This video highlights how the Technology for Young Adults Committee wants to transition to an Interest Group and what you can do to help.

Over the past week I’ve been reading about teens and technology and about the media’s handling of major news events. A theme running through the reading I’ve been doing is that critical thinking is an important part of what adults and teens need to do in order to make good technology decisions. For example:

• I’m not sure why I didn’t start following @larrymagid (Larry Magid) on Twitter until a couple of weeks ago, but now that I am following him, I’ve discovered three recent articles by Magid that serve to highlight the important role critical thinking plays when it comes to teens and technology.

  On June 22 Magid wrote on his blog about the need to give students a chance to use technology as a critical thinking tool and not simply outlaw devices because students might use them to cheat. (more…)

  

Today I read a blog post about The Smithsonian crowdsourcing its vision on YouTube. As Beth Kanter writes on her blog:

The Smithsonian has opened the conversation up to the world and is inviting people to submit a one-minute video sharing their vision for the Institution’s future. The question they’re asking: Given the news ways of acquiring and sharing knowledge through technology: the internet, social networking, video sharing, and cell phones—where do you see the Smithsonian’s museums and websites going in the future? How can we make education more relevant to you in a digital age?

When I read that I first thought, “What a great idea.” (more…)

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about an article in New York Magazine called In Defense of Distraction. Because it helps to dispel some misconceptions about attention and distraction it’s a pretty useful article for those working with teens to read.

Some of my favorite points and quotes from the article include:

• When talking about those who lament the number of distractions people of all ages are faced with, Sam Anderson, the author of this article writes, “Our jobs depend on connectivity. Our pleasure-cycles—no trivial matter—are increasingly tied to it. Information rains down faster and thicker every day, and there are plenty of non-moronic reasons for it to do so. The question, now, is how successfully we can adapt.”
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The title for this blog post, while it was borrowed from the name of a VOYA column, came to me when I was thinking about the tech program my colleague and I helped facilitate today with a special needs group of middle schoolers.
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There was big news in the world of web search over the past week. Google announced new features and the new search tool, Wolfram Alpha, launched. After checking out what’s new, I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of this search news, particularly as it relates to teens and libraries.

Google’s new features should help teens use the service more successfully. Wolfram Alpha could be helpful, but then again, it might not. I’m very curious to find out what teens have to say about how it works and what it does. (more…)

My library system is having our Teen Services retreat next week. A lot of us are busy getting ready for it. I’m looking forward to it because there will be time to play with the technology we’re asking people across the system to use. I don’t think there’s any other way to learn effectively without having play as one component of the learning. (more…)

There’s this closet at work that I’m starting to clean out because it needs it. It’s been kind of funny tracking down where things came from in the first place as one person invariably leads me to and there’s usually a humorous story attached to it at the end. We’re also busy at work spring cleaning in a sense in the way we think about using things-particularly technology equipment. We’re taking into consideration how teens use it and what our own processes are in order to make some changes.
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A few days ago I posted about why it is important to give teens a chance to have fun while learning. In that post I mentioned that in my work I was finding that there didn’t seem to be a “next big thing” to get excited about. It’s true, I am still looking for that next big thing, but that’s not to say there aren’t some good new tools that I’ve discovered that are great for you and teens to know about. These include:

• Unigo is a five-month old web site that uses real-live students to create content about what life is really like in college. These first-hand accounts (primary source really) give teens who are considering college information that is different than what they might receive via a college tour, in a college catalog, or in a brochure. The site has a useful search feature so potential students (and their parents) can look for specific programs, types of students, interests, and so on in order to discover exactly what an institution has to offer. (more…)
  

  

I’ve had some ideas floating around my brain the past couple of weeks and I realized today that they actually collide with each other.

One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about is the concept of fun as it relates to education. One reason for this line of thinking is a project in which I’m involved. For this project educators are being asked to think differently about homework, social networking, and student use of resources. There’s been some discussion among the project team about how teachers and librarians do not always realize that social tools aren’t simply about giving students a chance to have fun while learning. A point in integrating these tools is that they help make learning more meaningful to students. For many students using these tools is fun because it relates to their real lives and interests. As a result, students are more engaged in learning. When they are engaged they are more likely to understand content. (more…)