Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

4.15.11 | Maine kindergartners to get iPads; school librarians are the link to Web 2.0; Global Kids seeks Flip cams; myths and facts about technology usage; New York Times asks students if they’re affected by the effects of too-much technology ...

A is for Apple: “Next fall, nearly 300 kindergartners in the central Maine city of Auburn will become the latest batch of youngsters around the country to get iPad2 touchpad tablets to learn the basics about ABCs, 1-2-3s, drawing and even music,” reports Clarke Canfield of the Associated Press. Some parents and educators are questioning whether the $200,000 it will cost to outfit the classes is money well-spent.

Here’s a fact I didn’t know: Maine was the first state to distribute computers statewide; in 2002 and 2003, all seventh- and eighth-graders received Apple laptops. Now about 50 percent of high school students have laptops. Read more about digital media and early childhood at Spotlight.

Plus: Writing at Mind/Shift, Peter Sims makes the case for unstructured play and a return to tinkering to spark creativity and learning skills needed in a knowledge economy.

Librarians Are an Overlooked Resource: A new report from Interactive Educational Systems Design points to library media specialists as the link between collaborative technologies such as blogs and wikis and school curricula.

“It makes good sense to involve school librarians—and especially their district library media leaders—in planning for such policies and procedures because they are likely to be among the school staff with the most practical experience helping teachers and students take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies while avoiding negatives impacts,” Jay Sivin-Kachala, vice president and lead researcher for the New York-based IESD, told Lauren Barack of School Library Journal.

Farewell, Flip Cams: The New York Times did a nice job covering how the Flip video camera went from must-have to obsolete in just four years. I love my Flip cam, and I’m sad to see production discontinued. But groups like Global Kids have an even bigger stake, as Daria explains:

Flip cameras have a real appeal for both students and adults and we love them for their ease of use and low price point. We use them at many of our school sites and programs for just about everything (PSA’s, making videos about local and global issues, documenting our workshops, etc.)

More importantly, Global Kids was chosen to be a participating partner in the Flip Video Spotlight program. The program encourages non-profits to “Share the story. Change the world.” In other words, to harness the power of video to make the world a better place.

We were selected for their matching purchase program, which means for every Flip video camera our organization purchases, they will provide a free matching unit to us! The good news is that our matching program has not yet expired.

Got that? So if you want to buy up Flip cams before they’re all gone, click here to learn how to purchase through Global Kids’ matching program storefront. It’s a definite win-win.

Communication Crisis: Feeling crushed by email, Twitter and texts? Tina Roth Eisenberg feels your pain. Her lament prompted this response by Jocelyn K. Glei, who has some good suggestions for managing communications.

Though I often see such tips aimed at adults in the workplace, I haven’t come across any specifically addressing purely social communications. Anyone know of any tips written by and for teens?

How Do They Even Do That?: In a presentation delivered this month at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, explores nine commonly held assumptions about how teens and young adults use technology. “A typical teen sends about 50 texts a day” is a true statement.

Links to the reports mentioned are available at Pew.

The Effects of a Digital Life: The New York Times has published several stories recently on the effects of heavy use of technology (see our write-up of Virginia Heffernan’s post on internet addiction and the comments that followed). Now the Times is asking students: “Do any of these resonate with you? Do you think your own use of technology might have some negative effects?”

Students 13 and older are invited to comment on the NYT’s Learning Network blog. Maybe a few educators will encourage some class discussions and responses?

100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events: Have some free time? Want to travel? From the World E-Reading Congress to the eighth annual Games for Change, Mashable lists 100 events here.