ISTE Connects

Five Ways to Make Networking Work for You

Caroline D. Haebig — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:42:24 GMT

I recently attended the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association conference (the Wisconsin ISTE affiliate). By the time I asked my colleagues what time we had to “log-out” of the hotel (yes, I actually said this by mistake!) I couldn’t help but beam with excitement about the conversations and interactions I had with like-minded, innovative people.

I was already planning new ways to integrate what I learned, and I appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with others I’d had the pleasure of maintaining professional connections with over the years. Yet, I couldn’t help but think that the personal connections I made were what made this experience so valuable. Here are five ways to make the most out of your networking opportunities:

1. Building Powerful Connections

After the conference I continued thinking about how interacting face-to-face with people holds inherent value. Although some people are able to create ongoing relationships with others solely in a virtual setting, most of us are more likely to form relationships and engage in ongoing interactions with people they meet in person. When people are able to share their personal anecdotes, best practices, and professional experiences, they are more likely to continue their conversations and extend learning beyond the conference.

2. Constructing a better Conference Format

Not all face-to-face conferences are equal. Although some professional organizations are facing the “death” of their conference or dwindling membership, others are flourishing. One thing that ISTE has done really well is to create opportunities for conference attendees to be active participants. ISTE provides places, stations, and opportunities for people to meet up and connect with others with similar interests. I encourage organizations to explore interactive formats and find new ways to allow people to interact. I’d also urge conference presenters to allow participants to engage and contribute to the learning and teaching going on during their session—even something as simple as setting up a back channel for asking questions or sharing relevant ideas. When evaluating which conference to attend, it is not just the content that matters. The process and format are equally significant.

3. Extending Learning

Professional organizations offer much more than just annual conferences. They may also offer ways for members to contribute, interact, or extend what they learn at the conference. Some also have professional development. Don’t be afraid to join the meaningful conversations, share your experiences, and suggest offerings you need from your professional organization!

4. Going Beyond the Obvious

Educational technology enthusiasts are not the only people who should attend conferences that promote technology integration. Professional ed tech networks and organizations have something for everyone. As a high school social studies teacher, I’m most interested in learning more about how I can use a variety of tools and technologies to challenge my students to engage in their course content. After all, if we are going to modernize learning to meet needs and motivate all students, I think technology integration is a huge part of the equation.

5. Extending Learning, Creating Embedded Instruction

In times when funding for professional development is limited and schools are unable to pay for outside professional development, educators must make their own learning visible. It is important to share what you’ve learned and create opportunities to demonstrate how you, and others, are actively benefiting from attending conferences and engaging in professional organizations and networks. Educators must advocate for their own professional development and take an active role in sharing their learning beyond their professional networks or organizations.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for having a variety of professional development opportunities. I’ve embraced the concept of distance learning from formal webinars to listserv queries within my professional communities, to learning from reading a variety of publications and taking classes. Yet, I can’t help but think about the inherent value in face-to-face interactions with people who dare to think differently. For me, connecting with new people, building on past connections, and maximizing the opportunities within my professional organizations is how I foster my personal motivation and ongoing growth.

Bio

Caroline D. Haebig is the 2012 Outstanding Young Educator, as well as 2011 ISTE Emerging Leader, who currently teaches psychology at Bradford High School in Kenosha, WI.

Three Priorities for Ed Tech 2012

Britni Hartford — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:57:00 GMT

ISTE recently released its annual policy priorities for educational technology. The focus of this year’s position is quality over quantity, naming three simple, powerful, and obtainable goals for 2012. The goals described below offer ways for all of us to get involved—not only policy makers, but also administrators, classroom teachers, and parents.

1. Great teachers and principals

Measuring effectiveness is a topic growing in attention and sensitivity. While the method of measurement is an ongoing debate, it is still vital to pursue the notion that all students should have great teachers and principals.

Professional development (PD) is the cornerstone of maintaining quality in schools and should be built into the work schedule of educators, from administrators to classroom teachers. PD does not have to be expensive. Forwarding articles or blog posts you find valuable to your colleagues is a great way to spread ideas and resources. Joining or developing a personal learning network (PLN) is another great way to obtain professional development at little or no cost. Twitter is a great way to involved in a PLN by joining #edchat on Tuedays (9:00 a.m. PST or 4:00 p.m. PST). PLNs range in focus, purpose, and obligation.

ISTE offers a wide range of ways to obtain focused, formalized professional development. Online courses, webinars, and special interest groups (SIGs) are just a few resources available.

2. Education that provides true college and career readiness

The definition of college and career readiness changes with the times. To ensure that students are truly college and career ready involves up-to-date curriculum and teaching methods. ISTE’s NETS are a great resource to ensure curriculum is aligned with current digital age learning objectives.

3. Broadband access for all students, at home, and at school

Closing the digital divide is a priority for ISTE. The more progress we can make in closing the gap, the more educators can develop and use digital age curricula. Although internet access at school is becoming the standard, widespread internet access at home is harder to achieve because of variable economic situations. Affordable internet access is available through Comcast’s Internet Essentials program for those who cannot afford to pay for internet access.

These three priorities will help guide the work of ISTE throughout 2012 and beyond. We invite you to join us as we work toward improving education by applying essential conditions for digital age education.

ISTE Webinar: Six Tools for Managing Your Digital Life

Beth Still — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:23:48 GMT

Educators are busy folks. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to learn all of the things we need stay ahead of the game. Teachers who are just starting to familiarize themselves with new technology might feel completely overwhelmed by all of the options available.

On May 9, I will be delivering a webinar, "Get Ready, Get Set, Get Organized" where I will share tips and tricks that are designed to help busy educators save time and manage their digital lives.

I have taught social studies at the high school level for eight years. During the past four years I have become a self-proclaimed educational technology evangelist. I started off slowly, but over time I have added lots of tools to my tool chest. In my webinar, I share six of the tools and applications that I can't live without including Twitter, Diigo, Nings, blogs, wikis, and Google Docs.
Best of all, each of these tools is absolutely free!

Twitter
Twitter is my lifeline to the world outside of school. I can't even begin to describe all the things I have learned because of the network of teachers I am connected to on Twitter. I can honestly say that well over 90% of my professional development has been a result of what I have learned on Twitter.

Nings
Nings are an incredibly valuable networking tool. Although these highly specialized social networks are not as popular as they were a few years ago, many are still very active and are a perfect tool for educators who are looking to connect with their peers.

Diigo
Diigo is a social bookmarking tool that allows users to create cloud-based bookmarks. This allows you to access your bookmarks from any web-enabled device. I will share examples of how teachers can use this fabulous application to help organize the massive flow of information that we face every day.

Blogs, wikis and Google Docs
Blogs, wikis, or Google Docs? Teachers often wonder which tool they should use. I share examples of how teachers can use each one of these to organize and share information. Blogs are a fantastic and simple way to share things that are happening at school. Use them when you want to interact with others. Wikis are great as classroom websites because teachers can use them as collaborative workspaces for students. Google Docs can help teachers create paperless classrooms. They can also be used by educators to work collaboratively on lesson plans with other teachers in the building or on the other side of the world.

There are so many unique and exciting ways to use these tools and I am so excited to share what teachers are doing. I hope to see you on May 9!

Bio:
Beth Still is a high school Social Studies teacher in Western Nebraska whose most satisfying accomplishment at ESU 13 was seeing the Nebraska Educational Virtual Academy open in the Fall of 2008. She was a member of the team that helped establish this new online school that offers classes to students in twenty-one districts across western Nebraska.

Ed Tech Advocacy: Quick Tips on Using New Media for Persuasive Communication

Katie Stansberry — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:18:00 GMT

ISTE Advocacy Month is coming to a close, but the need for ed tech support and funding isn’t going away. This is a huge election year in the United States and political agendas will be developed on a national stage over the next 12 months. As a community of educators, we need to work together to make sure support for teachers, students, and effective classroom technologies are at the forefront of local and national political campaigns this year.

A recent PEW Internet and American Life Project showed that about two-thirds of American adults regularly use social media. Of those social media users, nearly half report that they use online communications to connect around a shared hobby or interest. Social media has become a way for like-minded individuals to connect around issues of shared importance. Online communication provides the tools to change us from many quiet voices to one bombastic yell, but it’s up to us to use them.

It can often seem like the messages we post on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube disappear into cyberspace. Here are a few tips to make sure your advocacy efforts are heard:

Tagging

The first rule of online advocacy is to always tag. Tags are keywords or terms assigned to a post or snippet of information that helps describe it and index it for searchability. For example, Twitter and Facebook posts that bemoan a certain policy change will hardly travel farther than your followers. But tag those posts with the Twitter or Facebook accounts of your political representatives and your concern is far more likely to reach the ears of people who can actually do something about it. Try TweetCongress.org for a comprehensive list of political Twitter accounts.

Making Connections

Online tools are useful for local advocacy efforts as well as national campaigns. Try joining the ISTE Advocacy Ning to find educators in your area who may want to team up on advocacy efforts. One of the best ways to get a local politician’s attention is to show them that an issue is important to voters. The website for Change.org offers an easy tool to create and electronically distribute customized petitions. Online petitions are an effective way to raise awareness of and garner support for local issues.

Sharing

Finally, the most persuasive form of communication occurs through storytelling. Political representatives need to hear your stories. YouTube is now the second most popular search engine on the web, and videos are a great way to create and share compelling content. The public radio station KQED has created a useful site with digital storytelling resources. It’s an excellent place to learn about crafting and sharing stories that won’t get lost in the virtual shuffle.

Don’t forget to visit ISTE’s advocacy page for information and resources on magnifying your voice in support of ed tech.

Katie Stansberry authors the blog Teaching with Tech. She is the former community manager of ISTE Connects.

Finding Success with Bring Your Own Device

Chuck Dinsfriend — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:18:00 GMT

1:1 digital age computing or even 2:1 has been touted as the way to engage students, improve academic achievement, and provide the tools necessary for success in today’s business and educational environment. While having a device in the hands of every student is certainly desirable, the feasibility and sustainability of such a model is fraught with issues.

In today’s difficult economic environment, with school budgets shrinking rather than growing, funding a 1:1 initiative is difficult. In addition, the “soft costs” associated with such endeavors are often overlooked. These include setup, maintenance and upgrades, as well as simply having enough IT service people to carry out the implementation. Refreshing the systems in three, four or even five years is basically a return to square one in terms of planning for the expense.

One solution many schools have examined to help offset or even entirely mitigate the need for funding 1:1 initiatives allow and fully support a bring your own device (BYOD) program. This can save the district the expense of investing in numerous devices and all the soft costs associated with such a program; however, other considerations need to be taken into account. Will users be connecting to the internet via their personal devices? Will users be able to connect to internal resources, such as printers or file shares via their personal devices? Will IT Services staff be required to help users with various problems that arise when using their personal devices? And where do you draw the line for responsibility regarding the provision of help?

One suggestion drawn from personal experience starts from having a very clearly defined Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that is embraced from Board Room to the Classroom. The AUP should define what is allowed in terms of Internet use, such as what types of websites are deemed unacceptable, and what type of online behavior is deemed unacceptable, such as bullying or sexting. Hacking or attempting to override security systems, sharing of username and passwords, and illegal use of copyrighted material should also be clearly forbidden. In addition, it is important to define what the repercussions are for infringement of these rules.

The second part to ensuring a successful yet safe and secure BYOD program is to have username and passwords assigned to each student. You may already have this in place for your directory services systems (for gaining access to network resources, email, and internet access). IT Services should partner with Educational Services to determine the best way to implement this setup. Ideally, each user would authenticate to the Wi-Fi system to gain access to the internet. This would give students and staff access to any cloud-based systems the district has deployed.

In the interest of security, keeping mission-critical applications, such as the student information system, library information system, and other district applications for tracking nutrition services, financial systems, and student files, I don’t recommend allowing personal devices to connect to district network resources. The chance that personal devices are not properly patched or protected with anti-virus and anti-spyware programs is high, and the risk to mission-critical district resources is equally high. While there are systems to mitigate these issues, such as network access control and intrusion detection systems, they are expensive.

It is possible and fairly simple to segment the wireless network to protect district network resources and still provide a robust wireless network with Internet access for students and staff. The authentication provides the network administration the ability to ensure that students adhere to the AUP and that only students who have parental permission access the Internet.

IT Services and Educational Services must work hand in hand to make sure the technology needed to provide the educational platforms has high availability, high security, and flexibility for future growth. Most students will likely have a mobile device of their own within the next 2—4 years. Districts need to make sure their wireless network infrastructure is able to handle all the new incoming devices and their traffic, and that they can ensure safety and security for students, staff, and the district’s data services resources.

The Flawed Analogy Between Gambling Addiction and "Video Game Addiction"

Peter Gray, Ph.D. — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

The following is an excerpt from Peter Gray’s article, "Video Game Addiction: Does It Occur? If So, Why? ", originally published on his blog, Freedom to Learn, on Psychologytoday.com. This article is a sequel the previously published article, "The Many Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games".

Addiction is a word that is used in a variety of ways, but generally it refers to a compulsive (hard-to-resist) drive to take some substance or engage in some activity that is clearly not good for us and may even be ruining our lives. The clearest examples of addiction, of course, are chemical addictions, where people become physiologically dependent on some chemical--such as alcohol, nicotine, or heroine--and experience painful or debilitating withdrawal symptoms without it. But increasingly, and with some good reason, psychologists have begun to apply the term addiction to harmful behaviors that seem to become compulsive even though no chemical is consumed. Perhaps the best example of this is addictive gambling.

Many people suffer--and their families do too--because they can't seem to stop gambling. They gamble away all of their money, and then they borrow and gamble more and go deeply into debt; and then, when they can't borrow any more, they might steal and gamble that away, too, in a desperate, doomed attempt to get out of debt and save themselves and their families from ruin. People who feel compelled to gamble may do it because they see no other possible route out of their debts and/or because of the thrill that comes whenever they win, which motivates them to seek that thrill again. Compulsive gambling is a very serious and prevalent problem, although this hasn't prevented state legislatures from promoting gambling (in the form of casinos as well as state lotteries) in order to add to state coffers and reduce the taxes that non-gamblers have to pay.

Many if not most researchers who support the concept of video game addiction draw an analogy between video game playing and gambling. In fact, much of the research purporting to assess the prevalence of video game addiction--including the much-touted recent study conducted in Singapore [2]--has employed the same questionnaire that is used to assess the prevalence of gambling addiction, changing only the word "gambling" to "video gaming." The analogy may be tempting to people who don't know much about video gaming. From a distance, playing a video game looks a little like gambling at a video screen in a casino. But think of the differences!

First of all, most gambling games--especially the ones that people become addicted to--are pure games of chance (for all except the very few who figure out some way to cheat). They are rigged in such a way that over the long run you will always lose, but in the short run you will sometimes win. There is excellent research indicating that the random, unpredictable nature of these rewards operates on the brains of some people to promote behavior that might reasonably be called addictive.[3 ] The irrational "thinking" that accompanies the behavior and cannot be refuted is this: "The very next time I pull the lever I could hit the jackpot, so I'll pull it one more time." ... and then one more time, and one more time, and one more time, and so on.

In contrast, video games are games of skill. They are like chess or any other game in which success depends on perseverance, intelligence, practice, and learning, not chance. The rewards are not random; they are earned. To move up to the next level you have to work hard. Moreover, the rewards in video games, as in chess, are purely in-game rewards (unless you are competing in a tournament for prize money). They are rewarding only because they signal mastery. Winning in these games doesn't produce real-world riches; and, more to the point, failing in these games doesn't lead to debt. This is why video games and chess are truly play, while gambling is not.

It's hard to imagine why anyone with a grain of intelligence would spend lots of time gambling unless something irrational was driving him or her to it. Considered as a game, gambling is just dumb. It requires no skill or intelligence whatsoever. You just keep doing the same stupid thing over and over again and sometimes you win and usually you don't. There's no legitimate sense of mastery. I can imagine some healthy people--who have extra cash to throw away and can't think of anything better to do with it--gambling occasionally, just as a lark; but to spend hours a week at gambling is almost by definition pathological. So, it is reasonable to posit that otherwise intelligent people who spend lots of time gambling must have some sort of irrational compulsion to do it, for which the term "addiction" may be an appropriate label.

Not so for video games or chess or other games that depend on skill and knowledge. The more you play these the more skill and knowledge you gain and the better you get at the game (and at anything else that uses similar skills or knowledge). You learn from your mistakes, and the more you play the better you get. So, playing these games a lot does not necessarily imply addiction; it just means that you are really into the game and enjoy it and are trying to get better at it. If you don't think that video gaming involves knowledge and intelligence, take a look at the online compendium of information associated with just one game, World of Warcraft--WoWwike. It's the second largest compendium of knowledge that can be found online! The first largest is Wikipedia. (I thank my colleague Mike Langlois for this bit of information.)

Some researchers who should know better have based their claim for the addictive nature of video gaming on brain research. If you do a little tooling around the Psychology Today blogs, you will find that one or more of my fellow bloggers are among those who have made this claim. Yes, indeed, functional brain imaging studies have shown that certain so-called "pleasure pathways" in the brain light up when gamblers hit the jackpot, and these same pathways also light up when video gamers achieve some goal within the game. Well, of course they do! If they didn't, that would just mean that hitting the jackpot or achieving success in a game isn't pleasurable. Everything that is pleasurable is pleasurable because of activity in pleasure centers of the brain.

I'm sure that if I were hooked up to an fMRI scanner my pleasure centers would light up every time I played a seven-letter word in Scrabble, or every time I got a favorable review on something I wrote, or every time I took a bite of pistachio ice cream, or every time my wife gave me the right kind of kiss. If we were to define every activity that activates the brain's "pleasure centers" as addictive, and therefore to be curtailed, we would have to curtail everything that's fun. We'd have to become Puritans, but then some of us might discover that our very success at Puritanism caused pleasure centers to light up, and then where would we be! Hey, what's the purpose of life anyway? Our national founding fathers perhaps betrayed their puritanical background when they declared that "pursuit of happiness" is a basic human right. Now we've got neuroscientists saying, "If it lights up the pleasure centers, beware of it!" Especially if it does so in kids.

The teams of psychologists and psychiatrists who create the official list of psychological disorders for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association, after careful study, decided to add gambling addiction to the next edition of the manual, but decided not to add video game addiction, despite much pressure from practitioners who would like a new disorder to treat. I think they made the right decision in both cases.

Peter Gray, Ph.D., is a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology; published articles on innovative teaching methods and alternative approaches to education; and is author of an introductory college textbook, Psychology, and Freedom to Learn, blog on Psychology Today.

A Teaching Moment: A Lesson in Generational Digital Diversity

Katie Stansberry — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:05:00 GMT

This term I’m acting as an instructor in an entry-level media studies class. Most of the students in this class are recent high school graduates and for many, this is their first formal instruction in mass media literacy. Considering teens currently spend more than seven and a half hours a day consuming and interacting with media, it’s incredible how little college freshmen know about the history and modern production of mass media.

The professor I’m working with this term, Jennifer Schwartz, created an interesting assignment to get students thinking about how the rapid advancements in media technology affect their lives. Each student is required to interview someone over the age of 60 about their childhood experiences with mass media. The students are encouraged to ask their interview participants about such topics as favorite radio productions, early television shows, movie house memories, and their first computer.

I was talking to some students about the assignment last week and it got me thinking about how different my own media experience is from that of students only 10 years my junior. When I learned to drive, MapQuest was still a few years from online launch; many of my students have never once stopped at a gas station just to ask for directions. When I wanted to meet friends at the mall during middle school we had to set up a time and place to get together since cell phones and texting were still the size and weight of large bricks.

Next term when I take on my own introduction to media class, I plan to expand the parameters of this assignment to encompass the media changes that have taken place in just the last couple decades. Below is the assignment plan I’ve put together for this project. If anyone were interested in trying this out, I’d love to hear how it goes.

Assignment: The Personal Side of Media History
The rapid development of media technologies over the past century have led to enormous changes in the way we live, work, play and connect. The purpose of this assignment is to create an oral history of media transitions and the societal changes that emerged as a result of advancements in mass media.

*Divide the class into groups of four. Each group is an interview team responsible for a series of four short video interviews. Provide each team with a small, handheld video recorder. Cell phones with built-in cameras will also work for this project.

In-class prep: Spend a day or two discussing the history of mass media development from the invention of paper to the explosion of online social networks.

I like the following short video for a very brief overview of media history:

In-class exercise: Have students write a list of their typical daily media consumption. It can be useful to list different mediums—books, newspapers, magazine, radio, television, computer—and have students consider how much time they spend using each. How do they use each kind of media? Are they actively engaging or passively consuming?

Homework: Each team of students is responsible for interviewing four different people about their media use. Video record all interviews. Please keep them under five minutes in length. Interview participants should come from each of these four groups.
• Age 20–30
• Age 31–45
• Age 46–60
• Older than 60

Here are some sample interview questions to get students thinking:
• Do you read a daily newspaper? Did you ever?
• How do you find out about news events?
• What is your favorite current entertainment media? Television? Movies? Web? Music?
• What was your favorite entertainment media when you were a kid?
• Do you remember the first time you used a computer? What did you use if for?
• Do you have a cell phone? When did you get your first cell phone? Do you use it for anything other than phone calls?
• What do you think is the biggest media change you’ve seen in your lifetime?

Final exercise: Movie Premiere!
Spend an afternoon sharing the videos during a class movie premiere. Each student group should introduce their set of videos with a brief speech about the process and the information they found out from the interviews.

End the project with a class discussion comparing and contrasting the videos in each group. What did the students find surprising? Has this project made them rethink their own media usage?

Part of what appeals to me about this lesson idea is the way it can be adjusted for different grade levels. Students from early elementary age to college-level can learn basic media literacy skills from this assignment. Have you done a project like this with your class? If so, how did it go? If not, do you think you might give it a try?

Katie Stansberry authors the blog Teaching with Tech. She is the former community manager of ISTE Connects.

April is Advocacy Month!

Hilary Goldmann — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:00 GMT

April is Advocacy Month and ISTE would like to invite you to join us in celebrating your voice. Whether you’re a seasoned ed tech advocate or just getting started, ISTE has many great resources that will help you improve learning and teaching. This month we’re featuring the My Technology Story contest (with a chance to win a Kindle Fire!), sharing new resources, and posting inspiring videos!

During Advocacy Month, we encourage you to get involved by:
• Sharing your ed tech advocacy story
• Advocating locally (PDF)
• Sending a letter to Congress via the Ed Tech Action Network
• Joining the ISTE Advocacy Ning--The first 10 people to join will receive a free copy of ISTE’s advocacy book, Advocacy and Educational Technology!

My Technology Story Contest
What’s your ed tech advocacy story? How do you use technology in your work? Enter your story in our "My Technology Story" contest for a chance to win a Kindle Fire and a copy of ISTE’s new book, Advocacy and Educational Technology! The best stories have a chance to be featured through our social channels and on the advocacy page of our website. Learn more about the My Technology Story contest.

Advocacy Resources
Whether you have five minutes or five hours, we offer advocacy resources and advice on how to get involved and make your voice heard. Check out the advocacy resources like templates and starter kits, five ways to advocate today, and helpful articles.

Inspiring Videos
Tune in to the advocacy video reel each week during April, we’ll post a new video that features advocacy testimonials and stories from real educators, just like you! Be sure to check back each week and leave your comments.

How will you advocate for ed tech this month?

Voice Enhancement Systems: The overlooked technology

Chuck Dinsfriend — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:01:26 GMT

Early on in my career supporting IT for K-12 school districts, I found that a key component for technology rich classrooms, was a media projector. The concept was that you need to be able to see it and share it with the students in order for deeper discourse and learning to take place. As we scurried about installing these projectors in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, we learned that the audio piece was overlooked, or unplanned for in most situations.

Teachers tried placing PC speakers on their desks, but this proved an ineffective audio fix as the speakers were small, with low quality sound and amplification. We found some outlandish “customizations” by innovative teachers, with wires draped across classrooms, connected to home stereo systems and VCRs; they wanted workable classroom audio for video of educational subjects from resources such as Safari Montage, United Streaming (Discovery), Encyclopedia Britannica, and later, YouTube.

Obviously, we in IT needed to come up with some standards to make these audio installations safe, effective, and supportable in a large enterprise of numerous identical classrooms.

Our research into classroom audio systems turned up a number of well-documented studies on Voice Enhancement Systems (VES). It made sense to us that if we were going to install an audio system, we should incorporate microphones for the teachers and students, as those could be useful in a number of scenarios. We found that voice systems typically used Radio Frequency (RF) technology which could cause “bleedover” and interference in buildings with rooms that were immediately adjacent, as is commonly found in most schools. However, VES companies specializing in education markets were employing infrared wireless to eliminate interference. Had we just built standard audio systems without knowledge of how RF works, we would have had huge problems.

These studies not only helped us avoid technical trouble; they also provided surprisingly solid evidence of classroom effectiveness. Using a VES reduced the number of teacher absences due to a strained voice because they could be heard throughout the classroom using the same relaxed indoor tone. Also, English Language Learner (ELL) students did better on all assessments when in classrooms outfitted with these systems. The logic is clear: students who hear better learn the language better. The same effect was noted in Special Education classrooms. The Trost Study, conducted by Trost Elementary School, in Canby, Oregon, shows a 35% increase in achievement was noted.

The last and most appealing thing about audio and voice enhancement technology is that it is easily deployed, and requires literally no professional development. Simply turn it on, wear the microphone, and use it. The gains achieved academically and the ability to reduce the wear and tear on teachers’ voices were easily justified when compared with the relatively low cost. Most systems run around $1000 per room not including installation. The key to success is to get the top administration to buy into the program, and mandate that the systems be used. While it is the easiest technology to utilize, it is also easy to leave it sitting on the desk unused!

Chuck Dinsfriend is the director of information technology for ISTE. He previously worked for 18 years in IT leadership for K-12 schools.

Edmodo and Student NETS

Angela de Guzman — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:01:20 GMT

Currently, I am working with the Office of Instructional Technology in Baltimore County as an intern through the JHU/ISTE Administration and Supervision cohort program. As an intern, I have been asked to work at Woodlawn Middle School in Baltimore County with a 7th grade World Culture teacher, Ms. Jodi Gratman. The principal at Woodlawn Middle School would like teachers to take student-centered approach to learning in the classroom. Ms. Gratman volunteered to work with the Office of Instructional Technology to help make this transition in her classroom.

Over the past several months I have worked with Ms. Gratman to develop a student-centered classroom. As a teacher, she was tired of lecturing and wanted to put the learning in her students’ hands. We began with Edmodo as a simple way to engage students without needing specific teacher directions or lecture. Edmodo is an online tool with an interface similar to Facebook however; it is not a social network. It is a type of electronic learning community for educators. “Functionally, it allows teachers to post messages, discuss classroom topics, assign and grade class work, share content and materials, and network and exchange ideas with their peers - but in reality, it is so much more” (Edmodo, 2012).

Edmodo allowed a gradual release from the teacher providing all instruction and guidance on assignments to students going online and completing assignments independently or cooperatively. For example, part of each of the lessons in the World Cultures Grade 7 curriculum includes a “Quickwrite Warm-up”. Before Edmodo, Ms. Gratman would handout a piece of paper at the beginning of each class and provide time in class for students to complete this warm-up activity. Now with Edmodo, she provides all “Quickwrites” for the week online and students can complete them independently on their own time, for a grade. In addition, homework assignments are designed and completed online. Students are able to access Edmodo online at school or home and even through the Edmodo app on their smart phones.

Although, Ms. Gratman has yet to complete an entire unit through Edmodo, the little steps she has taken through lesson warm-ups and homework provides students with the opportunity to be responsible for their own learning without waiting for teacher direction on daily assignments. As I continue to work with Ms. Gratman and her World Culture classroom, I hope to allow for more student-centered learning in which students post information and resources through Edmodo to share with the class.

After using Edmodo with Ms. Gratman, I believe utilizing Edmodo can tie directly to the NETS for students. Here are my connections:

1. Creativity and Innovation:

Edmodo allows files to be uploaded, coding to be embedded, and videos to played from the Edmodo site. These output options allows student creativity when they have to present or provide information to their teacher or class.

2. Communication and Collaboration

A teacher is able to create groups and within the groups sub groups for students. This gives students an area where they can share and discuss ideas with each for classroom assignments.

3. Research and Information Fluency

The multiple ways to output information allows for an abundant amount of information to be post on the Edmodo class wall. Teachers can post information for students. In addition, students can organize their research in folders that are ready with share with anyone using Edmodo.

4. Critical Thinking and Decision Making

Student can plan and explain their process for conducting researching and solving classroom problem or projects. Students manage projects or activities in order to develop a solution.

5. Digital Citizenship

Using Edmodo give students the opportunity to practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.

6. Technology Operation and Concepts

Students using Edmodo demonstrate daily their ability to use technology effectively and troubleshoot any problems that may occur.

Angela de Guzman is currently a student at Johns Hopkins University completing her Graduate Certificate in School Administration and Supervision. Her experiences in teaching include 3rd and 5th grade and a technology integration teacher.

The iPad 3: Revolution or Evolution for Tablets in Education

Katie Stansberry — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:12:20 GMT

The first shipments of the new iPad 3 went out last Friday, March 16, and more than 3 million devices were sold over the weekend. As users start fiddling with their new tablet, the iPad reviews are pouring in.

Screen resolution and speed, two of the new tablet’s top selling points, are receiving raves. The processing power of the iPad 3, however, comes with a price as early adaptors are reporting devices that heat up to uncomfortable levels after a few hours of use. The most common question bouncing around on the technology boards is whether an iPad upgrade is worth it.

If the first and second generation iPads were revolutionary, the iPad 3 is more of a great thing.

Apple has made a major push to get iPads in K-12 classrooms across the country and around the world. The iPad is pricey compared to other tablets, but with the newest model starting at $499 the cost is significantly lower than a typical laptop computer. The true potential of the iPad for education, however, is facilitated through the bonanza of educational apps available through iTunes.

The iPad 3 is not going to revolutionize tablet use in K-12 classrooms, but the improvements in screen resolution and processing power do make tablet computing more adaptable for common education tasks.

I have a first generation iPad (it’s definitely time for an upgrade) but I do all my reading from hard copy books or through my Kindle. The original iPad’s LCD display is just not comfortable for lengthy reading sessions. However, the new iPad’s 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution screen makes text ridiculously clear, crisp and easy to read. Considering how much reading I assign my undergrad students, the resolution of the new iPad might help it break the higher ed barrier.

I believe the iPad 3’s biggest effect on education will come from facilitating the adoption of multimedia e-textbooks. Textbook giant McGraw-Hill has already predicted that the device will herald an era of mass e-text adoption. For schools willing to drop the cash for the latest iPad technology, the 4G connectivity and increased processing speed will enable students to take advantage of the most elaborate multimedia content. Tech savvy educators who are able to invest in some of the newer apps will also be able to guide their students through advanced content creation.

Schools with tighter budgets may well find that the drop in price of the iPad 2 opens the possibility of instituting 1:1 programs. Not only does access to the web open a world of informational resources for students, Apple Education regularly releases new tools and information for educators and students.

Do you think the iPad 3 will bring about change for K12 education? If so, how?

Katie Stansberry authors the blog Teaching with Tech. She is the former community manager of ISTE Connects.

Ed Tech to the Core

Patrick Riccards — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:32:47 GMT

Earlier this year, ISTE released its priorities for 2012, ISTE in 2012: What We Believe. In laying out the top issues for the year, ISTE identified: 1) great teachers and principals; 2) an education that provides true college and career readiness; and 3) access to broadband, both at school and at home.

Undoubtedly, these are the issues that all educators are focused on, particularly item number two. With calls for high standards and even higher student achievement figures, teachers and principals across the country are looking for ways to ensure all students are college and career ready. Many are turning to tools like the NETS Standards for Teachers to help better connect instructional demands with student expectations.

Will that be enough? During the NCLB age, many bemoaned an overemphasis on reading and math, an emphasis so great that some said it hurt, not helped, a student’s ability to perform at that college and career ready level.

Today, we are starting to hear that same drumbeat with regard to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Although there is continued talk about developing K-12 standards for all core academic subjects, the simple fact is CCSS (and the assessments current being developed to accompany those standards) is still just focused on literacy and mathematics.

So how does that fit with ISTE members’ focus on ensuring “an education that provides true college and career readiness?”

According to a new teacher survey (PFD) released by Common Core and developed by the Farkas Duffett Research Group, two-thirds of teachers believe that subjects such as history, science, and art are getting crowded out of the classrooms because of an emphasis on reading and math. And more than three-quarters of teachers, 77 percent, say that neglecting other subjects is affecting all students, and not just those identified as struggling students.

Why is this important? Our collective emphasis on reading and math is not going to go away. Whether one looks at state assessments, NAEP results, or even international benchmarks, our public schools have a long way to go to deliver exemplary results in K-12 literacy and math.

But we do have the opportunity to focus on comprehensive instruction to boost those core skills while working on the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver that college- and career-ready education. Fully implementing the NETS is a start. Using subjects like history and science and art and foreign language to enhance reading and math skills is another. Finding ways to integrate effective ed tech across all classroom subjects is yet another.

We still are not at a place where education technology is considered part of the core curriculum. We still are not at a place where ed tech is driving professional development or 21st century curriculum development. And we still are not at a place where ed tech is part of that ongoing conversation about academic excellence.

Until we get there, until education technology has a real seat at the school improvement table, we will never truly have great teachers and principals in every school. And we certainly won’t be providing an education that provides true college and career readiness. This is 2012, not 1962. Ed tech should be a central driver, not an also ran.

Patrick Riccards is the author of Eduflack blog. The opinions expressed here are his own.

The Kony Craze: What Moves Faster, Kids or Videos?

Matt Levinson — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:29:29 GMT

I'm not sure what moves faster, middle school kids or viral videos. This past week, schools across the country have had the chance to witness the speed with which global issues travel across the Internet and around the globe, in addition to seeing young people herd toward trying to help thwart the atrocities perpetrated by the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. The trigger: Invisible Children, a 30-minute YouTube video highlighting the horrors of child abduction that has now had over 100 million hits.

How should schools handle the tidal wave of emotion, euphoria and "clicktivism" that has consumed the interest and attention of students?

I first learned about the video from an 8th grade student, who described the video in vivid detail. Next, I was approached by our Dean of Students, who said a group of 6th grade girls had stormed his office wanting to know if they could show the video at an assembly and raise money for Invisible Children. Then, a 6th grade science teacher wrote me asking for some advice about an issue that had arisen in his class: the Kony video.

He explained:

"As part of the study of water, particularly drinking water, the science class has been discussing multiple perspectives about clean available drinking water from around the world. I showed a short DVD called "Ryan's Well" about a 7-year-old boy from Canada and the amazing story of his learning about people dying from drinking poor quality water in Uganda. Ryan raised enough money to drill a well for a school in Uganda, which then spiraled into over a decade for his organization, Ryan's Well Foundation, helping over 600,000 people in developing countries acquire clean drinking water. An incredible story! During that time Ryan struck up a pen pal correspondence with a young person named Jimmy in that first school in Uganda. As we were discussing the incredible work that Ryan is doing, several students in every class brought up a YouTube video that has gone viral this week about the horrific situation in Uganda where young children are being abducted and forced to perform atrocities. In class discussions we pieced together the fact that Jimmy (Ryan's pen pal) had been abducted and his brother and cousins killed. Jimmy escaped and now lives in Canada with Ryan's family. Needless to say, this was an amazing learning moment for me and the students."

To the teacher's credit, he started to ask questions and look into the Invisible Children video. He learned about what makes videos go viral and he examined the authenticity of the Invisible Children foundation, learning that their practices are not as clean and clear as the students had led him to believe.

And, most importantly, he contacted the parents to let them know the buzz around the video, and he included links to articles and explanations.

Not surprisingly, many parents had heard their kids talking about the video but did not really know or understand what all of the buzz was about. One parent wrote: "I was very confused because my son was talking about child abduction and death." The communication home from the school helped the parents gather more knowledge so that they could talk about the Invisible Children video at home with their child.

One parent captured the challenge and opportunity of the Kony video: "I'm so glad you shared all the links and explained what has happened. I think parents will appreciate all the information. Just yesterday I was having a conversation about how the world is changing right before our eyes. Here is another example. I think we need to think hard about how to evaluate it all. No small task. Experience will be a great teacher. But now the pace of change is so incredibly fast, is there enough time for understanding and reflection? I think we just have to adapt. Understanding what is out there helps. Thanks for including us in the conversation."

A teacher wrote: "I hadn't heard anything about this, but it seems like this was handled beautifully."

More and more, schools face the onslaught of social media, and it can be overwhelming to the adults, both teachers and parents, who are often the last to know or find out about a new viral video or cause. Schools need to loop the parents into the conversation so that kids know that the adults in their lives are paying attention and helping to educate kids around the exciting, yet sometimes thorny issues surrounding social media, that include authenticity, globalization and smart consumption.

I'm still not sure we've caught our breath from the energy of the last week around the Kony video, but at least we know more about the issues and passions that it has ignited in kids. Thanks to the kids for teaching us to learn quickly.

Matt Levinson is the author of From Fear to Facebook: One School’s Journey. He writes and thinks about technology, parenting, and schools.

Flipping the Classroom and Finding Balance

Caroline D. Haebig — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:46:00 GMT

One of the hottest trends to hit classrooms is flipping. After attending a session at ISTE last summer, I too had somersaulted back into my district’s studio, and started modifying my assignments, finding powerful video clips and creating new ways to assess my newly made over concept of homework and the classroom experience.

There are many reasons districts and teachers may find it attractive to flip the way we are doing school. It can allow students to collaborate more closely with each other and their teachers, provide time for creative, hands-on activities and engaging discourse.

The thought alone that flipping could curb cheating and reign in copying alone might heighten the attractiveness of this model.

Recently, my district asked me to design a course for our summer teacher academy to introduce teachers to the flip model and facilitate adapting curriculum. As I’ve worked to modify lessons in my AP Psychology course to incorporate the flip model, I’ve found it is crucial for teachers to communicate the purpose and desired process students must engage in to fully benefit from the flip model.

In order for teachers to integrate the flip model successfully, they must take a look at who there students are as learners, and make strategic decisions about how to effectively help their students learn- as any good teacher should do flip model or not.

Based on my personal experience, I would say that teachers who want to redefine the process of how students engage in lecture or course content outside classroom must also specify to students how this model should work.

For example, the first time I had students review an online lecture I had created, I noticed that while students did have a better familiarity with the content (probably similar to actually reading the chapter prior to coming to class)- I noticed that they had almost blocked out the majority of the information, examples, and anecdotes I had included in this online lecture. I had to explain to students that if I had wanted them just to copy down text from the slides I could have just posted or emailed them the presentation.

I would actually say this same problem rears it’s head in the classroom- you know, finding that hard balance between listening to your instructor and writing down important information. I would argue that we must prepare our students to understand how to maximize flipped instruction as a way to get a basic understanding of the content, replay, revisit, and construct critical questions that will foster powerful classroom discussion.

As educators we know some students are more self-directed than others. I would argue that even the most driven, intrinsically motivated students may struggle with some aspects of the flip model. As previously argued, teachers can’t always assume that all students will understand how to maximize the flipped classroom experience.

I have twin cousins in Colorado, who started their first year of high school this year. Their history teacher has embraced the concept of the flipped model, purchased the content appropriate online lectures. The students are required to watch the lectures at home and take notes, then students use class time to ask questions, take quizzes and complete work that once was assigned as traditional homework.

Despite being diligent students, my cousins still struggled to know what exactly to take away from the online lectures. The good news is, is that their mother – a retired high school educator has the time and ability to sit with them and assist them in how to take better notes, evaluate information for significance and discuss the material as they go through the lectures.

Unfortunately, not every student may have parents who are as able to meet their needs as my aunt does for my cousins, nor is every student as driven to independently adapt to a new model of learning.

And yes, I know that these are issues (parental involvement and intrinsic motivation) that all students face despite what the instructional style might be. I just wonder if sometimes instead of doing a complete flip we should opt for a back bend instead. Perhaps it is about finding a mix of activities, resources and lessons that lend themselves better to independent, online learning. We must strive to help students to adapt and make the most of this new way of teaching and learning. As teachers are challenged to revisit the process in which they teach their content, we must also provide students with the support they need in order to maximize their learning.

What I do like about the flip model is that it helps students and teachers to harness the benefits of online content that can engage students in powerful ways, providing enriching extensions to course content. I have seen the power of incorporating TED talks and activities that get students thinking about further applications and connections to our course content. I also appreciate how integrating various online tools and content provides the opportunity for student to take an active role in their learning, while helping them to become more familiar with technology. After all, it is about helping all of our learners find their balance right?

Caroline D. Haebig is an ISTE Emerging Leader who currently teaches psychology at Bradford High School, in Kenosha, WI.

The Many Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games

Peter Gray, Ph.D. — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:56:35 GMT

Quite a few parents have asked me, at talks I've given, about the advisability of their limiting their kids' computer play. Others have told me that they do limit their kids' computer play, or their total daily "screen time," in a tone that seemed to suggest that any reasonable parent would do that.

People who have been reading this blog can probably guess my reaction. I have a very high opinion of children's abilities to make good choices about how to use their free time, as long as they really have choices. Some kids go through long periods of doing what seems like just one thing, and then some adults think there's something wrong, because they (the adults) would not make that choice. But in my experience, if kids are really free to play and explore in lots of different ways, and they end up playing or exploring in what seems to be just one way, then they are doing that because they are getting something really meaningful out of it. For a nice example of this, you might watch the film on the home page of the Sudbury Valley School website, where a young man describes his year of doing almost nothing but computer play.

It is always a mistake, I think, to tell kids what they must or must not do, except in those cases where you are telling them that they must do their share of the chores around the house or must not do things that hurt you or other people. Whenever we prevent our kids from playing or exploring in the ways they prefer, we place another brick in a barrier between them and us. We are saying, in essence, "I don't trust you to control your own life." Children are suffering today not from too much computer play or too much screen time. They are suffering from too much adult control over their lives and not enough freedom (see essay on rise of depression and anxiety).

Kids who are really free know what is best for them, especially concerning how they should spend their free time. Every kid is different, just as every adult is, and we can't get into their heads and find out just what they are getting out of something that we don't understand. I know well a kid who, for years, spent hours per day watching television shows that I thought were really disgustingly dumb; but, over time, I discovered that she was getting a lot out of them. They were making her think in new ways. She understood all the ways in which the shows were dumb, at least as well as I did; but she also saw ways in which they were smart, and she analyzed them and learned from them. They contributed greatly to her abilities as an actress (she eventually had major parts in high-school plays), because she acted out the parts vicariously, in her mind, as she watched. They also contributed to her fascination with certain aspects of human psychology. She now wants to go into clinical psychology as a career.

I've also known kids who spent huge amounts of time reading--just sitting and reading, "doing nothing!" for maybe 10 hours a day. There were always some kids like that, even when I was a kid. I could never understand why they would want to just sit and read when they could go fishing with me instead. What a waste of time. However, I've never known a parent to limit their kids' reading time. Why is it any better to limit TV or computer time than to limit book-reading time? Why do we worry about a kid's spending maybe 4 or 5 hours a day at a computer screen, doing what he wants to do, but don't worry about the same kid sitting at school for 6 hours a day and then doing homework for another couple of hours--doing what others are forcing him to do? I ask you to consider the possibility that the kid is learning more valuable lessons at the computer than at school, in part because the computer activity is self-chosen and the school activity is not.

Computers are the most important tools of modern society. Why would we limit kids' opportunities to play with them?
Why would we want to limit a kid's computer time? The computer is, without question, the single most important tool of modern society. Our limiting kids' computer time would be like hunter-gatherer adults limiting their kids' bow-and-arrow time. Children come into the world designed to look around and figure out what they need to know in order to make it in the culture into which they are born. They are much better at that than adults are. That's why they learn language so quickly and learn about the real world around them so much faster than adults do. That's why kids of immigrant families pay more attention to the language spoken by their new peers, in the new culture, than to the old language spoken by their parents. That's also why, whenever there's a new technological innovation, kids learn how to use it more quickly than their parents do. They know, instinctively, what they must learn in order to succeed.

Why do we keep hearing warnings from "authorities"--including the American Academy of Pediatricians--that we must limit kids' computer play? Some of the fear mongering comes, I think, from a general tendency on the part of us older folks to distrust any new media. Plato, in The Republic, argued that plays and poetry should be banned because of their harmful effects on the young. When writing came about and became technically easier, and was enthusiastically seized upon by the young, some of their elders warned that this would rot their minds; they would no longer have to exercise their memories. When printed novels became available to the masses, many warned that these would lead the young, especially girls and young women, to moral degeneracy. When televisions began to appear in people's homes, all sorts of dire warnings were sounded about the physical, psychological, and social damage they would cause.

Video games have been under attack by the fear-mongers ever since they first appeared, and the attacks have not diminished. If you Google around the Internet using harmful effects of video games as a search phrase, you will find all sorts of frightening claims. One site warns that video games can cause depression, physical aggression, poor sleep, somatic complaints, obesity, attention disorders, and ... the list went on. The only malady they seemed to have left out was housemaid's knee.

The most common complaints about video games are that they (1) are socially isolating, (2) reduce opportunities for outdoor activities and thereby lead to obesity and poor physical health, and (3) promote violence in kids, if the games have violent content. On the face of it, of course, the first two of these claims should be truer of book reading than of video gaming. Concerning the third claim, I don't see any obvious reason why pretend murder of animated characters in video games should be any more likely to provoke real murder than, say, reading Shakespeare's account of Hamlet's murder of his stepfather. Yet we make kids read Hamlet in school.

Research refutes the frightening myths about harmful effects of computer games.
If you look into the actual research literature, you find very little if any evidence supporting the fear-mongers claims, and considerable evidence against those claims. In fact, systematic surveys have shown that regular video-game players are, if anything, more physically fit, less likely to be obese, more likely to also enjoy outdoor play, more socially engaged, more socially well-adjusted, and more civic minded than are their non-gaming peers. A large-scale study in four cities in Holland showed--contrary to what I assume was the initial hypothesis--that kids who had a computer and/or a television set in their own room were significantly more likely to play outside than were otherwise similar kids who didn't have such easy and private access to screen play. A study by the Pew Research Center concluded that video games, far from being socially isolating, serve to connect young people with their peers and to society at large. Other research has documented, qualitatively, the many ways that video games promote social interactions and friendships. Kids make friends with other gamers, both in person and online. They talk about their games with one another, teach one another strategies, and often play together, either in the same room or online.

Concerning violence, meta-analyses of the many studies designed to find effects of violent video games on real-world violence have concluded that, taken as a whole, there is precious little or no evidence at all of such effects. It's interesting, also, to note that over the decades in which violent video gaming has been steadily rising, there has been a steady and large decline in real-world violence by youth. I'm not about to claim that the decline in real-world violence is in any significant way caused by the rise in violent video games, but, there is some evidence that playing such games helps people learn how to control their hostility. In one experiment, college students were presented with a frustrating mental task and then were assessed for their feelings both of depression and hostility. The significant finding was that regular players of violent video games felt less depressed and less hostile 45 minutes after the frustrating experience than did otherwise similar students who didn't play such games.

I have to admit that I personally hate graphic depictions of violence, in games or anywhere else, but I claim no moral virtue in that. I'm just squeamish. My wife and step-kids, who are every bit as nonviolent in real life as I am, tease me about it. They talk about screening movies for me, and they have gotten used to going to certain movies without me.

Video games have been shown to have many positive effects on brainpower.
Quite a few well-controlled research studies have documented positive effects of video games on mental development. Repeated experiments have shown that playing fast-paced action video games can quite markedly increase players' scores on tests of visuospatial ability, including tests that are used as components of standard IQ tests. Other studies suggest that, depending on the type of game, video games can also increase scores on measures of working memory (the ability to hold several items of information in mind at once), critical thinking, and problem solving. In addition, there is growing evidence that kids who previously showed little interest in reading and writing are now acquiring advanced literacy skills through the text-based communication in on-line video games.

When kids are asked, in focus groups and surveys, what they like about video games, they generally talk about freedom, self-direction, and competence. In the game, they make their own decisions and strive to meet challenges that they themselves have chosen. At school and in other adult-dominated contexts they may be treated as idiots who need constant direction, but in the game they are in charge and can solve difficult problems and exhibit extraordinary skills. In the game, age does not matter, but skill does. In these ways, video games are like all other forms of true play.

The special benefits of MMORPGs
Over time, video games have become increasingly complex and multifaceted. Perhaps the most interesting games today are the so-called Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), such as World of Warcraft, which are even more social than were previous video games and offer endless opportunities for creativity and problem solving.

In these online games, players create a character (an avatar), which has unique physical and psychological traits and assets, and, with that character, enter a complex and exciting virtual world that is simultaneously occupied by countless other players, who in their real-life forms may be sitting anywhere on the planet. Players go on quests within this virtual world, and along the way they meet other players, who might become friends or foes. Players may start off playing solo, avoiding others, but to advance to the higher levels they have to make friends and join with others in mutual quests. Making friends within the game requires essentially the same skills as making friends in the real world. You can't be rude. You have to understand the etiquette of the culture you are in and abide by that etiquette. You have to learn about the goals of a potential friend and help that individual to achieve those goals. Depending on how you behave, players may put you on their friends list or their ignore list, and they may communicate positive or negative information about you to other players. The games offer players endless opportunities to experiment with different personalities and ways of behaving, in a fantasy world where there are no real-life consequences for failing.

Players in these games can also join special-interest groups called guilds. To join a guild, a player (or, more accurately, the player's avatar) must fill out an application form, much like a job application, explaining why he or she would be a valuable member. Guilds generally have structures that are similar to companies in the real world, with leaders, executive boards, and even recruitment personnel. Such games are, in many ways, like the imaginative sociodramatic games of preschool children, but played in a virtual world, with communication by online text, and raised up many notches in sophistication to fit the interests and abilities of the older children, teenagers, and adults who play them. Like all sociodramatic games, they are very much anchored in an understanding of the real world, and they exercise concepts and social skills that are quite relevant to that world. In fact, a study commissioned by the IBM Corporation concluded that the leadership skills exercised within MMORPGs are essentially the same as those required to run a modern company.

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So, to those who want my opinion about whether they should or shouldn't limit their kids' computer play, my answer is SHOULDN'T. But what is your opinion? What experiences have you or your kids had with such play? Do you know of any good research that would justify a decision to prevent kids from playing video games to their hearts' content? This blog is a forum for discussion, and your views and knowledge are valued and taken seriously, by me and by other readers. Make your thoughts known in the comments section below.

This article, The Many Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games, was originally published on Psychology Today. Peter Gray, Ph.D., is a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology; published articles on innovative teaching methods and alternative approaches to education; and is author of an introductory college textbook, Psychology, and Freedom to Learn, blog on Psychology Today.