I love to read. Don't you?
In honor of the I Love to Read festivities that have been taking place at Eagle View this week, I wanted to find a cool reading-themed tool. I give you Biblionasium. A great website (and soon to be app) that provides a community space just for kids to search, discuss, and review books that are important to them. Think "kids version of GoodReads" and you'll get the general idea. One cool difference is that students are managed on a per classroom basis so kids in a class can discuss, rate, and recommend what they're reading to their friends. It's also safe since kids are registered by a teacher and kept within class units. (No creeps be creepin' here)
Check out this video to get an overview of how this cool tool supports independent reading.
President's Day Activities: Take a Virtual Stroll Around the White House
Looking for a fun, technology activity to do for President's Day? Try the White House virtual tour. Students can navigate through the floor plan of the various levels of this important building while learning about important attributes or historic trivia of each room. This activity could be a good segue into exploring a specific president or historical event that took place there. Find the tour here.
Free is good.
Google recently acquired the makers of Toontastic and Telestory. If you've never heard of these two apps, you really need to check them out; both are some of the best apps out there for younger students to create and tell stories in a fun and engaging way. If you need to mix it up a little, Toontastic is a fun alternative to Powerpoints or written stories that are only handed in.
Google has announced that starting sometime in March, they will make both of these apps free which is great because they were rather expensive for the full versions. Search for Toontastic or Telestory in the App store.
A Note on YikYak (and other apps for those up to no good)
You may have heard of this app with the Yak on the icon; it has been in the news recently. If you haven't, imagine a room full of tech developers brainstorming the next big app. For help, they've brought in a focus group of bullies and say, "What can we design that will help you do your job more effectively?" Flash forward six months and you've got YikYak. It's an app that allows you to anonymously post truly awful things about your peers for everyone else in the area to see. Thus, it's the perfect app for school related cyber-bullying.
YikYak has gotten a lot of flak for obvious reasons and it has been difficult for the creators to defend the app by giving a useful reason for its existence. As a result of the YikYak fallout, many schools (this one included) have petitioned YikYak to set up a geolocation fence around the district. Basically, it reads the GPS of a student's phone and if they're on campus, it won't let them connect and use YikYak. This doesn't stop poor behavior while at home or elsewhere, though.
Be aware: these anonymous apps are very popular and aren't going away for obvious reasons. So, as soon as one gets curtailed somewhat, three more pop up. Try to be aware of their names and typical use by students to be on the lookout for any uncouth behavior. A few others you should be aware of are:
Ask.fm - One of the first anonymous apps causing problems with cyber-bullying. Still popular with some students who like to ask inappropriate, hurtful questions about their peers.
Snapchat - A very popular social app that allows you to send photos, video and text to another user that will disappear from their device in less than 10 seconds. So imagine what a teenager might send pictures of when it supposedly disappears without a trace within a few seconds. Users found out last year that many photos and videos that were supposed to have been deleted were leaked onto the Web.
Tinder - Despite selling itself as an alternative to online dating sites like eHarmony, Tinder is essentially an app created for college students looking to "hookup" by finding each other based on profile pics. The app is huge on college campuses but has made it to high schools as well. Since it is image based, the images often are less than appropriate.
Omegle - Another app that allows anonymous chatting with complete strangers. It also includes photo and video support so that complete stranger with whom you're chatting can send you pictures and video. It tries to hide behind an "18 and over" restriction along with buttons like "Don't get pervy" but this is definitely one to watch out for.
Kik - Another chatting app that allows users to send text, pictures and video outside of the normal text message or email channels. Kik's downside is that it is also popular with predators; it has internal apps that allow strangers to find and connect with students based on their profile. Depending on the app and usage, chats (and pix/vids) can be anonymous or not. Fake profiles are also often setup in the cases of bullying.
Finally, we have our honorable mentions. These apps are very popular and are mostly used for very cool and positive things worldwide. However, they are also used for inappropriate things so teachers and parents should keep an eye on their usage.
Vine - Allows users to send 7 second videos to each other.
Tumblr - A photo blogging site with both appropriate and inappropriate photos/videos.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - Popular social networks with Instagram being the most popular of the three nationwide with kids.
Reddit - A forum and chat service structured by topic. Some topics and associated text, pictures and video are not appropriate for children.
The best advice is to be aware of apps that are popular among students and check your own children's phones. If you ask a student to walk you through an app of which you're suspicious and they can't or won't, assume the worst.
