Derek E. Baird is a leading kid culture expert, futurist & author who helps brands, educators & parents connect to kids & teens through culture, social media & technology.
In his new video, fimmaker Casey Neistat makes the case for Snapchat being the future of social media, but in a fundamentally different way.
It's not like Facebook or MySpace, his argument goes, though it may be their natural evolutionary successor.
Snapchat is different, Neistat (and the gaggle of Snapchat teens he interviews) says, because it actually mirrors the way we interact in the real world.
"Snapchat is great because it's virile and vital. Because it's right now. Because there's no pressure to be produced or fake, because everything disappears in a few seconds anyway." -David Pierce, The Verge
Snapchat is a way to let people live your life with you, a surprisingly close approximation of just running into someone for a few seconds at the store or on the subway platform. Neistat points particularly to Snapchat Stories, the public-facing part of Snapchat, as the feature that made Snapchat really move into the mainstream.
To illustrate the power of Snapchat, Neistat invites Jerome Jarre, the King of Snapchatwith 1.2 million follwers, to send a Snap his fans asking them to meet him in Union Square----16 minutes later Jarre racked up 142,000 views on his Snap and several hundred screaming fans actually showed up in person.
This morning I was shocked to read over on The Daily Beast that internet trolls were bullying the daughter of the late comedian, Robin Williams. What is wrong with people? Why would anyone think this is acceptable behavior to attack a grieving family or create images that are hurtful?
But here's the thing: Twitter and Instagram (and other online communities) can't do anything unless they know about it. So just like the post-9/11 mantra: If you see something, say something. If you see a cruel or mean comment on Instagram or Twitter---report it. Flag it. Stop the cycle of mean.
If you're part of these communities, it's your responsibility to help make it a safe and positive experience. Don't just scroll past the mean comments and think someone else will take care of it. Community management is difficult, for communities like Instagram it's a monumental task.
Be part of the solution and help squash the online trolls. Come on #TeamInternet, we are better than this. Stop the cycle of mean.
At a time when #TeamInternet could have harnessed its power for good by sending her and her family love and support, the trolls have brought more darkness into the lives of this grieving family.
I just can't fathom doing this to a family who is suffering such a huge loss under tragic circumstances. I have to believe that these evil trolls haven't personally been through the experience of losing a loved one.
I just can't understand how anyone who has gone through that experience who would purposefully heap more suffering on to their broken hearts.
A new global research project conducted by Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), surveyed over 6,200 kids aged 9-14 across 32 countries--one of the largest studies of its kind.
The “Kids of Today and Tomorrow Truly Global Exploration” study focused on what VIMN valls “last wavers,” or the youngest Millennials, born between 2003 and 2008. The findings point to several key traits that shape these kids’ world views and make them distinct from older members of this generational cohort.
Kids of today and tomorrow are more “we” than “me.”
The youngest Millennials extend their positive spirit to also include a commitment to community and the wider world around them.
88% believe it’s important to help people in the community, with 61% having taken part in an effort to raise money for charity in the past year.
94% believe it’s people’s responsibility to protect the environment.
Advances in digital media play a large part in broadening horizons and inspiring kids to use the power they have at their fingertips in a positive manner:
85% agree “my age group has the potential to change the world for the better.”
71% agree “having access to the internet changes the way I think about the world.”
However, they don’t see this as anything out of the ordinary or think of themselves as “techy”:
2 out of 3 kids think that being connected is as much a part of everyday life as eating and sleeping – it’s simply how life is today. As a consequence of being constantly connected in a fast-moving world, it is natural for them to constantly adapt and be open-minded. They are resilient and life-ready.
Implications:
To reach these confident kids, it is important to communicate with them with a tone of positivity, smart but not cynical humor; and a playful approach, in line with the fun and happiness they seek in life.
Kids respond best to authentic brand messages: they recognize when someone is trying to sell them, so be honest.
It’s important to be both globally and locally relevant.
Kids of today and tomorrow are grounded.
Authenticity is a key value for kids today and they live with their feet firmly on the ground.
94% report wanting to be true to the close circle around them and 93% to be true to themselves. When it comes to the people who inspire them or the people they trust most, it’s all about close family and friends. They might feel inspired by celebrities and sports stars, but they know not to trust them.
49% of the youngest Millennials name a family member as their #1 best friend– rising as high as 90% in Morocco and 87% in Brazil.
Kids of today and tomorrow are confident.
Today’s youngest Millennials are overwhelmingly happy and optimistic.
88% consider themselves very happy, with happiness levels in this age group increasing over last six years.
Spending time with family and friends is the top factor generating happiness in most countries. Young Millennials enjoy doing activities together as a family.
Humor is important to young Millennials, who use it strategically to navigate life: 64% agree “I use humor to help me get my way.”
Happiness outweighs stress by a factor of 3 to 1: while almost 9 in 10 young Millennials describe themselves as very happy, only 24% report high levels of stress, with stress levels falling since 2006.
Kids today are re-calibrating their sense of what it is to be stressed as well as happy: they have grown up in a world of constant change and global economic crisis – for them, this is the norm.
Even in Greece, where the economic crisis is particularly acute, stress levels are only 36%. The highest stress levels among 9-14s are actually in Singapore and China (41% and 39%) – caused almost certainly by the highly pressured education systems in those countries.
In general, the youngest Millennials are characterized by an optimism with which they approach challenges: 90% agree “I can accomplish anything if I work hard enough” and 89% agree “I always try to be positive.”
At the global level, these high levels of happiness, low stress and growing positivity are combining to form a “virtuous circle” of mutual support that helps kids create an overall sense of confidence.
Belief in themselves: 65% believe not only that they are smart but also that they are smarter than other people.
Belief in their future: Despite everything, a large majority (84%) believe they will earn more than their parents
Belief in their generation: This is the winning generation … the expression “#winning” suits them perfectly and is acknowledged by many more 9-14s than by older Millennials (77% vs. 66% of 15-30s)
Belief in their creativity: 89% believe their creativity will help them to keep on winning in a fast-paced world.
Kids of today and tomorrow are simultaneously more and less sheltered.
The difference is very clearly defined: in the real world, they are much more sheltered than in the past, with parents restricting and controlling their interactions with everything. However, given advances in technology and access to a wide range of devices, there is often relatively little protection – kids have unprecedented exposure to global ideas and images.
43% own their own computer/laptop and 28% own a smartphone.
61% have a social media account (and 11 years is the average age for having a first account – despite being below the age threshold set by many social platforms’ Terms & Conditions).
9-14s have 39 online “friends” they have never met (up from five since 2006).
Kids of today and tomorrow are proud to be.
The youngest Millennials are increasingly expressing a sense of affinity with their country. Their sense of national pride is growing stronger and they are more likely than six years ago to believe it’s important to maintain their country’s traditions.
87% agree that they are “proud to be [their ethnicity]” up from 81% in 2006.
79% agree “it’s important to maintain my country’s traditions,” up from 60% in 2006.
At the same time, they are tolerant of other cultures: 74% think it’s great to have people from other countries living in the kid’s country.
Methodology
This VIMN study is based on 6,200 interviews with the 9-14 age group (at the time of research, born 1998-2003, which we have defined as “last wavers” within the Millennial generation) across 32 countries (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, US, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Poland, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa).
Video is also available in the following languages:
"It's almost too easy to agree with the majority and think, "People are right, technology is destroying the human connection." But I think just the opposite.
Technology brings people together. Shocking, I know? It sounds like some crazy marketing ploy, and many commercials support that. But the fact is, it's the truth.
I can talk to one of my friends in California, Canada or Taiwan with the touch of a button. Technology has helped me forge lifelong connection with people I would have lost touch with ordinarily. I can say I talk to more people now, whether it be through Facebook, texting or tweeting, than I did three years ago. And for the argument that nothing compares to face-to-face conversation?
I'd love to engage and be a part of that, but the fact of the matter is, without Skype or Google Hangouts, I wouldn't be able talk to a large portion of my friends. I'm not trying to advocate for technology to replace all forms of in person conversation, I'm just trying to suggest the stigma attached to it isn't necessarily just."
While it may seem like you just wrapped up finals, packed up the classroom and headed for a well-deserved summer break, the (sad) truth is a new semester is right around the corner!
As you sit on that beach, you may be wondering how can you incorporate more project-based learning activities into your course syllabus and grab the attention of your students who, let’s be honest, have the attention span of a gnat.
Even if you’re not currently enrolled in college, Findery is a powerful informal learning platform where you can tap into the collective knowledge hidden in Findery Notes and learn (or share!) more about Australia, space travel, candy, San Francisco architecture or anything else that matters to you!
Findery, is a geo-location based website where anyone can share local knowledge, hidden secrets, stories and information about the world around you. Using Findery, your students (or you!) can annotate places in the real world, leave media rich (YouTube videos, SoundCloud audio, Instagram and your own images) notes tagged to a specific geographic location.
You can even embed Findery notes into your class blog or website or share them via Twitter or on your classroom Facebook or Google+ page.
Findery for Students
Findery is a great way to create a multimedia project for just about any class. Demonstrate your learning by adding notes infused with video, images and text along the paths of your explorations. Ask your classmates to contribute their reflections, narrative feedback and resources on your Findery project through the comments.
Studying community supported agriculture? Investigate and map local food in your area, then leave notes for food sources with commentary on sustainability.
Have writer’s block? Explore the notes in a particular region and build a story around the local knowledge of that place.
If you teach American Literature, create a Set that has Notes with facts, images or videos for books or authors included on your course reading list.
Encourage observation through illustrating places. Go on a sketching excursion and post a note with the picture of your sketch. Tag your notes with #sketchproject to contribute to urban sketching fans on Findery.
Use Findery as a way to create a living history map. Share a picture of your ancestors at the docks in Liverpool with an excerpt from their diary talking about how they feel about leaving England for America.
Share a note with a video clip about the hazards of transatlantic boat travel in the 1800s and include a passage from their diary about the challenges they faced during the journey. Bring your family history to life!
It will be exciting to see how educators use Findery in the classroom, student projects or for your amazing passion projects!
Findery wants to share your Notes and lesson plans with our educator community. Send a tweet @finderyU or share the link on the Findery Facebook page, so they can share your FinderyU contributions!
I've teamed up again with my writing partner, Dr. Mercedes Fisher, to take a deeper look at how designing for social spaces can help foster a deeper sense of community among students, teachers and the course content.
But beyond the classroom, these best practices can be integrated into any online community, forum discussion or informal online education environment.
As web applications play a vital role in our society, social media has emerged as an important tool in the creation and exchange of user-generated content and social interaction. The benefits of these services have entered in the educational areas to become new means by which scholars communicate, collaborate and teach.
Social Media and the New Academic Environment: Pedagogical Challenges provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest research on social media the challenges in the educational context.
This book is essential for professionals aiming to improve their understanding of social media at different levels of education as well as researchers in the fields of e-learning, educational science and information and communication sciences and much more.
What do we know about young kids and the online social networking sites in
which they participate?
In a new report published by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center , Drs. Deborah Fields and
Sara Grimes delve into landscape of kids and social media and raise some
important questions that deserve more attention.
A growing number of kids at increasingly younger ages are engaging in
online social networking today-a development that is leading to a surge
of news stories, media attention, and economic investment.
In this
paper, scholars Sara Grimes and Deborah Fields argue that these shifts
in usage and public discussion demand a better understanding of the ways
that social networking sites mediate kids' socializing and the
opportunities and limits they place on kids' participation, particularly
for young children.
° Which children are using social networking forums and what are they doing there? ° What do we know about how online experiences influence children's social, cognitive, and creative development? °
What kind of research do we need to do now, in order to understand more
deeply who is going online, what kinds of things they are doing, and
what opportunities or challenges are involved? ° And finally, what
should designers, educators, and parents be aware of as they navigate
these new environments and try to help children make the most of them?
Just in time for the 2012 London Olympics, the US Olympic Team has launched a new mobile app for fans and supporters of Team USA.
The app is available now in both the iTunes and Google Play App Stores.
2012 Team USA Road to London, a free mobile and tablet app, tracks athletes' quest to earn a spot on the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympic Teams.
Fans can enjoy news, video, photos and a chance to interact directly with the athletes through a "Cheer" function, using their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Key features of the application include:
• Daily updates of who is making the team
• Features and stories about Team USA athletes -- we'll catch you up on the names you know by heart and introduce you to athletes of the future
• Custom-made “cheer” button which enables users to send a personal message to athletes via Facebook and Twitter
Scott Traylor, founder of 360 Kid--the award winning kid focused content and technology company--has put together an exhaustive study of the state of kids virtual worlds. It's an impressive report.
While social and chat-based destinations like IMVU and Hi5 fall in second place for the young adult and older crowd, destinations that have a toy tie-in or real world connection, like Webkinz and Build-A-Bearville hold second place for kids and tweens.
However, this VW/MMO type has been on a slow two-year decline, largely as a result of Webkinz loosing significant marketshare over that period, to newcomers like Wizard 101 and Poptropica.
While Club Penguin has dropped in placement on the best top 10 list for kids, it has done a surprisingly good job of maintaining marketshare, loosing only a small percentage compared to Webkinz."
In his address to the Council on Foreign Relations in May 2010, Secretary Arne Duncan stated:
“We must improve language learning and international education at all levels if our nation is to continue to lead in the global economy to help bring security and stability to the world and to build stronger and more productive ties with our neighbors….We have never been more aware of the value of a multiliterate, multilingual society, a society that can appreciate all that makes other cultures and nations distinctive, even as it embraces all that they have in common.”
This Guide has been prepared as part of the Department of Education's effort to expand global awareness through collaboration between students and teachers in the US with their peers around the world.
On these pages, teachers will find many projects and suggestions to begin or expand classroom projects that reach across the globe and enable students to learn WITH the world, as well as about it.
In each section of this Guide we have also provided links to elementary, middle and high school projects and links to organizations that are involved in international education via the Internet and Web 2.0 tools.
Once we reach our goal of 100,000 submissions, the cranes will be woven into an art installation - a symbolic gift from students around the globe to Japanese youth.
Why Cranes?
Cranes are sacred creatures in Japanese culture. According to legend, anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.
While anyone can contribute to the virtual mosaic on Facebook, our goal is to collect 100,000 origami cranes from young people to represent 100 wishes of support and healing for Japan. A list of wishes will begin to appear when we receive the first 1,000 cranes by mail.
On Thursday, the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention will bring together communities from across the nation who have been affected by bullying as well as those who are taking action to address it.
Every day, thousands of kids, teens, and young adults around the country are bullied both online and offline. Estimates are that nearly one-third of all school-aged children are bullied each school year - upwards of 13 million students.
Students involved in bullying are more likely to have challenges in school, to abuse drugs and alcohol, and to have health and mental health issues. If we fail to address bullying we put ourselves at a disadvantage for increasing academic achievement and making sure all of our students are college and career ready.
As part of the agenda, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett will host a policy panel with issue experts including Catherine Bradshaw of Johns Hopkins University, George Sugai from the University of Connecticut, Susan Swearer-Napolitano from the University of Nebraska, as well as the Cyberbullying Research Center's Justin Patchin.
The White House Conference on Bullying Prevention will be streamed via Facebook Live starting at 12:20pm ET. President and Ms. Obama have also released a video PSA about bullying that was released exclusively on Facebook.
• Facebook Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan: Joe, a former federal prosecutor and founding member of the Justice Department's Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Units, oversees safety and security for Facebook's more than 500 million active users.
• Rosalind Wiseman: Rosalind is an internationally recognized expert on teens, parenting and bullying. Her book Queen Bees and Wannabes, was the basis for the movie Mean Girls, and her follow-up book, Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads, addresses the social hierarchies and conflicts among parents.
• Togetherville Founder Mandeep Dhillon: Mandeep is the founder of Togetherville, a social networking community designed to connect kids, friends and families. Mandeep is one of the leading voices and authorities on pre-tween and tweens and the social web.
• MTV Vice President of Public Affairs Jason Rzepka: Jason is responsible for marshaling the network’s forces to engage and activate America’s youth on the biggest challenges facing their generation.
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