These three articles are interesting in terms of where we ourselves and our students are coming from. The main point seems to be what place does technology have in our collective lives? The implications are interesting for our next steps in their education.

ARTICLE: Little brains suffer with too much screen play

"Too much time in front of the screen playing the wrong kind of computer games can delay a child's development or lead to serious damage in adults, according to new research on the impact of media and technology on the brain."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/little-brains-suffer-with-too-much-screen-play-20131003-2uxh5.html

ARTICLE: Children reading less - apps, games 

 ... "It's hugely impacting on teenagers: 11-17 year-olds are actually dropping their participation in quite a broad range of activities in order to play game apps," said Henry."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2013/sep/26/children-reading-less-apps-games

ARTICLE: Ubiquity and temptation

"The ease and frequency of access to the resources and tools I need, when I need them has streamlined much of my working and social life. However, I am also very aware of the compulsion that can come with such convenience. I am more present in the moment when I don’t have the option to check or contribute to my channel feed. Even writing this blog post, I had to deliberately close my email and Twitter tabs. The temptation to snack on tidbits of information; to chip away at other projects, the habitual scanning of articles, posts, comments, etc from a variety of streams is all part of striking a balance with the new ‘infotention’. It’s almost like we are attending a race where we are constantly scanning the track to see who to cheer for. In the same motion, we also have to filter out the information that is irrelevant and identify what is not worth paying attention to. I believe we can do this more effectively by drawing a clear line between when we engage with technology and when we switch it off. (Remember when we used to actually turn off our technology? Now we just put it to sleep and/or charge it - in a constant state of readiness!). Knowing when to extract ourselves from our digital spaces enables us to be more present in our face to face experiences, relationships, and even the flow of our own thoughts. Celebrating the ubiquity of personalised devices is not to be undermined here. Rather, being more mindful of achieving a better balance between our technology and attention is key. If information is not given a sustained and meaningful context, it quickly downgrades to nothing more than a diversion."

Read more: http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/libraries-and-learning/13-09/ubiquity-and-temptation

"Turn any book or document into a digital classroom.Subtext is a free iPad app that allows classroom groups to exchange ideas in the pages of digital texts. You can also layer in enrichment materials, assignments and quizzes—opening up almost limitless opportunities to engage students and foster analysis and writing skills."

For more information on this iPad tool, click here,

" ...Reading has a reputation for being an isolated activity. We often think of people in their pajamas or bathrobes, sunk into a massive armchair in front of a roaring fire, with a mug of hot cocoa in one hand and a page-turner in the other. Books have the unique ability to suck us into a whole new world where our imaginations are the only limit. So how can reading be social?"

Click here for the full article (ignore the ads if you can and read on past them):
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/can-reading-be-a-social-experience/ 

Interesting article:

"... Unlike other video games, there are few if any instructions in Minecraft. Instead, like the name suggests, the goal of the game is to craft, or build, structures in these 16-bit worlds, and figuring things out on your own is a big part of it. And parents, it’s not terribly violent. Sure, you can kill a few zombies while playing in the game’s “survival mode.” But in its “creative mode,” Minecraft is about building, exploration, creativity and even collaboration."

Click here for the full article: 
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-obsession-and-an-educational-tool/?_r=1

Reusing pictures found in Google Images can breach copyright, but you can filter your results so only those images which can be shared legally will be included in your results.

Follow these simple steps to filter your images:

Type in the search term as usual.

• Click on the Cog icon on the the right hand side of the screen.
• Click on Advanced Search from the drop down menu.
• Near the bottom of the Advanced Search page choose the Usage Rights filter that suits, and click on Advanced Search.
• The previous results will now be filtered to those that can be legally reused.

It's easy ... when you know how!

Simply type "is:unread" in the Search box and the unread messages will appear, as if by magic.. Good for, if you're anything like me, when you leave a message marked unread to go back to later when you have more time - and then you don't want to spend hours searching for it.

See? Not even 3 minutes, that one! :) :)

I may well be 'preaching to the choir' here but have you discovered the snipping tool in Windows? 

Ever wanted just a part of a page/image and have gone through the long process of taking a screen shot, putting it into a paint or drawing program and cropping from there? Want to not ever have to do that again?

To use:

1. Press the WINDOWS key on your keyboard (bottom left, next to the Ctrl key) and type in 'snip'. In both Windows 8 and previous versions (although it may display differently), the snipping tool will appear in the menu. 
2. Hit ENTER. The box (pictured on the right of this post) will then appear. 
3. Click NEW to select the rectangle shape as a default or choose your shape from the drop-down menu. 
4. CLICK and drag the cross-hair cursor that appears around the object you want to snip. 
5. RELEASE the mouse button. 
6. SAVE the image that appears in its own screen. 
   

DONE! :) :)

“This article by Hope Mulholland for TeachThought offers up what looks like a great list of resources on this very important topic. If you are just wading into the world of BYOD or want to learn more, have a look.”

"BYOD policies–Bring Your Own Device–allow schools to bring technology into the classroom with a “bottom-up” approach. Such an approach can save money, allow students to use their own devices, and encourage a student-centered approach to learning.

Recently we explained that “digital natives or not, technology dropped into the laps of students in schools isn't always as accessible as it might be. By allowing students to bring in their own devices for learning–rather than insisting that they learn both content and device in school–there is an important opportunity to connect with not just their personal lives, but their natural way of doing things.” But when you allow students to bring in hundreds of unique devices into a formerly closed technology setting, chaos can result–which is where, unfortunately, policy can be necessary."

Ever wondered how to cite Twitter in an assignment?

"Twitter is a big part of education and technology. But what happens when it needs to be included in an academic paper? Until now, you had to do your best to guess the proper citation for tweets in academic papers. That all just changed."

Have a look at the article linked to above or click here for a link to another site for MLA and ALA referencing rules. The sooner students discover these new rules (to add to how they currently reference print and other digital media), the easier they will find transition to the next level of education both within Cashmere High School and beyond.