Digital Smarts Blog

Whether they are an inevitable sign of hyper-connected times or something closer to next-level helicopter parenting, Facebook groups for parents of college students are on the rise. So far in 2019, more than 200,000 people have joined university parent groups on Facebook in the United States. The groups, usually created by a parent and without university involvement, are a gathering spot for the parents or guardians of a particular school’s students. Most parents see them as a blessing as well as a curse. They are great for finding out useful tips for move in day or how to find a hotel for parent’s weekend, but some parents worry they make it too easy for parents to monitor what is going on around campus.

According to ABC News, family medicine resident Rose Marie Leslie is spreading the word about the dangers of vaping by sharing short videos on TikTok, a social media platform popular with adolescents and young adults. Leslie shares side-by-side X-ray images from patients with healthy and vaping-damaged lungs, and although she has received some criticism, Leslie has also fielded requests for more information.

Nearly 30,000 K-12 students, including many in Chicago Public Schools, are learning math by studying angles and other concepts used by professional hockey players. Students are taking an online course called Future Goals-Hockey Scholar, created by the National Hockey League and tech startup EverFi. The course helps students see the real-world applications of math and helps bring STEM to life.

A recent article from the BBC states that as researchers continue to consider the reasons children bully their peers, they are finding more and more frequently that there is more than just one type of bully. The stereotype that all bullies are aggressive with self-esteem issues is too simplistic, researchers say, and the mentality of bullying is much more complex. Aside from the blunt and open aggressor, another more Machiavellian kind of bullying has come to be recognized. Children who fall into this category tend to have better social skills, are often charismatic and liked by teachers – far from the “oafish” stereotype of bullies. Crucially, these children can turn on and off their bullying to suit his or her needs – and, of course, anonymous cyberbullying fits this modus operandi perfectly.

As you have probably read and heard, many schools are beginning to form their own e-sports teams for students who prefer their playing fields to be digital. The High School Esports league has released a new and free esports curriculum supported by Microsoft. It includes an overview of esports gaming, full lesson plans, and exploration of careers in the gaming field. It is a resource that could be good for schools interested in getting involved.

Some school districts have implemented restrictions on students' cellphone use, but parents and others caution against all-out bans, saying the phones are useful during instruction and for helping parents stay in touch during emergencies. Elizabeth Kline, vice president for education of Common Sense Media, said educators should "have a plan, not a ban."

It is too easy today for people to search for answers online, says Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at New York University Stern School of Business, who calls this trend the "Google Search Curse". Damodaran says that because we can look up answers to probelms immediately, we’re losing the agility – not just the ability - to look at a problem and solve it. He teaches his students to avoid this -- and how to be "intellectually nimble" -- by training them how to think for themselves, not just accept other people’s solutions to issues, and think through problems.

He says that obviously fact-based questions are different. You can say, “Hey, go look up on Google search what the tallest mountain in the world is.” Reasoning your way into a factual answer is not going to give you a better answer. But if your question is more analytical, he feels there is an advantage to taking a 30-minute break before you open up Google search and look for an answer.

People living in developing countries are writing essays and completing other schoolwork for college students in the US, UK and Australia -- a cheating method made easier with the Internet. The essay-for-hire industry has grown with the increases in numbers of English speakers worldwide and the availability of high-speed Internet, The New York Times reports.

According to a survey of students, teachers and librarians, large-print books, in print or on digital devices, may aid students' reading comprehension. Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans said large-print books were found to improve reading abilities and students' attitudes about reading. The survey, conducted by Project Tomorrow on behalf of Gale's Thorndike Press, also found that middle school students reported a 43% reduction in feelings of anxiety about reading when using the large print format. 67% of teachers noted that large print text reduced stress and anxiety in students reading below grade level and at grade level, and 80% teachers said large print would benefit their students who have trouble tracking when reading or lack self-confidence in their reading abilities.

Have a child you think larger print books would help? Don’t forget you can easily change the font size on most tablets, iPads, eReaders, and even on computer screens.

In attempts to prevent violence in schools, some districts nationwide are taking steps to monitor students' online activity and social media posts. Spurred in part by the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., a year and a half ago, schools nationwide are collaborating with law enforcement in new ways in efforts to avoid these kind of tragedies. Investments are being made in new security technologies that can scan social media posts, school assignments and even student emails for potential threats. Supporters say such steps make students safer, but some others have expressed concern for student privacy. Critics also worry that social media monitoring could make criminals out of students who are just having typical kinds of teenage social and emotional problems.

A school district in Massachusetts is using virtual reality (VR) to better support students with disabilities. In one example, video-production students at the middle school are using VR to create a virtual tour of the campus that can give new students an early, up close and personal view of their school.

Education Dive reports that school records are some of the most sought after data files on the black market. Each school record fetches $250 to $300, making schools, especially small ones with few cybersecurity resources, tempting targets for hackers. In the past three years, schools have been hit more than 500 times by cyber thieves.

Students in developing countries can use a free app called Library for All to access books and other resources that would otherwise not be available to them. Rebecca McDonald of Australia created the app after volunteering for hurricane relief work in Haiti in 2010. She says the books, available through the app, are authored by local writers and illustrators, allowing students to read books in their own languages. The books and educational resources can be used on a mobile phone or e-reader.

Identity theft has exploded in part because of how people use social media, says Frank Abagnale, a former con artist who later became a security consultant and now works with the FBI. "When we interview people who commit these crimes and ask them what's the No. 1 source they go to when they steal someone's identity, they say their Facebook page," he said. One tip of advice he mentions is that you should avoid posting demographic information such as birthplace and birthdate on any social media profile.

Children are more likely to look for answers to their questions online than to ask their parents, Lenovo reports following their survey of 15,226 people from 10 countries. The survey found that many parents look online to help their children with homework assignments, most often in math, and that 83% of parents generally believe advances in technology are helping their students do better in school. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) reported that they trust technology to help young people to become "more independent learners and problem solvers," although American parents were least likely of all the groups to believe this.

Automated bots are taking over social media, says Arkose Labs, adding that more than half the logins and a quarter of new social media account applications are fraudulent. These fake accounts have implications for those fighting against cyberbullying and misinformation. The company reviewed 1.2 billion third-quarter transactions across platforms, including gaming and e-commerce, and determined that about 75% of fraud on social media was committed by bots.

In a new book called Because Internet, Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how the year you first accessed the Internet determines how you talk online; how ~sparkly tildes~ became widely recognized as sarcasm punctuation; whether emojis are replacing words; and why Internet dialects like doge, lolspeak, and snek are linguistically significant. Because Internet is essential reading for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from, or for parents who are trying to communicate intelligently with their children by texts.

YouTube is reportedly wrapping up its plans to curtail targeted ads for videos directed at children in the wake of a Federal Trade Commission investigation into whether the platform violated the Children's Online Privacy Act. It is, however, unclear how YouTube will define videos "directed at children" and how it would enforce the ban. Up until now YouTube has gotten around ad restrictions by arguing that YouTube, the primary site, is not for children (the company says kids should use YouTube Kids app, which does not use targeted ads). Still, nursery rhymes and cartoon videos on the main site have billions of views. The platform’s many issues with children’s content-–horrific imagery, harassing comments-- have troubled its video creators, worried parents and empowered rivals. Getting rid of targeted ads on children’s content could hit Google’s bottom line–but this solution would be far less expensive than other potential remedies that aim to placate regulators.

A recent UK study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health reports that adolescents who checked social media more than three times daily had increased psychological distress compared with those with lower social media use. Researchers also found that reduced sleep quality and elevated cyberbullying exposure accounted for about 60% of the correlation between very frequent social media use and psychological distress among girls, but only 12% of the association among boys.

How does this translate? It appears that it is not the social media that is depressing kids, but rather their frequent use of it. This is especially so when screen time interferes with getting enough sleep, or if they are being bullied. More time on devices leads to missing out on other positive social interactions, sleep and exercise.

National Public Radio reports that researchers appear divided over the effect of screen time and social media on teens' -- particularly girls' -- mental health. Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, says social media in particular may be causing anxiety among teens, however others say that her data is skewed. Critics state smartphone use is almost ubiquitous among teenagers today, while only a small minority report mental health problems, so simply knowing that a teenager uses a smartphone (even for many hours a day) cannot reliably predict that the teenager will become depressed. Factors such as genetics or the presence of childhood trauma can serve as much larger predictors.

So why should the average parent worry about this scientific controversy? Because, one critic says, when parents simply demonize phones, "there's less of a communications channel" about what teens are encountering online. A parent's opportunity to mentor or support positive uses of media is replaced by "confrontation on a day-to-day basis." Well-meaning parents, wrongly believing the phone to be as risky as a cigarette or a beer, may actually be making their children's lives harder by fighting with them about it.