Screentime Is Good For #Students + #StuVoice

The next time someone shares with you another piece of shock journalism with claims that research says if kids use tech they'll get fat and stupid, arm yourself with this piece (10 Points Where the Research Behind Banning Handheld Devices for Children Is Flawed) which debunks that research. If you don't feel like reading it, it says this: The research cited against technology use for youth focuses on passive television viewing or addiction to video games that are usually of violent nature. 

Of course video game addiction and passively intaking information for hours on end is bad for anyone. In those cases the problem is usually not the technology, but rather the lack of a responsible adult guiding these young people.

However, when young people have responsible parents and teachers in their lives, this does not describe what most young people do with technology. When responsible adults are involved in and understand the digital lives of young people, great things happen. Below is an arsenal of material that explains how today's youth are using technology effectively.  Pick a few of your favorites. Then share, and shift the conversation from lamenting about "kids today" to celebrating the wonderful things young people are doing when given proper support and access technology.  
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Stop Letting Good Students Do Bad Presentations

The good news is that more and more often students are presenting at education conferences. The bad news is that they’re doing a poor job and it’s their teacher’s fault. 

Don’t be a teacher who let’s your students give a bad presentation. Before you have your students present make sure you’ve prepared them with these tips.

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Student Voice Live - 9/20 in NYC: Calling All Innovative Educators

Guest post by student, Keaton Wadzinski

It started with just a few students and allies connecting over Twitter. Then came the weekly #StuVoice Twitter Chats, Facebook conversations, then Google Hangouts, which all led to the first ever Student Voice Live! in April of 2013.

What caught on so quickly? The Student Voice movement.

Once started, the spark of student voice caught fire, igniting the drive to create Student Voice, the for-students-by-students 501 (c) 3 non-profit dedicated to revolutionizing education through the voices and actions of students.

Event details

Innovative Educators are invited to join in this exceptional work on Saturday, September 20th, at Student Voice Live! 2014 at Shootdigital Studios (23 East Fourth St. New York, NY, 10003). Come to contribute your ideas, support, and passion by registering at http://stuvoice.org/student-voice-live. If you can’t attend, you can watch via livestream here and follow our Twitter stream @Stu_Voice!

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Engage with @ArneDuncan during #StuVoice Twitter chat

The voice of students is of utmost importance and today those students are harnessing the power of social media to take a stand, be heard, and take action around the issues that affect them.  It seems Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his team are interested in listening.

Today, January 13, 2014, Secretary Duncan will be moderating a special one-hour #stuvoice Twitter chat to get feedback from students on how we can keep college affordable and how the Administration’s college rating system can be useful for students and families.

You can join tonight. 

Details...

What: #StuVoice Twitter Chat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

When: 8:30pm EST Monday January 13, 2014

Where: Follow the Twitter conversation starting at 8:30pm on Jan. 13, with the #stuvoice hashtag and follow @ArneDuncan and @Stu_Voice.

For more information visit the Student Voice website http://stuvoice.org/, Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thestuvoice, and Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/stuvoice. You can also subscribe to the Department of Education’s Youth Voices newsletter, and follow ED Youth Voices on Facebook.

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Teen @CGressmanTHS builds a PLN to spread ideas about the key to giving the gift of learning

High school student Courtney Gressman made a powerful public service announcement as part of her social studies class titled “Learning is NATURAL. The Way We Learn Should Be OPTIONAL.” Unlike most high school students, however, her work didn’t stay locked in the walls of the classroom. Gressman explains, “Our class is a very opinionated group of independent, connected learners. We use tools such as social media to gain knowledge, perspective, and to have diverse conversation where anyone can be included.”

As such, the first thing she did upon the completion of her PSA was to Tweet it.

Learning is NATURAL, but the WAY we learn should be OPTIONAL http://t.co/FPzHY2qVoF #SandersTHS #StuVoice #PSA #innovation #iCitizen
— Courtney Gressman (@CGressmanTHS) December 11, 2013

The PSA was meant to address the problem of lack of student input in education and to show students AND adults that there are different ways to learn and teach. Gressman explains, "One of these ways in my own life is #SandersTHS, my class in which I made the PSA, but I know we could be doing so much more at my school to provide all students with independent learning opportunities so we can truly learn the way we want and need to. We all deserve and want to have more freedom in our education."

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