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.
Parents care deeply about helping their kids build a positive and healthy relationship with technology. Last year, we introduced the Family Link app to help parents stay in the loop with how their children are using Android devices. Laptops also play an important role at home, with just over 50% of kids between 6-12 sharing…
Looking for some very good iPad math apps to use with young learners? Source: 10 Very Good iPad Math Apps for Elementary Students ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning Math is a subject that lends itself very well to math, giving students the ability to manipulate objects and ideas directly.
Summary: A new study reveals exposure to dim light might impact memory and learning. Researchers report rodents exposed to dim lighting lost 30 percent of hippocampal capacity and performed poorly on spatial tasks they had previously experienced. Source: Dim Light May Make Us Dumber – Neuroscience News The rats were kept in a bright, 1000 lux…
As educators, we’ve spent years attending classes, participating in workshops, going to conferences, and continuing our education. The more we learn, the more we create and collect. Because of the time and effort that we spend developing such rich resources, it becomes challenging to let some of them go. I’ve struggled with this for years….
Facebook serves many useful functions. It helps you set up events, send messages to friends and family, and even organize groups. These are all side benefits, though. The main feature—the real thing Facebook wants to sell you—is the News Feed. Too bad it’s so broken that it’s almost useless. Source: Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Is Completely…
An interesting use of computer vision and machine learning to generate metadata about student engagement. This could (should|will) be used for more than just lecturing, and what if students had access to their own data? This could be a powerful tool to support self-reflection on teaching and learning… Source: Charlene Chin – Will this be the…
