…o create a game of exploration and discovery. Currently available for the iPhone platform, the game requires that players traverse the city in order to uncover and link ecosystem elements, rebuilding the webs that once existed, city block by city block. Using the iPhone as a kind of detector, players are notified when a needed species (mountain lion, poplar tree) or eco-link (“food for”, “shelter for”) is available nearby. M:TG is a game, but it i…

…can transform individual teacher practice by Lucy Gray Write a Story On a Phone? Are you Kidding? by Ben Bederson Taking Down the Digital Divide in Schools by John Merrow Connecting: Rigor and Relevance by Paige Kuni Johnson Education 1.0 and the Desire to Upgrade by Scott Traylor Literacy 2.0: The Potential and the Pitfalls by Lisa Guernsey The Purple Potty Theory of Passion by James Paul Gee Sesame Street at 40: A Revolution in Early Learning E…

…, it’s positioned in opposition to screen time. “Be Present. Put down your phone and focus on what’s more important in your life,” the website says. When I first mentioned it to my kids, they told me they weren’t interested. Can you blame them? These days, children’s greatest source of shame is the touchscreen. They are constantly berated for spending too much time with games and gadgets. Adults send them crazy mixed messages. We buy them devices….

…sumers within a matter of years, if not just months, compared with the telephone, radio, and television, each of which took decades. Books took a few centuries. It’s no wonder Families Matter felt dated as soon as it went to print. But these increasing penetration rates may also explain why, according to the survey featured in the report, most parents set rules around their young children’s media use on a case-by-case basis. There’s barely time to…

…d that’s the message I want my kids to have. And about the same time, the iPhone hit the market in New York, and I saw a mom at a playground, and they were trying to get home and she’d handed her phone to her child. I was a little bit surprised by it, but I started to see it more and more, and I thought actually, this could be a good way to make something that’s really engaging and that can be shared really widely. … CC: Right. So you went to Hait…

…—within three minutes, every one of the six preschoolers had reached for a phone and began texting their imaginary friends, while neglecting to interact with their babies. This poignant reminder of just how closely children are watching us prompts me to want to spend a whole lot more time—as Ellen Galinsky might put it—listening to the children themselves. We need to stop wringing our hands about the always-on phenomenon and take a good look in th…

…when he was becoming cognizant of the world was when the first iPads and iPhones came out. Instantly, they became his favorite toy. He called them “the everything machine” (which is actually now the name of one of our products) because for him they were just that—they were tools, they were toys, they were passive entertainment, they were active entertainment. They did all of these things. And I realized that I was kind of threatened by the screen…

…om/wg6ppxC4Iy — Cooney Center (@CooneyCenter) January 24, 2014 Use of smartphones for banking in low-income families-implication for making high-qual mobile media for kids? -Vicki Katz #familiesandmedia — Cooney Center (@CooneyCenter) January 24, 2014 Many here say educ. media must also be “fun”; I disagree – must be *engaging*. Dealing w/tough issues not always fun. #familiesandmedia — David Kleeman (@davidkleeman) January 24, 2014 Need to look a…

…to succeed in school. Try doing homework or project assignments on a cell phone, or signing up for health care or applying for a job—it’s daunting. The more serious concerns that Hispanic and Latino families voice about the threats to development that media and technology pose is also worth noting. Especially during a time where Hispanic and Latino families are being further marginalized by public policies and practices, we need to make sure that…

…research has found that 88 percent of adults don’t think it’s OK to use a phone at a family dinner, 47 percent of parents said they or a family member used a mobile device at dinner in the last week. Thirty-four percent said they had the TV on for all or most dinners. While today’s technology brings amazing benefits, it can too easily take the place of important in-person interaction and conversation, and families need the reminder that our kids…