The Social Media Game Elementary School Students Should Be Playing

I'm a student voice advocate. Fortunately, my employer supports this and as such, we have been incorporating the voice of students in the guidelines around social media (You can see the teen guidelines at schools.nyc.gov/socialmedia). Most recently I had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of elementary students about social media and which platforms they are using. Admittedly, I'm not much of a user of social media platforms for the under 13 set, so I knew I had a lot to learn. Interestingly, across the board, one platform rose to the top and I had never heard of it before.

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The platform is called MovieStar Planet and it promises players "Fame, Fortune, and Friends." Interestingly, though not surprisingly, the first reaction from many of the adults about this game was negative. Online gaming? Social media? Fame, fortune, friends = narcissism. Blech. 

When I suggested this would be a great game to be reviewed on an education site, I was told, the site only reviews games that were educational. For some it seems if kids like it and it plays to their need for attention, it has to be bad.  

Not so.

Here is how MovieStar Planet describes their site:

"MovieStarPlanet is a social website where children and teenagers work together with their friends to create cartoons. MovieStarPlanet is a blend of Facebook and YouTube with a learning dimension added." 

Here's how it works:
In MovieStarPlanet you get a personal virtual MovieStar which is used in movies, chat rooms and games.

In the Movies and chat rooms a microphone can be used to record speechlines and voice chat - please see the "How to record sound" instruction movie for details about how to record sound.

Your MovieStar earns fame points and StarCoins (the virtual money in MovieStarPlanet) when you participate in the MovieStarPlanet virtual world.

StarCoins are earned when other users watch your published movies, when you watch and rate other movies, and when you play games in the chat rooms.

Fame points are earned when other users watch your published movies.

Your MovieStar starts at level 0, and when you earn fame points you rise in levels. New levels give access to new animations and access to chat rooms reserved for MovieStars at higher levels. 

So you might be reading this and be a bit freaked out that young people are being social online. What if someone says something mean? What if someone is not who they say they are?  

Real concerns indeed which is why it is important for adults to be in the online worlds of young people.  That said, when I talked to the students, they could have given a class on the topic. They definitely knew how to handle it.
-Tell the person nicely that you don't like what they are saying.
-If they continue block and report them.

That usually did the trick. If not, they say they'd get a parent or teacher that wouldn't "freak out and ban it" involved. And, that's a real concern for kids. Too often one negative thing happens and the response from adults is to ban and block (like this school did) rather than empower and prepare our youth who are growing up in a world where being savvy on social media in crucial.  

Think about it this way.  What better way for children to develop literacy skills then to chat with each and create movies for a real audience. And, bonus. The children have the opportunity to connect with others from around the world.  

Now check out who is behind the creation of MovieStar Planet:
The Danish Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation in cooperation with The Danish University of Education, and a number of elementary school teachers.In 2009-11 the development of MovieStarPlanet is part of the research and development project about the use of games in education called Serious Games on a Global Market Place

Here are the education objectives: 
The cartoons in MovieStarPlanet are small and very simple, focusing on using English in new and motivating ways. The cartoon medium is used to practice the written English skills of the children allowing them to:

·         read and write screenplays

·         watch their own and other children’s Movies so that they practice listening to and understanding/interpreting the English language

For the children, MovieStarPlanet is ideal for:

·         participating in ”language games” and role-plays

·         using digital media to create simple or more advanced texts

·         communicating with children in other grades and schools

·         understanding and performing simple or more advance language actions

·         using digital media for creative expression

Ready to get started? 

·         Teachers: Head on over to the teacher's center.   

·         Students: www.moviestarplanet.com is freely available on the internet and can be freely used in education or privately by anyone.

·         Parents: Read http://info.moviestarplanet.com/parents.aspx.

·         Everyone: Safety first. Read this: http://info.moviestarplanet.com/safety.aspx

A Sensible Way to Look At #EdTech Integration

In the early days of my work in helping schools integrate technology, I remember how frustrated I was when I'd walk into a school and witness how devices were used. In so many classrooms, students would take what was written on loose leaf paper and type their work into a computer. Next, they'd print it out. The teacher would mark it up, and they'd type in the new version.

Ack!

Not only were they only use technology as a substitution for paper, but the way they were doing this work was actually less efficient than just using paper.

I'd work at the very basic level to explain that this transition back and forth between paper didn't need to happen. Students could type right onto a computer and teachers could comment right into student drafts.  Even in the relatively early days of MS Word comments (even voice comments) were a little known, but effective tool available.

Considerations for #EdTech Purchases

Well into the 21st century, most schools acknowledge that for students to be prepared for college and career, they must have equity and access to technology. Providing technology resources is more than purchasing equipment and delivering it to a school. As we've learned from numerous other districts who've gotten this wrong (east coast and west), district-wide technology purchases can be a godsend or a disaster.  

Here are some recommendations for schools or districts that are allocating dollars toward technology.

Teaching with Tech Across the Curriculum

When I talk to students these days they tell me that when they want to learn something they're interested in, it usually is not teachers or parents they turn to. It’s Google, YouTube, or to others they find online (aka their PLN) who engage in their activities of interest.

These kids aren’t just playing on the computer either. They mean serious business. Teen Jack Andraka turned to Google when doing his research that led to his discovery of a new screening for pancreatic cancer. Teens like Courtney Gressman and Alex Laubscher are building networks using social media to pursue their passions and do work that matters to them and others.

Not only does access to the internet provide limitless access to resources but tools like the iPad (or other tablets) also change with the needs of the user. One device can transform into a piano, drawing canvas, book, publishing press, or whatever a student wants it to be... on demand.

This has come up in my world recently when a parent confess to me that she was unsure of her ability to support her child's learning away from school. To put her mind at ease we simply discussed what her child wants to learn, and then determined available resources.  

What follows are ideas for teaching with tech across subject areas:

Collaboration between companies + school district = Connected educators

Are you gaga over Google? Do you think Microsoft is magnificent? Do you excel at using Edmodo? Do you think PBS is the perfect platform for digital media content?

Wouldn’t it be great to find others in your district using the same tools as you? Wouldn’t it be great to have a direct connection to the people who work at the companies of the very resources you are using for teaching and learning? 

As reported this week in the Wall Street Journal, Chalkbeat New York, and this press release from the NYC Department of Education's press office, this has become a reality for NYC Department of Education teachers.  

As part of Chancellor Carmen Farina’s commitment to integrate more technology into classrooms a series of innovative summer courses for teachers will be offered so that teachers are equipped to ensure students graduate from New York City public schools with the digital skills they need to succeed.

Looking back and forward at my New Year predictions for education

Last January I shared my predictions with Tech & Learning about what I thought would be big in hardware and software in 2013.

Here they are:

-->School districts will begin embracing social media as they realize the importance of empowering students to responsibly use these resources for academic, career, and citizenship success

-->Lifting the ban on use of cell phones and other student-owned digital devices in school; providing home Internet access by working with Internet providers to offer special rates and packages to students who qualify for subsidies; going paperless as districts reallocate resources toward digital solutions; customizing learning with digital lectures and learning resources that are available anytime, anywhere.

This year Tech & Learning is running a follow-up article in their January 2014 issue and asked, me to share what I thought about my predictions.  

Here is what I shared.