Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

Mind the Gap: American Teens Falling into the Digital Divide

The Center for the Digital Future has released the results their international survey of 25,000 people in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe on Internet usage.

Among 18-24 year olds, the top countries with Internet usage:

• 100% of British youth
• 98% of Israeli
• Czech Republic and Macao at 96%
• Canada at 95%

By contrast, only 88% of American teens of the same age had access, trailed by Hungary and Singapore, where more than seven in 10 young people use the Internet.

The big takeaway? According to the study:

"Fewer young Americans have Internet access than their peers in the Czech Republic, Canada, Macao and Britain, a survey of 13 countries around the world showed."

While we talk a lot about youth being wired and connected to technology, the reality is that there are also a lot of teens who can't afford computers, mobile phones/devices or Internet access.

For the last five years I've volunteered with a youth organization in San Diego. We've maintained a website, blog, Flickr and Facebook page for the last four years. At a recent awards dinner for the teens, one of the leaders mentioned that they would post the photos from the dinner on Flickr and our website. One of the kids raised his hand and asked, "What if we don't have a computer?"

During a quick survey of the 100 youth attending the banquet, we were shocked to find that only a couple had mobile phones, even less had access to a computer and/or Internet access at home. And while they had access at school, most reported that school computers blocked and filtered so much content, it made it an exercise in frustration.

We had been working on the assumption that because they are teens, they are "wired." The reality is, while they wanted to be totally wired, their economic status prevented them from fully participating in the information and social web revolution.

While I was at Yahoo! working on the youth and education project, I had the opportunity to collaborate with school districts both large and small. Time and time again, I heard from school administrators that their students (and many teachers for that matter) didn't have access to a computer and/or web access from home.

So while we talk about all the really great ways that technology can support learning, get youth involved in the political process or how Gen Y is totally wired, it's important to remember that there are still big chunks of this generation who are unable to participate in the shared experiences taking place in Facebook, MySpace and other virtual environments.

In terms of the digital divide, we've made leaps and bounds, but there's still a long way to go.

Related Resources

• Digital Inclusion: Content, Community & Technology
• Learning 2.0: Digital Social and Always-On
• How Obama Hooked Gen Y

CyberSurvey: What Kids, Parents and Teachers Are Doing Online

In the spring of 2007 The Cyber Safety and Ethics Initiative (CSEI) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) initiated the world’s largest cyber research project, which by January of 2008 involved surveying 40,000+ K-12th grade students along with hundreds of parents and teachers.

Here are some of the key findings among students, parents and educators:

Key student findings:

• Children have unsupervised access to a computer and the internet at home as early as age 5, and that by age 7, 15% report that someone was mean to them online, while 7% admit they have been mean to someone online;

• Contrary to public perception, the majority of cyber offenses involving children, t/weens, teens and young adults are perpetuated by their peers, not strangers;

• The onset of cyber bullying beginning in the second grade and it’s not always the adult predator. Reports show that 45% of the cases are friends victimizing friends.

• 23.2% admit to lying about their age online;

• 1 in 4 children between the ages 9-18 report that they have been victimized online by one or more forms of abuse within the past school year that was not reported to a grown up.

Key parent survey findings:

• 90% of surveyed parents report supervising the home computing activities of their children;

• 14% report they have caught their children visiting inappropriate websites;

• 61% parents report that their children access the web from a private place in the home;

• A majority of parents report that their children use the web to do research for school (78%), play video games (61%) and listening to music or watching movies (50%);

Key Teacher Survey Findings:

• Teachers report that they feel confident that their schools are well prepared to use technology to facilitate student learning;

• However, few teachers feel prepared or feel they are prepared to teach students about Internet safety, social computing ethics or digital literacy;

• Teachers report that there is a lack of or inconsistent professional development and/or training on information security, social computing and web safety;

• Educators are divided on the issue of using technology in the classroom and whether or not students know more about information technology than they do.

Overall, it looks like parents are doing a good job of keeping an eye on their kids and what they are doing on the Internet. That said, most safety experts recommend that kids use the computer and surf the web from public areas of their home.

While the good news is that the stereotype of the Dateline NBC-esque sexual predator is far from reality, the bad news is that students are being bullied online by their peers. This is a topic that should be addressed both at school by teachers and at home by parents.

In summer 2008, as part of the Yahoo! Teachers Tour, I had the opportunity with my colleague Karon Weber to lead workshops across the country and teach educators how to use web and social computing  technologies in their classroom. Time and time again we heard from teachers that this was exactly the type of professional development that was sorely needed.

Moreover, they reported that they were lacking hands-on, practical training on how web and social computing can be used in the classroom to prepare educators for the influx of digital learners filling their classrooms.

You can review the entire findings of the RIT CyberSafety report, including results broken down by grade level, by clicking here (pdf).

Related Resources

• Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online
• Secret Lives of Teens
• Study Debunks Sexual Predator Myths
• Yahoo! Safely
• Cyberbully Pledge for Teachers
• Parents Guide to Social Networks

Et tu, Brute? Ancient Rome comes to Google Earth

Read Write Web has some exciting information about a new mashup between Google Earth and theUniversity of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH).

Google Earth will feature a new layer, 'Ancient Rome 3D,' which is based on the IATH's 'Rome Reborn' model and which displays a 3D model of the city as it existed in 320 AD.

Overall, the Rome Reborn project recreated detailed models of over 6,700 buildings and monuments in the city, including some, like the Coliseum, which also feature highly detailed interiors. The new layer also adds a lot of new placemarks with historical information geared towards students.

Google For Educators announced a curriculum competition in conjunction with the release of the new Ancient Rome layer. Educators who create the most interesting curricula based around the Ancient Rome 3D layer will receive new Mac laptops, classroom projectors, and a digital camera.

Related Resources

• Juicy Geography
• National Geographic Society > My Wonderful World
• Geography 2.0: Google Maps Mash Up Mania
• Yahoo! Map Mixer

Atomic Learning: Movie Maker 2 Tutorial

Atomic Learning is currently offering a complimentary tutorial series on Windows Movie Maker 2. The series can be accessed free of charge by clicking here.

The Movie Maker 2 series is a fast favorite among many movie makers and is regularly noted by a variety of bloggers as an invaluable free resource for educators, students and home movie-makers.

Utilizing Atomic Learning short, show-and-tell tutorial training style, the series guides users through getting started with Movie Maker 2. Topics include Capturing and Importing, Applying Video Effects, Applying Transitions, Adding Titles, Working with Audio and many more.

Schools and districts find Atomic Learning’s tutorials, series, workshops and resources to be especially useful for professional development, and many are incorporating tutorials into the curriculum.

In addition to the Windows Movie Maker 2 series, Atomic Learning also offers a training library of over 37,000 tutorials on over 110 applications through the Technology Skills Collection, plus training on education software and accessibility features through tutorials found in the Assistive Technology Collection.

For more information on any of Atomic Learning’s tutorial series or Collections visit Atomic Learning.

Related Resources

• PBwiki Back to School Challenge
• Vicki Davis > Seven Steps to a "Flat Classroom"
• PBwiki 101 > Video Tutorial

Pixton for Schools

I just received an update from Clive over at Pixton about their very popular Pixton for Schools product. Due to the current economic climate and the limited budgets available to teachers, Pixton has decided to level out the cost to be $1 USD per student per month.

This discounted price makes Pixton for Schools equally accessible to classrooms, large or small.

Remember that you can easily embed a Pixton comic into a wiki, blog or website. So why not grab your free PBwiki and use it as a virtual comic book where your students can easily and safely share their comics with their peers?

Related Resources

• Meet Pixton
• PBwiki 2008 Back to School Challenge
• Pixton Safety Tips

Obama on Education Reform

Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers

* Recruit Teachers: Obama and Biden will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.

* Prepare Teachers: Obama and Biden will require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively.

Obama and Biden will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.

* Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, the Obama-Biden plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. They will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.

* Reward Teachers: Obama and Biden will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase.

Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

Related Resources

• EdTech for Obama
• Seeding a New Community: Yahoo! For Teachers
• Yahoo! Teachers: It's About Relationships
• Research on K12 New Media Literacy

Silicon Valley Rocks!

Silicon Valley Rocks! will take place on December 3 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

It is the first music showcase featuring performances from Silicon Valley’s tech community - from VCs and entrepreneurs to bloggers and software developers - to raise money for Music in Schools Today (MuST) -- a long-standing Bay Area non-profit that seeks to rescue school music programs from budget cuts.

Can't make it to the event but want to keep music in the schools? You can make a tax-deductible donation of any amount right here. Make sure you select the "Chart Topper" option.

Related Resources

• Silicon Valley Rocks Blog
• BAYCAT
• Why is Music Education Important?

PBwiki 2008 Back to School Challenge

Don't forget! PBwiki is giving away a free premium wiki to educators as part of the 2008 Back to School Challenge. You can also win all sorts of prizes and other cool things. Plus, get a free online professional development course just for signing up!

Setting up a PBwiki is as easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! You can learn more about all the ways you can use a wiki in your classroom to enhance and support student learning over on the PBWiki Education page, or the PBwiki Educator Community. PBwiki's are 100% ad-free and totally private.

Educators can also use PBwiki Plugins to add multimedia content with a few clicks, including spreadsheets, calendars, chat rooms, videos, Pixton comics, maps, photo slideshows, and more. If you have other embeddable widgets (like Google Gadgets), you can also insert them in your PBwiki.

To claim your free wiki, simply sign up using the following URL where you will be automatically be guided through the process of creating your free premium educational wiki: http://pbwiki.com/?special=87937&refwiki=ningedu

Once you create your wiki, you will also be eligible to participate in PBwiki's Back-To-School Challenge, which will offer teachers like you a chance to win free school supplies and other prizes by sharing lesson plans, blogging, and offering tips on creating a collaborative classroom or library.

Related Resources

• PBwiki > Education
• PBwiki > Education Directory
• PBwiki 101 > Video Tutorial
• PBwiki Help

ILC 2008: Meet Pixton

Last week I attended the Innovative Learning Conference (ILC) in San Jose, California. Despite what seemed like a very light turnout, it turned out to be a great conference experience. The educators attending ILC were engaging and it gave me a chance to meet up with some of my social networking pals in real life. I also had the opportunity to see some really good presentations.

Like most conferences there was an exhibition hall with lots of vendors touting their goods and services as the latest and greatest learning tool. All the usual ed tech suspects, with their big marketing machines, were there in force.

But what really intrigued me the most was a couple from Vancouver, B.C who have created a mind blowing, game changing and all around awesome web-based comic strip generation tool called Pixton. 

What is Pixton?

Simply stated, Pixton is a social community where anyone can easily create, share, remix and publish their comic strip stories with people around the globe. If you find a great comic in French, you can instantly translate it into English. Or German. Or even Greek. Pretty cool, eh?

There are three versions: Pixtion for Fun (public), Pixton for Schools (education) and Pixton Storyboard (private).

Pixton for Schools provides students with an active and fun learning experience. It's also a good way for teachers to tap into the multiple learning styles of their students. Teachers can also create accounts for students without requiring them to have an email address. Pixton is also an amazing digital tool for students to create digital storytelling projects.

In terms of the educational value of comics, the Pixton team emphasizes the following:

• Pathway to Literacy: Instantly capture students' attention and motivate them to learn, using a familiar medium they understand.

• Collaboration: Foster peer-to-peer interaction between students. Or between students and teachers.

• Visual Learning: Reinforce your lesson through the associative power of words and images.

In terms of teaching, Pixton for Schools has a Lesson Bank where educators can share their lessons with other teachers. Teachers can also create their own private, safe and secure virtual learning environment (VLE) right on Pixton!

Beyond the classroom, Pixton would be a great way to quickly and easily build professional development, training, tutorials or other pre or in-service materials. You can learn more about the how you can use Pixton in an educational setting or the educational value of comics by downloading the free Pixton for Schools information packet (pdf).

The Pixton tool set is very intuitive, easy-to-use, and really fun. If you browse the public gallery, you'll see all the creative ways people are using Pixton and your mind will quickly overflow with ideas.

And there are lots of ways for you to share what you create with others outside the Pixton community. You can embed your Pixton comic in a wiki (like PBwiki), blog, or share a link via email, Twitter or IM. And soon you'll be able to print out your comic too.

Clive and Daina Goodinson have created powerful and fun learning tool that is bound to be a popular and powerful learning tool for the digital and traditional classroom. All in all, Pixton is an exciting edition to the social web.

Following in the footsteps of Flickr, YouTube and Twitter, Pixton is poised to join the short list of cutting-edge, top-tier and truly innovative social web tools. The really exciting thing is that Clive and Daina are just getting started.

I can't wait to see what else they have planned for Pixton and beyond.

Related Resources

• Pixton
• Pixton on Twitter
• Pixton on Facebook
• Pixton Safety Tips
• Pixton > Gregory Corso

Microsoft to Fund Video Game Research

On Tuesday, Microsoft 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."

The games that are developed will be prototyped in several NYC schools. And while the games will be developed for use on the Xbox console, Microsoft is taking an open approach and has extended an invitation to other video game console makers to participate in the study.

Microsoft also announced a partnership with PBS to distribute digital content to the 12 million subscribers to Xbox Live. Also worth noting is that game maker Knowledge Adventure is bringing its Math Blaster game to Wii's WiiWare channel and the Xbox 360's Live Arcade. They are also working on designs for an iPhone version of the game. Given the mobile nature of today's kids, this seems like a great idea.

At the University of Michigan, a research team is looking into the potential that digital games have for teaching students concepts and skills. As part of their study, they have designed a web-based board game for teaching undergraduate students about Information Literacy Concepts and Skills. They chose a game for the task for many research-based reasons, but also because:

"Games can be with the student when an information expert cannot be. Games can be in the dorm room, at the coffee house, and anywhere else that the Internet can be accessed. Games are a way to bring information expertise to the users where they are already working."

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."

Even more importantly, and defying stereotypes, the Pew Study found that  "game playing is also social, with most teens playing games with others at least some of the time."

Related Resources

• Japanese Schools Embrace Nintendo DS
• International Journal of Computer Game Research
• Stewart Butterfield on Games & Learning
• 2009 Game Developers Conference

Mobile Filmmaker: Mankind is No Island

Mankind is No Island is a short film created by Jason van Genderen using his mobile phone. This 3 minute film cost $57 to make, was shot in New York and Sydney, and won first place at the New York Tropfest Film Festival.

While some schools are busy banning them, others are embracing mobile technology and integrating it into their classroom. For Gen Y, the mobile phone is about more than just personal voice-based communication.

This totally-wired generation views the mobile phone as an extension of their identity, status, social capital and view it as the cornerstone of their social life. Instead of banning mobile phones in the classroom, educators need to find creative and engaging ways for students to use them in project-based activities.

It's time to shift our thinking about millennial's and mobile phones.

Related Resources

• Kiwanja: Mobile Enabled Social Change
• Research on Hispanic Teens & Mobile Phones
• Generation Text: Gen Y & Mobile Phones
• Detrtius > Essentials
• Gen Y: Mobile and Ready to Learn
  

ILC 2008: Special Discount Offer

The Innovative Learning Conference (ILC) is an interactive three-day conference and exposition produced in partnership with CUE and FETC for the K-12 education community.

ILC 2008, is being held in the heart of Silicon Valley, will offer “hands-on” workshops, concurrent sessions, meetings and exhibitions.  I'm excited to be covering ILC 2008 as part of the education blogger and press corps.

I'm pleased to announce that now through Oct. 6, Barking Robot readers are eligible to receive an exclusive discount of $40 off of conference registration fees. To claim the discount, simply use the special promotional code ORG40 during registration.

See you there!

Related Resources

• CUE
• Upcoming > ILC 2008
• Flickr > Groups > ILC 2008

Mashup Edu: Research on K-12 New Media Literacy

I am pleased to announce that the book chapter that I co-authored with Dr. Mercedes Fisher, "Pedagogical Mashup: Gen Y, Social Media, and Digital Learning Styles," has officially been accepted for publication in the Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level: Issues and Challenges, to be published by IGI Global later this year.

Dr. Fisher and I wish to thank the co-editor of the book, Professor Subramaniam at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, for his hard work and direction during the writing and peer-review process.

In addition, we appreciate all the members of the peer-review committee for their feedback, suggestions and collaboration on this chapter. It's been a wonderful experience to work with members of the international education technology/media community.

We've saved the links for all the resources and references cited in the book chapter over on the social bookmarking tool delicious, which you can find here: http://del.icio.us/mashup.edu

Related Publications by Mercedes Fisher & Derek E. Baird

• Making mLearning Work: Gen Y, Learning & Mobile Technologies
• Social Software & Online Learning Design
• Social Media & Digital Learning Styles

New York Times: Insight into the World of Teaching

In Lesson Plans, part of the New York Times blog network, a group of teachers chronicle their experiences during the first weeks of the school, offering readers with a first hand account of today's classroom challenges from diverse perspectives.

The teachers participating in this conversation cover a variety of topics ranging from multi-cultural education, the 2008 presidential election, teaching students with autism and sharing their day-to-day struggles in the classroom.

At a time when there is much discussion on how to reform our public school system, it's easy to forget that our educators are doing the best job they can. Hopefully the NYT Lesson Plans series will provide "civilians" with some insight into the world of education.

My hope is that Lesson Plans will lead everyone involved in education --parents, teachers and politicians--with a better understanding of the challenges, issues and move us all towards our shared goal of providing our kids with the best education possible.

Related Resources

• Meet Mr. Basler. Science Teacher, Guru
• iCue > Election 2008
• Video Games & Learning: No Brainer
• NYT Magazine > College Issue

iCue: Teachers Guide to Election 2008

The iCue Team, part of the NBC News family, has developed a "2008 Election Viewer's Guide" for the first Presidential Debate, with two fun and engaging activities for teachers, students, and political groupies everywhere.

You can find the Election Viewer's Guide and more new activities right here in the iCue forums. And teachers can now share more ideas in the iCue Teachers' Lounge.

Related Resources

• NBC News
• iCue > Luke Russert's Blog
• CSPAN Presidential Libraries