I just listened to Aimee Mullins's just-posted TED Talk of last October and thought to myself anyone who loves teaching, young people, and the power of the human spirit would resonate with this. Aimee is an actor, athlete, and model (full bio here) who has not merely overcome and pushed through the adversity of being born without fibula, or shin bones, but used that adversity to find and bring out … [Read more...] about Helping kids gain from adversity: Inspiration for parents, teachers
School & Tech
Unruly schoolbus gets Wi-Fi, calms down
Clearly, what goes around comes around. I used to do homework on the schoolbus (we won't go into how long ago), and now – since so much homework involves the Internet, apparently – students can now do homework on schoolbuses. IF they're Wi-Fi-enabled, of course. And the Internet's presence, interestingly, on the bus seems to be having a calming effect – see "Wi-Fi Turns Rowdy Bus Into Rolling … [Read more...] about Unruly schoolbus gets Wi-Fi, calms down
Did school spy on student? FBI investigating
A Philadelphia-area family has filed a lawsuit against their child's school district for spying on students using Webcams on a school-supplied laptops inside students' homes, and the FBI is investigating, the Washington Post reports. "The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws." The district supplies laptops to all 2,300 … [Read more...] about Did school spy on student? FBI investigating
Clicks, cliques & cyberbullying, Part 2: Whole-school response is key
Cyberbullying is a serious problem that, according to research, is the most common online risk for young people, affecting about a quarter of US 13-to-17-year-olds. Schools and courts are struggling to figure out how to deal with student behavior that occurs off school grounds but can have such a disruptive, sometimes destructive, effect on school. All the discussion about the legal and First … [Read more...] about Clicks, cliques & cyberbullying, Part 2: Whole-school response is key
More online freedom for students=lower risk: UK watchdog
Students who are "given a greater degree of freedom to surf the Internet at school are less vulnerable to online dangers in the long-term," the BBC reports, citing a just-released study by Ofsted, the British government's education watchdog found. Ofsted looked at the state of online safety in 37 schools for students aged 5-18, finding that five of the schools had outstanding Net-safety conditions … [Read more...] about More online freedom for students=lower risk: UK watchdog