Bullying w/ Photo Peach

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Bullying

Digital Education: Is it for At-Risk Youth?

So I found this link and it was from my twitter friend Ms. Lucy Gray. It spoke about digital education being a luxury for at risk youth. It got to me because to a certain extent because at some point in my life I was considered at-risk youth and I don't know if at that point I would have been able to handle such technology as what today's students are going to be dealt. But living in today's age has made technological literacy a necessity to keep up in today's market. Families without a computer are seriously lacking in terms of information and resources and even entertainment. There are legit and lucrative businesses out here that takes advantage of people who are ignorant to the world they live in. Now as far as children go, shouldn't all school have access to textbooks? Of course? Well if that resource for information is key, why not tech? Me personally understand that tech also represents money and to those without it, can't afford to have it, and if they can, they probably don't have the money to insure it. With that in mind, I think this poses an excellent debate topic for the years to come. I hope people can come up with a solution quickly, children are at risk.

The Link
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/07/is-digital-education-a-luxury-for-at-risk-youth209.html

Google+ vs. Edmodo: Education, Content Area, Rules. Go!!

So, in following fellow educator and serious blogger, Larry Ferlazzo, I was pointed in the direction of the new social networking website getting some hyper buzz. If anyone didn't know and I'm sure you did, Google+ for the last three weeks have been generating buzz like LeBron in his senior year of high school and being that it is still in development it is invite only. Now it's exclusivity is generating hype and since facebook.com is not allowed in school, Google has the potential to fill that void to unite Social Media and Education. Edmodo has already begun to do so but goes un-noticed because it was designed only for teachers and students and have ignored most people outside the educational realm.

Critics have already begun to say that Google+ is going to fall short in its attempt to bring together the realms. But however, since it is still exclusive no one can say that and prove that they will and the idea of social media is still relatively new. Facebook is the pioneer of social media and social networking as it has brought the majority of people to the web and to one particular website. It even has it's own movie for crying out loud. So, since it is safe to say we are now in a digital age it is now at time to get with the program or get left behind. Stay tuned to see if the new Google+ can deliver in Education.

Here's a link so you can make your own theories.

http://www.hackeducation.com/2011/07/15/google-plus-and-the-future-of-sharing-educational-resources/


http://www.scoop.it/t/google-plus-for-learning

Kids, Smart Phones, and Teaching for Tomorrow!

Now, I have always said that children are the future and my collegues in education believe me and support that idea. As I was scanning the social media website of tweets on Twitter, I found Lucy Gray, @elemenous, twitter account and a link to her blog about inducing the smart phone, such as iPhones, and Droid phones, with educational apps into the classroom. This is a new generation being ushered in and they are often found with cell phones attached to the sides of their faces or either thumbs and index fingers texting away about whatever crosses their minds, and since keeping phones out of the classroom is becoming more and more difficult, it may be soon approaching a way to incorporate smart phones into the classroom. Which isn't a bad idea if you ask me. We're are already in the digital age where computers are need and used in everyday life. Why not start preparing to use phones? They could help eliminate textbooks and cut down on paper usage. I think it's just a matter of time. Every room in American nearly has computers in them. Hell I have two myself not including my smart phone and Playstation 3 which are highly pieces of technology. I saw 5 years and this is something already happening in our nation's most prestigious school. Wait and See!!!

Here's the Link too! Check it out!

http://rliberni.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/is-there-a-place-for-smartphones-as-mobile-learning-devices-in-schools/

My Man, 50 Grand, Arne Duncan!

Now, I personally, I like our United States Secretary of Education. For very bias reasons of course such as he is from the State of Illinois, he loves playing basketball and watching the NBA, he is a democrat, and most importantly, he knows the plight that children from Chicago Public Schools face on a regular basis and has gone straight to Washington D.C. with President Obama to do something about it. We all know that the effects of former President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act has left failing public schools in dis-array and have and still leads to the passing along of under performing children along the ranks of high school.

However, these children are ill prepared to deal with rigorous high school curriculum for the most part and there isn't enough time in the world, especially within four year to prepare these children legitimately for college. So he has started his own initiative call Race to the Top. Although I'm not too familiar with the policy, I do know that he is under heavy criticism. Don't believe me? Check this out...



However, Arne through his twitter account has not addressed these issues or angry yet supportive critics. However, he has through his twitter supported the Arts. I'm a big fan of keeping music, art, and p.e. programs in schools and building on them. Small things like that have the potential of going a long way. And personally, I feel as though we should never take anything away from our school, but seek to improve them. At some point they were good ideas. We need to learn ways to build provide as many outlets as possible to find interest in education in order to keep them away from the trouble that awaits them on the street. We all know it exists, preparing our children by giving them choices is the perfect way to combat those issues while at the same time protecting our future.

People Worth the Time, Both mine and yours!

My Social Stalk list also known as the people whom I follow on Twitter.


SeanBanville Sean Banville
My sites: BreakingNewsEnglish.com, FamousPeopleLessons.com, eslHolidayLessons.com, eslDiscussions.com, BusinessEnglishMaterials.com, Listen A Minute.com, et al.

Larryferlazzo Larry Ferlazzo
Inner-city High School teacher -- ESL & Mainstream

russell1955 Russell Stannard
Winner of the British Council ELTons 2010, Russell runs the popular www.teachertrainingvideos.com He tweets about using technology in ELT/ESL.

fitzwalsh Chris Fitz Walsh
Learn. Design. Teach. Dir @ New Tech Network. Co-Founder of Google Teacher Academy. Active in CUE & ISTE. Searching for perfect choc chip cookie.

elemenous Lucy Gray
Education technology and social media consultant, Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Teacher, into global education, mobile learning

LiteracyWorld Katherine McKnight
National Council of Teachers of English, National Consultant Author of 6 books on various literacy topics, Associate Professor at National-Louis University,

blutz Brad Lutz
Thoughts, news, & inspiration on online & offline advertising, web design, social media, and emerging technologies.

THEJournalDave David Nagel
Online editor for THE Journal, covering K-12 education technology

arneduncan Arne Duncan
The official Twitter page of the US Secretary of Education

BillGates Bill Gates
Sharing cool things I'm learning through my foundation work and other interests...

effpulver Jeff Keni Pulver
Technology Anthropologist; Entrepreneur; Early-Stage Seed Investor; story teller, Living in Social Media. Producer of #140conf
danielbru Daniel Brusilovsky
18 year-old entrepreneur. Founder & CEO of Teens in Tech Labs. Evangelist, Silicon Valley at JESS3. Advisor at Everyme.

jennydeluxe Jenna Wortham
New York Times tech reporter, ♥, nerd, hustler. I can teach you how to dougie.

Chad_Hurley Chad Hurley
Co-Founder, YouTube; CEO, Delicious; Chairman, Hlaska.

dannysullivan Danny Sullivan
Editor of SearchEngineLand.com, covering Google, SEO, PPC and all aspects of search engines and search marketing.