Today we bring you a new article on the impact of "screen time" on learning. As you will note from some of our previous articles the more time children spend on e-devices (phone, tablet, computer) the less they learn and retain. The report comes to use from PsyPost written by Beth Elwood and titled: Reading on a smartphone promotes over activity in the prefrontal cortex and lowers reading comprehension. The original article can be read at: https://www.psypost.org/2022/04/reading-on-a-smartphone-promotes-overactivity-in-the-prefrontal-cortex-and-lowers-reading-comprehension-study-finds-62848?fbclid=IwAR0yJl0lXkWhsrbdkfUY-M5c5fQL1wkk6cKiDQkxKII09W22bUbMw6zI6EM Here's the article in its … [Read more...]
Big Teacher Is Watching: How AI Spyware Took Over Schools
From an article at Bloomberg written by by Priya Anand and Mark Bergen At Pekin Community High School, the teachers are something close to omniscient. Education, even in-person education, is digital in the Covid-19 era, and staff members use a piece of software to watch everything students do on school-issued laptops and to keep them off banned websites. The kids are aware. “They pretty much know that they’re being monitored 24/7,” says Cynthia Hinderliter, head of technology at the school outside Peoria, Ill. Still, class clowns persist. Hinderliter pulls up a detailed dashboard of student online activity, which reveals the identities of rule breakers. A yellow “EXPLICIT” label … [Read more...]
Deepfake teachers & technology: the future of K-12 public education?
Ready to glimpse the future of K-12 public education? Put your walking shoes on and check your skepticism at the door and enter the looking glass with me... The future of K-12 public education is...Deepfake teachers. First what the heck is "deepfake"? Definition: "an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said" "Deepfake (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") is a technique for human image synthesis based on artificial intelligence(A.I). It is used to combine and superimpose (Photoshop/Edit) existing images and videos onto source images or videos using a … [Read more...]
When School Is Closed: Resources to Keep Kids Learning at Home
Let's be honest...school districts and the State Superintendent of Schools were caught with their pants down when schools were closed for the rest of the academic year. Some have been trying to come up with content. Some suggest parents and students look for themselves. Most of any content is predicated on the availability of a computer and an internet connection. Some school districts have extra computers to lend and others don't. So we've been looking to see if we can find content (if you have a computer and internet connection). We came across a site called: Reading Rockets (click the name on the left to open a link to their site). For those who prefer to see what they offer we share some … [Read more...]
Zoom Video Conferencing – A silent threat
With the societal shutdown these past couple of months the use of video conferencing has increased. In particular school; teaches; school boards and related people have started to use video conferencing to support educational efforts. On these calls information (ID's; passwords and personal information) can be exchanged and exposed. One of the rising stars has been the software called: Zoom https://zoom.us/zoomrooms Why? It's cheap. There are a number of conferencing software platforms that include: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-video-conferencing-software No software is completely safe. Saying that choosing the lowest cost software is a common goal and public schools are no … [Read more...]
Google sued by New Mexico attorney general for collecting student data through Chromebooks
Given the uncertain state of K-12 education in the foreseeable future parents and school districts are turning to online courses and materials. One of the leading suppliers of cheap laptops has been Google. Are those laptops safe? Is the information and data protected or is it used for economic benefit? In the following article you can read about a lawsuit that may pull back a bit of the curtain and reveal some of the hidden reasons companies like Google are so eager to offer cheap tools...beware? ‘Tracking student data without parental consent is not only illegal, it is dangerous’ Original article: The Verge.com Author: Nick Statt Google is facing a new lawsuit filed by the … [Read more...]
After a Week of Not Having Their Phones, Students are Much Happier Says Study
We've shared story after story showing that the more tech enters student lives and the classroom the more problems. Anti-social behavior problems rise...bullying rises..friendships fade. This article comes from Red State and Brandon Morse. It's short...give it a read and then consider placing controls at home AND ask your local school district to do the same. Cell phones in cubby holes when students enter a classroom and picked up as they exit. We’re all more addicted to our mobile devices than we think we are, and the younger you are the worse it is. Study after study has revealed that cell phones are a stress increaser, and when you mix that with the dopamine addictiveness of social … [Read more...]
How disconnecting from digital pressures can boost learning
If you've been following us you've seen articles we've shared about the negative impact "electronics" can have on learning. Test scores drop. Anti-social behaviors increase. Retention drops. All for the sake of "learning for the 21st century". Cell phones and social media distract. As screen times increases suicide risk rises. Is this ok with parents? Today we bring you another article that supports the theme...more screen time is bad for children. Take note that this article discusses France...the country of France and their efforts to stem (pun intended) the negative aspects of the digital age. If you have concerns please contact your local school district and take a stand. This article … [Read more...]
Should cell phone use during school be banned?
Distractions. Games. Texting. Surfing the web. How much time do students with smart phones spend using them during the school day? Does the use of cell phones detract from the educational experience? Does learning suffer? From an article at: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/when-smartphones-go-school In the United States, 73 percent of teens own or have access to a smart phone. A mere 12 percent have no cell phone. Those numbers come from a 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. Some 90 percent of teens with cell phones send texts. The typical number is 30 texts per day. That’s the median number from the Pew data. Additionally, the Pew report … [Read more...]
Thousands of Educational Apps are Tracking Children?
How many layers does K-12 education have? How much are/has/have computers and software infiltrated? How much information is being gathered and how is it/could it be used? Is the information about your child safe? We came across this article at Missouri Education Watch from April of 2018 that we thought you would find interesting. We're going to summarize it but if you want to read the whole piece please click: http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/bombshell-study-thousands-of-educational-apps-are-improperly-tracking-children/ written by Cheri Kisecker. EdWeek (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2018/04/android_mobile_apps_track_children_study.html) recently ran an … [Read more...]