By making so much information so accessible, social media has drastically changed the way we consume information and form opinions in the modern era. The danger, however, is that social media creates an “echo chamber” that filters the information people receive so that it largely supports their existing opinions.
A recent study published in PNAS examines this phenomenon and finds that social-media users show marked focus in the types of news that interests them. These social-media participants tend to develop strong and well-defined communities around the news outlets they support, and they tend to make connections with like-minded people regardless of the geographic distance between them.
“Sharenting” – where parents share personal information about their children on social media – is the “weakest link” in risking online fraud and identity theft, warns Barclays. The bank says parents are compromising their children’s future financial security with so much online sharing. Source: ‘Sharenting’ puts young at risk of online fraud – BBC News…
Here is an amazing list of clever, unique and simple set up STEM challenges and lesson plans from other teachers. Source: 28 Awesome STEM Challenges for the Elementary Classroom – Teach Junkie What a great list of activities and lesson plans! I really like how they minimize tech and maximize making.
Computer note-taking was a point of contention at my school. Almost every teacher used laptops. But we varied in how much we allowed students to take notes on them during class. Those in the no-computer-notes camp pointed to how often students were distracted by messaging and social media. Those who allowed laptops for notes argued that…
The new Pi-Top is a slicker machine. It’s a drastically easier build — six steps, rather than 23 — which might sound like a step backwards, but in return you’re getting a design that feels more competitive with cheap Chromebooks and Windows laptops. It has a full-size keyboard and a centrally positioned trackpad. Above the…
It was in building the network connecting homestead to homestead that the farmers’ ingenuity came to the fore. Instead of erecting new poles and wires, many either ran phone wires along the top of wooden fence posts or used the barbed wire itself to carry signals. The latter hardly worked as well as insulated copper…
The McKinsey Global Institute cautions that as many as 375 million workers will need to switch occupational categories by 2030 due to automation. The work most at risk of automation includes physical jobs in predictable environments, such as operating machinery or preparing fast food. Data collection and processing is also in the crosshairs, with implications…
