Apps

WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin  reports that one Wisconsin school district is installing scanners on school buses to track students as they ride to and from school. The technology will use identification cards to track students and allow parents to use an app to see where their buses are, and even receive notifications about when their children enter or leave the bus, district officials say.

Generation Z (roughly those born between 1995 and 2015) connects much more with Instagram than Facebook, some of them even having multiple Instagram accounts, Taylor Lorenz says in an article in Digiday . "Influencers are here to stay," she says, and points to the powerful engagement influencers have with followers, making  Gen-Z the latest object of marketer fascination. Teens use digital media in a very different way than other generations, even having their own language, and there are clear differences across generations when it comes to the Internet and social media consumption.

Looking for something to add a fun digital component to your children’s school projects and have them learn some new tech skills? Book Creator is an iPad app (there’s also a version for Chrome) that allows users to create ebooks that can be easily shared. Kids are able to use text, images, audio and video in their ebooks, making this a tool that can be used in many contexts or homework projects.

While old apps like Snapchat and Instagram are still among teen favorites, there are new apps for social media, video-sharing and homework help that becoming hot with teens and tweens. Check out these new titles listed in an article entitled Apps you've never heard of that your teen is already using , complete with a description of the app and what parents need to know about it.

National Public Radio reports about 600 school districts are expected to start using the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise's mobile app that allows for anonymous reporting of school threats and bullying. The app, currently in use in 150 districts, is available to schools for free. Students say they're more likely to report their concerns on an app, than to go in person to tell a teacher or administrator.

A recent study reports that 81% of  parents with children age 11 or younger say they have let their child watch videos on YouTube. Of the parents surveyed, 34% say they allow their children to watch YouTube regularly, and 47% reported they allow it on occasion. Also interesting is that of these parents, 61% reported that their children have come across unsuitable content on the platform. The study comes in light of a Federal Trade Commission complaint by advocacy groups that YouTube illegally collects data from kids to target ads.

MediaPost Communications reports that Senate Democrats are urging the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize "manipulative marketing practices" in preschool children's apps. Advocacy groups have also made the same request following a report by University of Michigan Medical School that discovered that 95% of free Android apps designed for children under 6 featured ads. Some of the ads were camouflaged in items that appeared in the games, the study found. One game mentioned in the study, and referenced by the lawmakers, offers young players who watch a video ad the opportunity to buy “more effective medicines” to treat sick animals through the app.

Lego has unveiled an Instagram campaign that encourages teens and millennial adults to find inner peace and an escape from technology through creativity with its bricks. One spot shows a young woman becoming frustrated with yoga and turning to Lego instead and the brand says, "It's zen, in the shape of a brick."

Nearly 25% of Americans will use Pinterest this year, and while the majority of users are female, the platform is looking to expand to appeal to more men, eMarketer reports. The platform's focus on developing distinctive tools for discovery is succeeding in making Pinterest a go-to source for that purpose across a wide range of demographics, and many parents and teachers are using the platform to collect ideas for school research projects. How does your family use Pinterest?

A new study done by the University of Michigan and the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor analyzed 135 popular children’s apps and found that many “routinely lure young children to make purchases and watch ads”. The researchers found that these apps are riddled with problematic advertising methods, including manipulation and shaming when children did not make “in game” purchases offered to “enhance” gameplay. Others have raised this alarm in the past, but the University of Michigan study is the first to look at exactly how many ads make their way into kids’ games, and what their advertising strategies are.