Balanced
Showing posts with label Balanced. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balanced. Show all posts

ISPP Parent's Guide to YouTube

Hi folks!
I'm thrilled to share a glimpse into how elementary students use YouTube outside of school, some tips on finding a healthy balance for your child, and advice on protecting their privacy online.

VIDEO: Parent's Guide to YouTube (2017)

ISPP Students and YouTube Use

Students from Grade 1 to Grade 5 were asked to complete a short survey regarding their use of YouTube outside of school. Grade 1 and 2 students were guided through the questions by teachers. All students were encouraged to provide honest answers with no repercussions for identifying choices or behaviour discouraged or prohibited at school.

With 54% of student respondents watching videos five or more days a week, YouTube clearly plays a major role in the entertainment choices of students at ISPP. Most content appears to be fine (if a bit silly or weird). Many popular channels feature educational, DIY or other productive content. Following is a summary of data collected from 257 elementary student respondents to a survey regarding their use of YouTube. All answers were provided independently by students, and may include all the biases and irregularities that go along with that.

TOP 10 Most popular YouTube channels by ISPP survey respondents (257 responses):
Gaming, challenges, silliness
2) Stampy
Minecraft and educational, silliness
vLogs, fashion, cosmetics, comedy (teen)
vLogs, challenges, silliness, games
Minecraft
Gaming, silliness (Inappropriate content)
vLogs, comedy for teens
vLogs, DIY, fashion, life tips, comedy (teen)
vLogs, challenges, comedy
Comedy skits and vLogs, managed by parents.

Out of a total 197 YouTube channels recommended by 257 elementary survey respondents, these received the most mentions. Though some of these channels may contain risque content targeted at teens and older, the creators mostly self-censor to reach a wider audience. Ten minute reviews of each only identified one channel containing harsh language, violence and aggression that was clearly inappropriate for elementary school children (#6, pewdiepie). If you investigate further, please send your opinions and reviews to the technology coach, or leave a comment below.



Notably, our school accounts do not support YouTube, so this requires a private email address to create. Many parents ask about this during conferences. It's not currently an option in Cambodia, but should this change in the future the school will review our policy to see if this is the best option for protecting our kids.

Students are encouraged to use their school accounts as much as possible, but it's more child-appropriate, secure and accountable to use a private account with YouTube than no account at all.

Outside of school, a private account is necessary to use restricted mode (formerly safe mode), which removes all content tagged inappropriate for kids by YouTube.

Please see the Parent’s Guide to YouTube video for more information.

Phone/ iPad or other tablet / Laptop or Desktop computer / TV

Most students watch YouTube on a laptop or desktop computer, with iPads and tablets coming in a close second. Note that students were able to select more than one device here, and many students have access to more than one device for consuming video. This has implications for parental controls such as restricted mode, which require an account to be signed in, and identifies a clear weakness in website filtering or blocking software unless it can be consistently applied across all devices the child uses. It may be interesting to note the trend that younger children prefer tablet and phone devices, with older children preferring laptops or desktop computers.


These categories were taken from YouTube analytics and Common Sense Media studies of the most popular genres of YouTube videos.
  • "Let's play" videos (playing videogames with commentary) were by far the most popular category of video, highly popular with Grades 1-3 where they often do not have access to the games themselves.
  • "Challenges" were a big trend popular with grades 2-5. Flash mobs, mannequin challenge and bottle flip are examples of these.
  • Fashion and cosmetics, a huge category for YouTube and teens, was oddly only popular in Grade 3 (and a couple G5s).
  • vLogs (video blogs) were non-existent in G1/G2, but very popular in G3+. This category is worth note because of the personal nature of the videos and likelihood of these YouTubers being role models for kids. This category often blends with Fashion and Cosmetics, where YouTube personalities may endorse products or discuss their personal lifestyle choices (including fashion). May include examples from all other categories.
  • Educational (how-to) videos were very popular with 4th and 5th graders, but almost non-existent below that.
  • Music was popular in all grades, Funny/Silly stuff in all grades.


The 9.7% here that are publishing on YouTube without parental help are 25 students made up of 5th graders (11), 4th graders (8), and 3rd graders (6). Though this is a minority, it indicates an increased need for digital citizenship and privacy conversations regarding online publishing in these grade levels.
Please see the Parent’s Guide to YouTube video for more information on publishing and privacy.

Resources


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Thank you so much for reading, watching, and being engaged with what your children are doing online.

It’s taken me a few months to complete this project, and I appreciate the patience of those who’ve been discussing it with me this whole time. I hope the time spent on research and in my own efforts to better understand our students will be valuable to everyone! Our students, our children, are living in a world with unprecedented access to media. It is our responsibility to become a part of that.

I welcome feedback, suggestions, your own experience and comments via ISPP email or comments here on the blog.

Yours truly,

Matt
PYP Technology Coach
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Hunt and Peck

**UPDATED: 22/9/2015 with new "for fun" typing games**

Cartoon courtesy of Jim Benton Design (jimbenton.com)
With all the technology flying around education these days, many schools are looking at traditional skill-based drilling exercises such as keyboarding or typing as inefficient use of instructional time. Plenty of time is allocated to writing exercises though, and with a technology integration strategy, that means lots of opportunities for students to practice their typing skills. Some students develop these skills naturally with some teacher advice on the side of the writing lesson, but others may need extra support to practice healthy typing habits and improve the performance and quantity of work they can produce during a lesson.

Proper typing practice can also improve your health by ensuring proper posture and ergonomics.



So what can you do about it?

The two-finger "hunt and peck" strategy is a waste of 80% of your hands!

In years past, typing keeners would purchase software such as the venerable Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and although this is still a fantastic typing tutor packed with games and features, it's failed to keep up with the times when it comes to the web. It's also expensive!
Online typing tutors are easy to find these days, and many websites offer their apps free of charge and will even track and remember your progress if you make an account. Here are some recommendations for free online typing tutors:

BBC Dance Mat Typing uses animated characters to encourage typers toward proper technique while playing a "guitar hero" or "dance dance revolution" style game. Starts slow but gets pretty challenging! No account necessary.

Ratatype promises to use typing practice and tests to build muscle memory and speed without losing accuracy. It's free if you create an account, but is very drill-based without any fun games or extras. Good for students who are easily distracted, but not particularly engaging.

Keybr.com is similar to Ratatype with a more professional style, but adds one distinguishing feature that may be used to engage kids: races. If you create accounts, two users can compete against each other in races of typing speed and accuracy.

If Google Chrome is your browser of choice, you can install free app typing tutors from the Chrome Web Store. My favourite is TypeScout, packed with typing lesson plans, games and activities and is free for two months, after which it costs $1.50/year.

Type Fu is a polished, professional typing tutor that is completely free and has lots and lots of structured, adaptive lessons that adjust to the skill of the typer. The highlight here is the robust use of graphs and statistics that tell you just how you are doing, and how much you've improved.

Ninja Cat and Zombie Dinosaurs is a "for fun" speed and accuracy game. Little in the way of instructional content, it provides a fun landscape for practicing lessons learned from some of the more formal typing tutors. Has a two player competition mode!

My new favourite of the bunch, Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing is funny, structured, gamelike and engaging with clever retro graphics. Contains some strong language and mature references, parents should play through to the first exam if unsure.

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Hopefully you'll find these resources helpful in improving the speed, accuracy, and posture of your writing. Please leave a comment if you have anything to add!

-M
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