make better nutritional choices.

This is a powerful wake-up call for all of us. Not just kids.

If you want to join Jamie's Food Revolution USA, go sign the petition and get the word out to other parents, teachers and your family. Jamie has put together a "Food Charter" (pdf) to help you get started.

Jamie has also put together an informative handout (see below) that you can read to learn more about how obesity and diet is affecting America's health, plus food facts and information about the federal school lunch program.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: Facts and Figures on Kids Health & Childhood Obesity

Get involved by seeing what food is being served to your kids at school. Talk to the lunch ladies, the principal, the PTA and the school board and tell them you want quality, fresh, healthy food served at school.

It's proven that real food promotes more effective learning. If you want better health for your kids the junk food must leave the school. And yes, that means chocolate milk too!

Study: Facebook and MySpace Enhance the Positive Relationships Kids Already Have

When the Morgan Stanley Report on Youth Media Consumption was released last summer, it unleashed a flurry of media reports on the plague of "internet addicted" youth.

Since the Morgan Stanley report, we've continued to see a steady stream of news reports on internet addiction and youth. So it wasn't too much of a surprise that last weeks release of the Kaiser Family Foundation 'Generation M' study was met with a variation on the internet addiction theme.

While there are indeed negative aspects to digital media, along with kids who spend way too much time playing video games and texting, there are also lots of young people using social and digital media in positive and inspiring ways.

As Meredith at Ypulse points out, most media outlets and parenting guru's focus solely on the negative effects of digital and social media. More often than not, the positive effects of social and digital media in the lives of tweens, teens and twentysomethings are left out of the 'youth and digtal media' conversation. I couldn't agree more.

A new study in the January issue of Developmental Psychology conducted by psychologists at the University of Virginia suggests that well-adapted youth with positive friendships will use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to enhance the positive relationships they already have.

Researchers assessed the friendship quality and popularity of 172 13- to 14-year-olds, and then, eight years later, "friended" the study participants on their Facebook and MySpace pages to examine their interactions and friendship quality in those domains.

The entire report is locked up behind a pay wall (but well worth the 11 bucks), but here are some of the key findings:

• The research team found that the youths who were better adjusted in their early teens were more likely to use social media in their early 20s, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or parental income, and that, overall, the patterns of friendship quality and behavioral adjustment as early teens continued into early adulthood;

• The interactions young adults are having on their Facebook and MySpace pages are more similar to than different from the interactions they have in their face-to-face relationships;

• Parents of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It's likely to be similar positive behavior;

• 86% of the youth in the study used the social media sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, which parallels the national average;

• Use of Facebook and MySpace is really pervasive among this age group, so it's understandable that young people would want to be connected with their peers in this way; it's an extension of the relationships they already share;

• Parents should try to stay involved with their children and make an attempt to understand their online world in the same way they would want to understand any other aspect of their lives.

Hillary Clinton on Digital Freedom

"There are many other networks in the world - some aid in the movement of people or resources; and some facilitate exchanges between individuals with the same work or interests.

But the internet is a network that magnifies the power and potential of all others. And that's why we believe it's critical that its users are assured certain basic freedoms.

First among them is the freedom of expression. This freedom is no longer defined solely by whether citizens can go into the town square and criticize their government without fear of retribution. Blogs, email, social networks, and text messages have opened up new forums for exchanging ideas - and created new targets for censorship...

The final freedom I want to address today flows from the four I’ve already mentioned: the freedom to connect - the idea that governments should not prevent people from connecting to the internet, to websites, or to each other.

The freedom to connect is like the freedom of assembly in cyberspace. It allows individuals to get online, come together, and hopefully cooperate in the name of progress. Once you’re on the internet, you don’t need to be a tycoon or a rock star to have a huge impact on society."

— U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Global Youth: UK Teens Get Unplugged, Raw & Real

The Teens’ Speech was an open invitation to British teenagers to address the nation. It gave young people the chance to speak out on a range of profoundly important issues and provide the rest of us with an extraordinary opportunity to see the future through their eyes.

The Teens' Speech project culminated with this powerful film highlighting the thoughts and opinions of teenagers in the UK. Teenage Britain face many issues and here we see a snapshot of what its like for young people today.

This is a fantastic film that provides a rare glimpse at what teens really think about their lives, school, teen stereotypes, youth culture as well as their relationships with their parents, peers, teachers and government.

A big thanks to Three Billion for sharing this 17 minutes of golden research.

Global Youth: Win a Trip with Nicholas Kristof 2010

Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times Op-Ed columnist and co-author of Half the Sky, invites students to enter an essay contest to win a reporting trip to Africa, giving them an opportunity to blog for nytimes.com and to file videos to The Times and YouTube.

The contest is open to students at American universities – either undergraduates or graduate students – who are 18 years old or over. The application deadline is a minute before midnight, Eastern Time, on Monday, Jan 18.

So what is Mr. Kristof looking for? Here's the scoop from his blog:

You can apply either with an essay of up to 700 words, or a video of up to three minutes, or both. Send the essay to winatrip@nytimes.com.

Post the video on my YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/NicholasKristof, next to my own video invitation for applications. In either case, explain why I should pick you.

So what kind of a person am I looking for? The truth is, I’m not entirely sure – except that I want someone with excellent communication skills, who can blog and vlog (video blog) in ways that will capture the interest of other students.

If you’ve done blogging, vlogging or journalism, be sure to mention that. Ditto for anything else that makes you special or will make your voice more memorable.

What a fantastic and life changing experience! I would encourage any student who is interested in social justice issues (like global poverty) and sharing "the we stories" of people who don't have a voice to apply for this opportunity.

For those of us who are a wee bit beyond our college years and ineligible for this trip--you can still get involved by supporting the Half the Sky Movement, Charity Water or Oprah Winfrey's For All Women Registry. There are lots of ways to help people suffering from crushing poverty.

Even $5 dollars can change a life.

For you university students' who are interested in applying for this trip, be sure to check out Mr. Kristof's blog which has all the details, rules, info on the selection process and legalese from the NYT lawyers.

Good luck!

Meeting of Minds: Cross-Generational Dialogue on the Ethics of Digital Life

Global Kids, Common Sense Media, and Harvard University's GoodPlay Project have released Meeting of Minds, a report that highlights the ways in which parents, teachers, and teens relate to the emerging dimensions of life online ranging from virtual worlds, social networks and/or the ethics of digital content downloading.

Meeting of Minds is the result of a series of cross-generational online dialogues held this past spring about digital ethics, and reveals the critical importance of active adult engagement with teens to help develop healthy attitudes about online behaviors that often have long-lasting and far-reaching effects.

Throughout the dialogues, adults and teens discussed their varied perspectives on how to behave in a digital world through a variety of scenarios concerning online ethics.  Conversations ranged from illegal downloading and the creativity associated with remixing, to the factors that go into deciding to meet an online connection face-to-face.

The report highlights how adults and youth think about ethical issues online through the use of direct quotes and information from the Dialogues and provide context around what we believe is the first step towards addressing issues relating to ethics in the digital age.

The findings from the report revealed that teens' biggest concerns in ethically challenging situations online are repercussions for themselves, rather than the implications of their actions for larger communities.

Adults, on the other hand, are more concerned with responsibility to others and to communities when discussing digital dilemmas. For example, a teen who makes a fake profile page about her teacher might think it’s funny, while adults are more likely to point out how such an act might hurt or damage the teacher's reputation.

The cross-generational dialogues, the first of their kind, included more than 250 participants from around the world and 2,500 posts from members that yielded rich information about the greatest points of connection and contention between teens and adults.

Teen Panel: Lady Gaga, Jamie Foxx Songs 'Unhealthy'

An initiative to encourage healthy teen relationships says songs by Jamie Foxx and Lady Gaga are the musical equivalent of junk food.

A teen panel working with the Boston Public Health Commission has determined that their songs are among the top 10 with "unhealthy relationship ingredients."

On average, American youth listen to music from 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day, according to the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP).

The AAP found that listening to explicit music lyrics – with references to drugs, sex, or violence - can affect schoolwork, social interactions, and produce significant changes in mood and behavior.

The commission released its list based on a "nutrition label" rating popular songs on healthy relationship themes.

The "Sound Relationships Nutrition Label" (pdf) was developed by 14 teens after they attended a seven-week commission-sponsored institute on healthy relationship promotion and teen dating violence prevention.

During the seven-week program, teens were also taught to evaluate music based on themes of power, control, equality and gender roles. The teens then developed their list after analyzing songs from Billboard's "Hot 100" chart.

via www.usatoday.com

The Gospel of Glee: Is It Anti-Christian?

"Glee, the hit show about a high school Glee club, has very sharp claws, which is one reason kids like it so much.

It is routinely, if hilariously, cruel (the sweet jock is described as so dumb, "he's cheating off a girl who thinks the square root of 4 is rainbows").

But no darker current--let alone motivation for parental monitoring--had occurred to me until I recently heard a bright, earnest youth minister tell a group of high school kids that he thought Glee was "anti-Christian."

It is easy to see his point, if you look at the specifics. In his view, Glee portrays Christians as phonies and hypocrites. He observed that the only self-identified Christian is the shiny blond Quinn, cheerleading president of the celibacy club, who is pregnant by one classmate but pretending the father is another.

The point is not whether there is an embedded moral message to be found beneath all the snark and snideness in this show or any other. The point lies in the surprises that jostle us out of our smug little certainties and invite us to weigh what we value, whatever our faith tradition."

via TIME > The Gospel of Glee: Is It Anti-Christian?