🙋♂️ Kids need unstructured time, Google’s search relevance, and more – Of bits and bytes for May 6, 2024
Internet Travels
Of bits and bytes is my weekly round up of interesting links and ideas I discovered on the internet. It is published on Mondays for the previous week
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Screen time has been talked about as harming children development, but researchers are also looking at the lack of unstructured play time. Without the freedom to explore and engage with the world on their own terms, children may not develop key problem-solving skills and emotional resilience. “Limiting ‘free play’ may be worse than screen time for children, professor says”, the benefits of unstructured play can positively impact children’s emotional and cognitive development.
- Depression in teens may not be from screens, says Boston expert h/t – Archive
- Parents obsession with safety hurts child development and they “fall apart,” says Boston College professor – CBS Boston
Gamers Rule – Meme by DRXOFAWESOME 🙂 Memedroid
Apps
Microsoft’s OneDrive web app now has some offline capabilities. Users can now:
- Open and interact with OneDrive’s “Home,” “My files,” “Shared,” “Favorites,” “People,” and, “Meeting” views.
- View your folders, file names, and metadata such as file owner, size, recent activity, last open date, and more.
- Use the “My files” view of OneDrive for web to rename, sort, move, or copy files and have those changes sync to your OneDrive when you reestablish an internet connection.
- Open locally stored Office and non-Office files (files marked as “available offline”) in their native app and make and save edits.
Pedagogy
John Spencer has a look at using AI to Bridge the Gap from Theory to Practice while Seth Godin looks at manipulation, indoctrination and addiction.
Technology
Have you been able to find what you’re looking for on Google? My experience aligns with this article that yes, Google is getting worse at finding things, especially interesting posts on smaller sites.
Tips
Focus mode is a feature that is being added to more and more operating systems, but what is it and how can it help? Focus mode is a tool designed to minimize distractions and maximize productivity by allowing users to temporarily silence notifications and block access to certain apps or websites. When engaged, focus mode can prevent interruptions from emails, social media, and other apps, which is particularly beneficial when you need to concentrate on a specific task.
ChromeOS and Chromebooks have a focus mode that could be beneficial for students, helping them stay focused on their current task.
How to Delete Focus Modes on iPhone & iPad
Pop Culture
For all you English teachers, a new poem by C.S. Lewis just dropped.
Before social media, how did we communicate? Pretty well, although the software and technique may seem antiquated, they worked.
What happened to Usenet? – UWBW Writes
Potpourri
Here’s a look at the clothes that would have gotten you kicked out of school in 1957.
Extra Credit
Here are extra links that I found interesting that may or may not be education related or interesting to you and I didn’t want to lose them.
- How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It’s Not Writing Articles) | Techdirt
- ChatGPT shows better moral judgment than a college undergrad | Ars Technica
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