Digital Smarts Blog

Kids who are reluctant readers or who have special needs could be more engaged by learning to code first, asserts Kristen Brooks, a K-5 iPad lab teacher in Georgia. In an interesting blog post for parents and teachers, she suggests that coding can help students develop the skills needed to learn how to read, and shares several suggestions to help integrate coding in the classroom that also can be used by parents at home. An article on the National Public Radio site on coding for kindergarteners is also a useful read on this subject.

Financial institutions are increasingly adopting military tactics and employing ex-military personnel as they ramp up practices for preventing cybercrime. Mastercard has set up a cybersecurity command center run by a former Delta Force officer, at least a dozen banks have opened similar hubs for gathering intelligence, and "combat drills" that test responses to simulated cyberattacks are rapidly growing in popularity.

Twitter has announced that user behavior, not simply tweet content, will now be a factor in the way conversations are modified, or even blocked from general consumption. Content from users could be demoted by the platform's algorithm if the users have been blocked frequently, if they have multiple accounts using the same IP address, or if they regularly tweet to a large number of accounts that they don't follow.

About 1,800 students from 81 countries competed in the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held this year in Pittsburgh. One high-school student's project was aimed at combating fake news after he says he nearly fell for a false headline on Facebook. Ryan Beam says he almost believed a headline about the Pope endorsing Donald Trump (and indeed, it was untrue), which got him to thinking of ways to look at the fake news situation for himself. His study found that people who identified themselves as Independents were the least likely to share misinformation.

Can pricey tech prevent school violence? School leaders in some communities are investing in high-tech security systems used by the military and law enforcement to boost campus safety. These modern tools range from instant background checks for visitors and social-media monitoring software to gunshot-detection sensors and ID cards equipped with panic buttons. However, even as the school security market emerges as a multibillion-dollar industry, there is little evidence the tools will prevent another shooting.

This may not surprise you, but during disasters, Twitter is full of false information. When confronted with falsehoods, “86 to 91 percent of the users spread the false news by retweeting or liking,” reports a new study from the University at Buffalo. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate how apt Twitter users are at debunking falsehoods during disasters,” said Jun Zhuang, associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the school, and the lead author of the study. “Unfortunately, the results paint a less-than-flattering picture”.

Parents are often urged to talk to their kids about how to be a good digital citizen. But how does that relate to citizenship in general and how do the characteristics of a good citizen parallel — and differ from — those of a good digital citizen? This infographic can help start a discussion with your kids.

In the past, when introducing the concept of digital citizenship, teachers and parents have talked about the idea of a digital footprint—the “tracks” kids leave behind as they interact on social media and publicize information about themselves online. Experts are now saying the more accurate term to use is  “digital tattoo,” to emphasize the idea that any information they put online is permanent and cannot be undone.

Researchers have found that teen girls who had experienced intimate partner violence or sexual abuse were three times more likely to engage in sexting, compared with other girls, while adolescent boys who had been sexually abused or victimized were two times more likely to sext than other boys. The findings, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, also showed that girls, when compared with boys, were three times as likely to feel pressure to sext and twice as likely to struggle with moderate-to-severe depression.

Some US high schools are developing eSports leagues – organizations for playing video games competitively  - and have seen increases in engagement and academic performance from students who are otherwise withdrawn at school. The positive outcomes have moved some educators in California to develop a curriculum around eSports that includes reading books like Ready Player One, and when approved, will satisfy high-school English credits.

There is a resurgence of interest in "dumb" phones as many are believing that smartphones are causing both kids and adults to miss out on aspects of family life. From pared-down flip phones that offer a limited array of apps and services to truly basic (but stylish) new devices that allow only calling, texting and a few other basic functions, consumers have options if they want to take a break from smartphones. One such phone is the Light Phone, a stripped down cell phone that offers calling, texting, an alarm clock and driving directions. Look for other phones on the horizon. Also asking your kids what they think about a pared down phone can start a conversation about phubbing and being addicted to a smartphone.

Here’s an interesting digital idea for teachers, and maybe even something parents and students can help teachers with: creating "how-to" videos. High school teacher Jason Muniz writes in a blog post that creating and showing videos of instructions as part of his lessons allows him to spend more time engaging students and boosting their learning.  In his post, he shares the process and tools he uses to create the videos and addresses some of the challenges he has faced.

Anaheim High School in California is believed to be the first in the nation to create a digital map of its building for first responders. Julian Harvey of the Anaheim Police Department feels the technology is a "game changer" for responding to incidents, as often the floor plans they are using are outdated or don’t always have details such as what might be behind a door.

As research consistently shows a clear impact that social media usage has on the psychosocial health of teens, researchers are suggesting to include social media use questions in standardized adolescent psychological screenings, according to a recent Pediatrics article. This will give pediatricians and other health care providers  the opportunity to address concerning responses through the development of a family media plan, follow-up visits or behavioral health referrals. Questions researchers would like to see asked of adolescents include the following:

• Which social media sites and/or apps to you regularly use?
• How long do you spend on social media sites and/or applications in a typical day? (If the child answers more than 120 minutes per day, this would be a concerning response.)
• Do you think you use social media too much? (If they answer yes, ask if they have attempted to remedy it.)
• Does viewing social media increase or decrease your self-confidence?
• Have you personally experienced cyberbullying, sexting or an online user asking to have a sexual relation with you?

First Lady Melania Trump is offering a new initiative for American children on the subjects of well-being, social media and opioid abuse. Her program is called simply, “Be Best.” Although the program focuses on some of the biggest issues facing children today, it has also received some criticism for merely being a repackaging of projects that already exist, including an initiative by the National Safety Council that encourages people to talk to their doctors about opioid abuse, and guidelines distributed by the Federal Trade Commission on children’s social media activity. Others have also criticized the title of the campaign, pointing out that children often worry too much about being the “best,” leading to issues such as depression, loss of self esteem, and even thinking that they deserve to be bullied because they feel they are not the “best.”

YouTube has pulled videos from more than 250 channels that contained paid promotions for EduBirdie, a service that allows students to pay for ghostwritten essays. Although the service isn't illegal, YouTube's policies forbid advertising for "academic aids." EduBirdie's own channel on YouTube has also been severely reduced. Where once there were dozens of videos, there is now just one left, a guide to how to write an introduction to an essay.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, known as COPPA, is a federal law designed in part to protect children under 13 years old on websites designed for kids, but a recent study found that just because a children’s app is certified complaint, it may not be any better than apps that are non-certified. The study, published in the journal Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, states that because  app certification may not guarantee security, parents should research apps their children are using and make sure they understand if and/or where personal data is stored or whether the information is being traded. It is also important to research what information the app can access from the device on which it is downloaded. For more information, check out the Federal Trade Commission site on Kids and Mobile Apps.

National Public Radio recently interviewed the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, about his thoughts on fake news online. It is interesting to remember that Wikipedia used to be the sole subject of so many teachers’ ire because students often used information from the site in their reports without vetting it, but now that seems almost quaint in the face of other fake news scandals.

Wales feels we all need to be skeptical of the sources of things we share online. He said many times people will find a story that confirms what they already believe about a particular subject, so they go ahead and share it. But the truth is, anyone could have written that article, and without a quick google search to vet the sources, you could just be perpetuating the problem.

Facebook recently announced it is working on a new feature called Clear History, leaving many critics to ask why something like this hasn’t been available all along. The feature will allow you to see which websites and apps send information to Facebook when you use them, let you delete that information from your account, and turn off Facebook’s ability to store that information. While the feature will not be available for a few months, Facebook continues to try to add privacy features to belay user’s heightened concerns about online exposure of their personal data.

Facebook is working on a technique that allows people to feel smartphone notifications through their skin when they are unable to access their device.  According to a paper published by the social media giant’s research team, in-house scientists are working on a sleeve-like prototype that translates words into vibrations delivered by pads onto the arm. The wearable device could be useful in situations when a person is unable to check their smartphone, such as during a meeting or while in class. Undoubtedly that will make for some interesting changes to a school’s smartphone user policies!