KIDS IN A NETWORKED WORLD

AON Mothers Group July 16, 2015

Thomas Steele-Maley | Director of Innovation GEMS World Academy — Chicago

OUR TIME

• Big Picture of Technology, Education and Society • The Parent in a Networked World: • The Networked Family • Parent Workshop

WHAT IS A NETWORKED WORLD?.

The explosion of [a]technologically mediated global network has resulted in a world in which virtually everyone, everywhere, has the potential to reap the benefits of connectivity to the network.”

-Harvard Center for International Development

“When new media enters a society, its changes the society as a whole, it is not something you can opt out of….”

Michael Wesch

“We need to build an arc of learning where the unbound information and learning that comes with the networked world is embraced while we also provide a bounded and structured environment that allows for unlimited

agency to build and experiment with things within….”.

John Seeley Brown

CORE QUESTION

PARENTS AND THE NETWORKED WORLD Vision, Mission, Policy and Program

CORE BELIEFS

.

“Our technological environment is robust and interactive. Students will use technology to construct technical and twenty-first century knowledge that incorporates ways of investigating, communicating, analyzing, and expressing in a technologically rich global environment— Our technology programs encourage research, critical reading and writing, finding, validating, leveraging, and synthesizing Information, mapping, modeling and representing data, communication, collaboration and problem solving, making, service and leadership.”

- GEMS World Academy- Chicago Technology Policy

OUR MISSION, POLICY AND PROGRAM

NETWORK SAFETY

• Internet filtering

• Digital citizenship education

• Parent learning lab

• Parent Controls

• Mission and vision aligned curriculum our innovations

• Continuous faculty and staff staff research

• Technology Plan and AUP

CASE STUDIES

1000+ FREE do-it-yourself challenges for K-8 kids

DIY.org is a hybrid online platform for students to discover new skills and share what they make and do with a global community. Educators everywhere are using DIY to explore project-based learning and introduce collaboration into their classroom. Blend the DIY Skills platform into your core curriculum, or simply let your students explore new subjects while honing their creative skills at school and at home.

Select a Skill

Do Challenges

Build a Portfolio

Parent Pathways to Appropriate Technology use

City as Landscape for Learning

FIELD STUDIES

• Vision and Mission aligned

• Active use of iPads

• Use of data collection in global projects

• One of a kind use of technology

Parent Option for Tech Enabled Field Studies

Apps we Suggest for Coding

Hopscotch

Example of excellent Mathematics and Language Apps

Essential App for Parents

• SnapChat

• YikYak

• AfterSchool

• Remember the Child Online Protection Act Under 13’s are not allowed (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram….)

by DEFAULT

with EFFORT

PRIVATE

PUBLIC

KEEPS US AWAKE AT NIGHT

Leah Brown, LCSW * GEMS World Academy Chicago

Kids in a Networked World Creating a healthy relationship between technology and family life

Our 21st Century Reality: Kids Have Tech Saturated Lives

Data compiled from Kaiser Family Foundation study (Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds):

8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day — which can add up to more than 53 hours a week.

Girls spend more time than boys using social networking sites (:25 vs. :19), listening to music (2:33 vs. 2:06), and reading (:43 vs. :33). Boys spend more time than girls playing console video games (:56 vs.: 14), computer games (:25 vs. :08), and going to video websites like YouTube (:17 vs. :12).

Media use increases substantially when children hit the 11-14 year-old age group, an increase of 1:22 with TV content, 1:14 with music, 1:00 using the computer, and :24 playing video games, for total media exposure of 11:53 per day (vs. 7:51 for 8-10 year-olds).

7th-12th graders report spending an average of 1:35 a day sending or receiving texts. (Time spent texting is not counted as media use in this study.)

Top online activities include social networking (:22 a day), playing games (:17), and visiting video sites such as YouTube (:15). Three-quarters (74%) of all 7th-12th graders say they have a profile on a social networking site.

Finding a Healthy Balance

The AAP policy statement offers recommendations for parents and pediatricians, including:

For Parents:

Parents can model effective “media diets” to help their children learn to be selective and healthy in what they consume. Take an active role in children’s media education by co-viewing programs with them and discussing values. Make a media use plan, including mealtime and bedtime curfews for media devices. Screens should be kept out of kids’ bedrooms. Limit entertainment screen time to less than one or two hours per day; in children under 2, discourage screen media exposure.

See more at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/managing-media-we-need-a-plan.aspx#sthash.tfT3GMph.dpuf

SAMPLE FAMILY CONTRACT (adapted from Neuvos Dads Group in Boulder, Colorado)

1. It is our phone and our Ipad. We set the rules.2.  We will always know the password.

3.   If it rings, answer it.  It is a phone. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the call is from Mom or Dad. Not ever. 4.  Hand the phone to one of your parents promptly at 9:00pm every school night & every weekend night at 10:00pm.  It will be shut off for the night and turned on again in the morning.  5.  Phone and Ipad do not go with you to the bathroom. First, they couldget damaged. Second, the bathroom is not the place to watch a movie or chat on the phone.6.  If it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, or vanishes into thin air, you are responsible for the replacement costs or repairs.  It may happen, so you should be prepared.7.  Do not use this technology to lie, fool, or deceive another human being.  Do not involve yourself in conversations that are hurtful to others. Be a good friend first or stay the heck out of other people’s mean conversations.8.  Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would notsay in person.

9.  Do not text, email, or say anything to someone that you would not say out loud with their parents in the room.  10.   Search the web for information you would openly share with your parents.  If you have a question about what may be inappropriate, ask your parents.

11.  Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public, unless we have agreed on an exception.  It should be off especially while speaking with another human being.  You are not a rude person; do not allow the phone or Ipad to change that. 12.  Do not send or receive pictures of your private parts or anyone else’s private parts.  Don’t laugh.  Someday you may be tempted to do this despite your high intelligence.  It is risky and could ruin your teenage/college/adult life.  It is always a bad idea.  Cyberspace is vast and more powerful than you.  And it is hard to make anything of this 13.  Don’t take a zillion pictures and videos.  There is no need to document everything.  Live your experiences. 

14.  Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision.  It is not alive or an extension of you.  Learn to live without it.  Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO – fear of missing out.15.  Download music that is new or classic or different than the millions of your peers that listen to the same exact stuff.  Your generation has access to music like never before in history.  Take advantage of that gift. Expand your horizons.16.  Play a game with words or puzzles or brain teasers every now and then.17.  Keep your eyes up.  See the world happening around you.  Stare out a window.  Listen to the birds.  Take a walk.  Talk to a stranger.  Wonder about things without feeling like you have to “google it.”.18. Try to expand the use of the Ipad beyond what your friends use theirs for. Seek out cool apps, solve problems, think of its potential in helping the world.

You will mess up.  We will take away your device.  We will sit down and talk about it.  We will start over again.  We are always learning.  We are on your team.  We are in this together.

Warning Signs Is my child addicted to technology?

Is my child spending increasing amounts of time invested in: gaming, texting, checking their social media account?

If my child is not able to connect online, do they become irritable and miserable? Are they thinking about their social media, games, etc. while doing other activities?

If my child’s device is taken away, is his/her response rational or irrational? Will they become angry, depressed, violent, sit in the corner and cry, or refuse to eat?

Is my child lying to friends and family to conceal how much time is spent online?

Do I see my child withdrawing from other activities he/she used to find pleasure with?

PARENT WORKSHOP1. Using the post it notes provided please

write 2-4 questions you still have or want to explore more

2. Place the notes into categories on the tables behind the seating area. Take time to look at others work.

3. Return to your seat for a group question-answer and discussion session

RESOURCES

THANK YOU

AON Mothers and All Participants

Please visit our companion course for the Parent Learning Lab Serieshttps://gemschicago.instructure.com/courses/209/