I am constantly swinging from my awe at all the internet brings us and my horror at our collective obsession with screens. As the first generation of parents to really contend with mobile devices, we are left to use some knee-jerk judgement that often expresses itself, in my house, as total capriciousness. I am really looking forward to the spring P4P event on "digital kids, digital families" as a space to ponder more deliberately and with you all!
I have a thing for twitter, despite the way it fragments my brain, because it provides such a deluge of interesting links and information. Somehow I wandered onto the
#1stchat which allows first grade teachers everywhere to gather once a week and share ideas. One of the most popular apps/websites mentioned was
Wonderopolis and it really is super-cool, even for adults. Featuring a new "wonder" everyday, it provides a nudge for non-fiction reading and provides excellent content - noncommercial, as far as I can tell (screen shot of some wonders, below) -- would love to know others' favorite apps/sites for kids -- use comments!
Also on twitter,
#kidlit where great books and literacy ideas are shared,
#edchat where general education policy is discussed,
#plpnetwork for conversations about digital learning, and
#meschools for issues relating to Maine education policy / opportunity (you do not need a twitter account to read these threads, just to post).
For general thinking about media and education,
KQED's Mindshift Blog is excellent and provocative and
Commonsense Media is good for some grounding.
