iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Vape pens are easy to conceal, they're easy to confuse with other electronic gadgets like USB flash drives, and they generally don't leave lingering smells on clothes. All these things make them appealing to underage users, and confounding to parents. Gone are the days when sniffing a teenager's jacket or gym bag counted as passive drug screening. Now if parents want to know if their teens are vaping nicotine or cannabis, their best bet is a good old fashioned conversation.

And with news of an outbreak of life-threatening vaping illness sweeping the country, and vape use at an all-time high among teens, the issue feels more urgent than ever. Here's what to say — and not to say — to help your child deal with peer pressure and misinformation, and stay safe.

"The patterns of daily life in the U.S. and around the world have been forever altered by the ubiquity of mobile technology. To truly understand the impact of technology on family relationships, we need to dig deeper into the media habits and attitudes of parents and teens worldwide.

The New Normal: Parents, Teens, Screens, and Sleep in the United States

The latest addition to the New Normal research series explores how smartphones and other mobile devices have changed families' morning and evening routines and in-person relationships. For the first time, parents and teens reveal their habits around screens and sleep, from where they keep phones at night to how often digital notifications wake them up (and why). Take a look at the infographic for a summary of how devices affect daily life for parents and teens today."

When parents try to help their kids with math homework, it's usually been a while since they've sat down and tried to work out a math problem themselves.

Mumsnet user lucysmam found herself in this scenario and turned to the internet for help, posting a photo of her daughter's math assignment on the parents' online forum.

This morning, George Couros shared a post, “Not as much as you Pretend” in which he talks about perceived barriers vs actual barriers. He says, “Too often we create something in our heads as a barrier.”

Reading it prompted me to realize that I had been working on my own post about my similar thinking on the topic  (in draft for 4 weeks because unfortunately my cognitive abilities are not quite back to normal!)

The findings in the report, Common Sense Consensus: Plugged in Parents of Teens & Tweens surprised me a little, but also support the notion that we sometimes perceive barriers which may not necessarily exist and that parents are far more supportive of technology-enabled learning than we think.

It is one of the first reports I have seen which focuses on the habits of parent social media use (if I am mistaken, please share in the comments!). The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,786 parents of children age 8 to 18 living in the United States and was conducted from July 8, 2016, to July 25, 2016. It seeks to answer these questions:

Playtime. Downtime. Family time.

According to Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, these three factors — or PDF as she calls them — protect kids against a host of negative outcomes, strengthen resilience, and bolster students’ mental wellness and academic engagement. 

Parental engagement in any subject is key to academic success - some studies show a probability increase of more than 50% for children who are supported by parents in their learning to achieve top grades versus children who receive little or no support.

Wency Leung talks to parents and educators for their tips on how to negotiate, communicate and solve conflicts with the other adult helping to rear your child

It's no secret that tweens and teens spend a lot of time with media. But what about their parents? For the first time in a Common Sense Census, we put the spotlight on parents to understand how they manage their kids' -- and their own -- media use.

This national report is based on surveys from more than 1,700 parents of children age 8 to 18, who share candidly about their own media use and their perceptions of their kids' engagement with media and technology.

The findings create a comprehensive picture of parent strategies for mediating, monitoring, and managing media issues for their children. Results show that parents actively keep tabs on tech use at home and are supportive of the positive benefits of media in their kids' lives. The study provides insight into how families can use media in healthy ways and how parents can be good digital role models for their kids. Watch our video below and see our blog post for highlights.