Teachers.TV, a UK-based professional development site for educators, has a great video on teaching kids about information literacy, social networking and web safety. This is a refreshingly rational analysis and discussion of the issues surrounding kids, web safety and social media.
This video also outlines several classroom activities that teachers can use with their students (and parents) to help them gain a better understanding and awareness of the potential dangers of sharing too much information in social networks. Related Resources
This is a grass roots effort and educators and students alike are encouraged to sign-up and form their own O Ambassador chapters. The O Ambassador program hopes to have 1,000 new clubs for the 2008-2009 school year.
The program has several goals: connecting children around the world, encouraging them to be more aware about the world around them, and then empowering them to take active steps to "create lasting change by working toward the UN Millennium Development Goals."
The O Ambassador website also has a myriad of international education resources for teachers. These resources include videos, lesson plans and activities that teachers can use in their classroom. Another good site, not affiliated with the O Ambassador program, is the International Education website sponsored by the Asia Society.
While there are a lot of really great organizations that are trying to connect kids and teachers, I've long held the belief that it will take money, a big brand and lots of patience to make it happen. And it looks as though Ms. Winfrey is stepping up to the challenge.
Donating money to an organization is always a leap of faith. You donate with the hope that the organization will really "do good" with your donation. I've personally worked with the Free the Children team and I can tell you with 100% certainty that they are worthy of your trust.
"Developers - Now is the time to build education applications on Facebook Platform! Facebook will be phasing out its Courses feature in early August, and we wanted to make sure you were the first to know.
Collaboration services and applications are a big part of the world of Education. Especially on college campuses, where we first found our roots. Many of you have probably used some kind of collaboration software as a part of your courses.
Our courses application was a great way to connect with new friends, and find your classmates. But, we think Facebook Developers can create even more robust ways to create, connect, and collaborate around teaching and learning in the classroom.
This is a great business opportunity, with vast distribution potential, and a great way to fundamentally affect an important part of the lives of students worldwide."
