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Gen C live for the weekend, it's when their social lives are amplified. The mobile phone is their 'social oxygen', especially on the weekend. A look into the importance of the weekend for Aussie youth as well as the role the mobile plays. via Dan Pankraz
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Wall Street Journal report Yukari Iwatani Kane has written a great piece about Ari Weinstein, a teen hacker who along with a bunch of other teens he met online, was able to jailbreak the Apple iPhone 3GS and iTouch.
Ari's just your typical 11 year old boy who can hack around the AOL parental controls, figure a work around that allows him to download games onto his iTouch for free and, oh yeah--meet up with other teen geeks online and jailbreak an iPhone.
No Apple isn't happy. And yes, Ari's parents have talked to him about ethics. And oh, they also made sure that Ari got an attorney.
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Higher Education is Stuck in the Middle Ages: In this article Don Tapscott, youth guru and author of Growing Up Digital, outlines the clash between the model of learning offered by big universities and the natural way that young people who have grown up digital learn. The entire U.S. education system is woefully behind when it comes to using social media (and mobile devices) in the classroom. [AlterNet]
The Hidden Problem with Twitter: Speaking of the Middle Ages, this article stirs the pot by asking if the texting and Twitter habits are "hurting" the English language. Perhaps we need to take a cue from our Aussie friends and look for a way to use social and mobile media to help educate the Net Generation. [HigherEdMorning.com] [University of Melbourne]
More on Television 2.0: Is the TV business dying or does it have a second act? Television networks are actively looking for ways to hold onto Gen Y by interjecting more social media and even 3D television features into their programming.
In an attempt to hold on to younger viewers, MTV is launching It's On with Alexa Chung, while the BBC is placing its bets on a new interactive TV studio. Or will 'traditional' TV networks be replaced by young upstarts like Halogen TV which is featuring both webisodes and traditional distribution outlets for its content?
Virtual Worlds Booming: Market research firm Strategy Analytics released its forecast for growth within the virtual worlds sector and said it sees the global population of virtual world users
growing from 186 million today to almost 640 million by 2015 -- that's
almost one hundred million new players a year, a nearly 25 percent
compounded annual growth rate. [Virtual Worlds News]
Boomers Crashing the Social Media Party: According to iStrategy Labs, Facebook's seen
its 35-54 demo membership blow up by 276.4 percent between June 2008
and January 2009. The 55-and over contingent grew 194.3 percent in the
same amount of time. In comparison, that ever-so-sought 18-24 group
bounced just 20.6 percent.
The total number of Facebook users aged
35-plus in October 2007 totaled just fewer than 845,000, while as of
this past January, their combined might totals just less than 8 million
- 18.9 percent of the total Facebook pie. [MediaPost]
Young Obama Official Helped Keep Twitter on in Iran: According to The New York Times,
there's a steady flow of information on Twitter largely thanks to the
efforts of a 27-year-old State Department official named Jared Cohen,
whose job is to advise the department on how to use social media to
promote U.S. interests in the Middle East. [MTV News]
One More Thing: According to experts social gaming is the next big thing, use Backtweets to see which tweets link to your site, mobileYouth has a list of youth marketing & trend Twits on Twitter (thanks Graham!), get a sneak peak of Josh Shipp's new tv show--"Jump Shipp", tweet to add appointments to your Google Calendar, more on Millennials and Twitter and an Iranian Gen Y writes about Revolution 2.0!
Also, thanks to all of you who took part in Operation 55 Zebra! Go David Go!
SurveyU: Five Facts About College Age Youth
SurveyU: College Students & Technology
SurveyU: Media Consumption Habits of College Age Students
Things to Remember When Marketing to College Students
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In February the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) released a position statement on media literacy, social technology and learning in the digital age. Their conclusion?
"These changes in society and the experiences the students bring into
the classroom challenge social studies teachers to change both how and
what we teach. One reaction is to fear these changes and try to protect
our students from things we don’t understand or appreciate. Such an
approach is neither helpful nor pedagogically sound.
Another response is to take advantage instructionally of the wealth of experiences that young people have making media choices by respecting those choices when consistent with democratic principles. Whether we like it or not, this media culture is our students’ culture.”
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"Cole W. Camplese, director of education-technology services at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, prefers to teach in classrooms with two screens — one to project his slides, and another to project a Twitter stream of notes from students.
He knows he is inviting distraction — after all, he’s essentially asking students to pass notes during class. But he argues that the additional layer of communication will make for richer class discussions.”
Like most of you, in the course of a week I run across a lot of really interesting stuff. But blogging about it all has become increasingly difficult.
I thought I'd do a quick link post each Friday to share the best stuff I've found during the week. So here we go, the very first edition of the Weekly Wrap:
Teen Brains Clear Out Childhood Thoughts: Anyone who works with teens should read this article about the inner workings of the teen brain, along with new cognitive research and synaptic pruning.
Recession Breeds Teenage Entrepreneurs: As the recession bites, Charlotte Phillips discovers that it might just be the making of today's teenagers.
Twitteros: A new online community for Latinos who Twitter. Also check out my post on U.S. Hispanic & Latin American Youth Trends
Nine Great Reasons Why Teachers Should Twitter: What’s the point of Twitter? Why should educators get involved? What difference does using Twitter make?
Online Video Network Helps Teens Prepare for College: Recognizing that today's teens spend more and more of their time online, however, a new video-based network aims to offer extra learning and college preparation in a format that's more natural for digitally savvy high-school students.
Teen Uses Web for Tuition Help: No money? No problem. Teen creates website to raise enough money to attend the University of Notre Dame.
Death of Gamers Leave Their Online Friends in Limbo: This is pretty interesting and shows how integrated social media and networking has become in our lives.
Disney Buys Kaboose: Disney Interactive Media adds to it's growing suite of family and kid friendly sites. Also included in the deal is Fun School....does this mean that Disney is (finally) going to be more active in the educational digital media space? Fun School along with Disney-owned Kerpoof would provide a great suite of educational technology for teachers, parents and families.
The Game Based Learning Conference, held March 19-20 in London, is one of the largest events in the world that delves into all aspects of utilizing video games as a learning tool.
The main theme of Game Based Learning '09, a conference primarily focused on game based learning research and development in the U.K. and Europe, was on the impact that video games, virtual worlds and social networking are having on learning and teaching practice both in and out of formal education environments.
The other thing worth noting about this conference is the remarkable degree of cross-discipline collaboration between members of the digital media, parents, education, consumer electronics, virtual worlds and video game communities.
At the conference, Dr. Maja Pivec, one of the co-founders of ENGAGE (European Network for Growing Activity in Game-based learning in Education), shared an in-depth look at the latest research and trends in Game-based learning. Dr. Pivec has put together a really good presentation and I encourage you to take a look at all the terrific research she shared at the conference.
Given that American companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Microsoft/Xbox are among the leading producers of kids gaming and virtual worlds, it seems only natural that there should be a similar US-based effort to connect the dots between games and learning.
So here's my question: why aren't we holding a similar conference where we can collaborate, share research and explore game based learning?
This is not to say that US-based companies involved in the kid new media space aren't doing research. In fact, Microsoft recently announced that they would invest $1.5 million dollars in educational video game research. The investment is part of a larger, NYU led initiative to "to find scientific evidence that supports the use of games as a learning tool."
All of this comes on the heels of a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that found that, when it comes to video games, "playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day."
It's vital that all of us involved intersection of kids, new media and education work together to develop pedagocially sound opportunities to incorporate gaming, social networking, and virtual worlds--tools and spaces that students are already using--into their formal and informal learning practice.
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When it comes to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), American kids are falling behind other kids in countries. There are lots of organizations--from ExxonMobil to the National Science Digital Library (NSDL)--are working hard to reverse this trend and get more kids into a science education track.
For example, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has a STEM education initiative for teachers and they provide an array of professional development resources (many for free) for teachers over on their online Learning Center.
STEM education--for both students and teachers--is at the core of President Obama's educational reform package. These are all great programs and let's face it, when it comes to STEM education programs, the more the merrier.
NASA, who has a vested interest in having a steady flow of qualified people to develop our national space programs, is ready to embark on a new and bold plan to get America's youth--from elementary school to higher education--interested in space exploration.
Their secret weapon? A virtual world build around a mission to Mars.
In an effort to encourage more kids to pursue science careers, NASA has created a Learning Technologies Project Office (LPTO) and partnered with three video game producers to create, Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond.
According to NASA:
The game will enable participants to learn and be tested on real skills through single-player and team-based missions based on real NASA technologies, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.
In addition, players
will interact with NASA digital assets, such as hyper-realistic digital
renderings of Mars rovers and telescope images taken of and from space.
The level at which users participate in these missions will depend on age and education, among other factors. So, while the game promises to have a big impact on higher education, it will also be geared toward students as young as 13 who can participate at a level suited to their experience."
Today's kids are savvy and have lots of choices when it comes to virtual worlds. If the Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond doesn't feel authentic, they won't use it. So it's really great to see that NASA had the foresight to consult and collaborate with experts from the MMO/virtual world community to develop this project.
Given how much Gen Y love video games and virtual worlds, this type of hands-on, project based learning activity might just be the thing to get more kids interested in science.
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According to a story in today's Guardian, a UK school curriculum reform commission has proposed that primary students should be required to become proficient in web-based and digital tools like Twitter, Wikipedia, blogging and podcasting.
Here's more on the proposed curriculum changes:
"Children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war under proposals to overhaul the primary school curriculum, the Guardian has learned.
However, the draft plans will require children to master Twitter and Wikipedia and give teachers far more freedom to decide what youngsters should be concentrating on in classes.
The proposed curriculum, which would mark the biggest change to primary schooling in a decade, strips away hundreds of specifications about the scientific, geographical and historical knowledge pupils must accumulate before they are 11 to allow schools greater flexibility in what they teach.
The proposal would require children to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts,
Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of
communication. They must gain "fluency" in handwriting and keyboard
skills, and learn how to use a spellchecker alongside how to spell."
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UK educational software company RM has released a demo of their game Finguistics. What makes this so interesting is that this educational game is being designed to work on the Microsoft Surface platform.
As you can see in the video, these kids are actively engaged and probably don't even realize that they have formed a community of practice, started to exchange information and learn from each other.
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“The perception is that Americans over 50
only dabble on the internet, but we are finding that they are
increasingly spending time online becoming involved in robust internet
activities, such as online communities. In specific areas, there is often little difference in
use of online technology between older users and some of the youngest
users.”
-Jeffrey I. Cole, director
of the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for
Communication
Last year a study conducted by the AARP and the Digital Futures Project found that the online behavior of older Americans (50+) is rapidly mirroring, and in some cases exceeding, that of younger Gen Y users.
And while that may be news to you, for David Weigelt and Jonathan Boehman, it's the cornerstone of their business and the focus of their new book Dot Boom: Marketing to the Baby Boomers Through Meaningful Online Engagement.
Weigelt and Boehman are the co-founders of Immersion Active, a marketing agency focused on the senior and baby boomer markets. In their new book, they share their years of experience and explained how marketers can effectively use the web to reach and engage with boomers online.
And despite the conventional wisdom that the internet is a hang out for those savvy "digital natives," the authors contend that the boomer generation is deeply engaged with everything the Internet has to offer — they email, use search engines, shop, research, download…but when it comes to channels like social media, they can be a bit more reticent to dip their toes in the social web.
But live without the web? No way! Watch and listen to what happened when Immersion Active asked boomers what they would do without the Internet.
So watch out Gen Y--boomers and seniors are web savvy too and before long you might be getting a Facebook friend request from your grandma or grandpa (which might also be a good thing to remember before you share too much info online)!
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Here’s a clip from SXSW 2009 on YouTube where Henry Jenkins, Professor at MIT (and soon USC) and author of Convergence Culture, is interviewed by The Guardian about learning and video games. Dr. Jenkins further asserts that every game has an online community and it’s there where people start to trade information and learn from each other.
Henry also argues that there is "a learning ecology that takes place outside of the classroom and that schools cut themselves off from this learning by blocking games and YouTube - leaving students disconnected with the best ways of learning. This hinders students from becoming technically literate and be prepared for the future." [via]
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Closing Thoughts
The Cooney research is a landmark study that I hope will move both the education technology and mobile learning discussion forward. Perhaps the release of this study, an education technology friendly president and education secretary is creating a "perfect storm" for real change to take place in our education system.
As a nation, we can no longer afford to sit back and watch schools in the U.K., Australia and Africa move forward while we continue to model our schools on an outdated agrarian, 18th Century education model.
Benefits of this learning space for the students are threefold:
potential for maximum participation (all can be posting
simultaneously), increased interest (authentic use of technology, so
little technical advice or support is needed), and student motivation
was noticeable and achieved possibly because of the increased peer
feedback and collaboration.
The convergence of mobile and social technologies, on-demand content
delivery, and early adoption of portable media devices by students
provides academia with an opportunity to leverage these tools into
learning environments that seem authentic to the digital natives
filling the 21st Century classroom.
The future is here. It's time we act.
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A few months ago at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East, I had the opportunity at the round table lunch to learn about the Project New Media Literacies (NML) developed by a team at MIT.
The NML is a research initiative based within MIT's Comparative Media Studies program and explores how educators can equip young people with "the social skills and cultural competencies required to become full participants in an emergent media landscape and raise public understanding about what it means to be literate in a globally interconnected, multicultural world."
One of the big challenges for MIT will be working with the Balkanized US education system to get these NML skills integrated into the curriculum. As a result of this fragmentation, the MIT team will have to work with each state on an individual basis to have the NML standards adopted by and/or integrated into the curriculum.
Despite these challenges, the NML standards are a good step in the right direction towards reforming the American school system to meet the needs of today's 21st Century learners.
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