Category: Uncategorized

Cyberbullying tips for parents & kids!

by Mario Armstrong

On this mornings CNN segment I shared a few tips about cyberbullying! Did you know 1 in 5 teens have been Cyberbullied and it’s starting to happen at younger ages. 42% of of 4th-8th grade students have been cyberbullying victims.  (if you have more questions JOIN the FREE advice conference call that Ill be a guest on Monday 10pm edt)

Here are some of the highlights & tips from my CNN segment (which happens every Sat. 8:20am edt):

1. Sign up for free Google alerts on your Child’s name & their friends. This way every time your Child’s name is blogged about you can receive an email notification. You can also type in other keywords that you may want to track as well.

2. Become their friend on Facebook! If your child is on Facebook YOU absolutely need to join to parent them online! I can’t stress this enough & if you are intimidated check online or Facebook 101 classes and area community colleges that may offer a course at low cost.

3. Mobile bullying is a major problem as well, so play close attention to text messages, images etc… If you are really concerned you can look at using a service like my mobile watchdog this won’t be available for every phone but it could help some of you. Also you can turn off receiving images in text messages on your child’s phone!

4. For the kids if you have been bullied or know someone who has keep a few tips in mind:
– don’t respond to it, don’t fuel them
– tell a guardian, parent, adult friend
Asap!
– don’t delete any messages, blog posts or images that may have been used to bully you, keep that as evidence of what’s happening

5.

6. Lastly, if you are really concerned you can install computer monitoring software like SpectorSoft Pro this is a keylogger software and will help you track emails, IM’s, chats, social networking, websites visited, images viewed etc…

I hope these tips help some of you, I have a son as well & I do understand the feeling as a parent but I also understand how it can be difficult for kids to communicate what’s happening.

Bottom line over-communicate! Feel free to share tips that have worked for you in the comments!

Guest: Alton Drew, Managing Director of the Alton Drew Group

by Mario Armstrong

Guest: Alton Drew, Managing Director of the Alton Drew Group  here to talk about his latest article on politic365.com:  “The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Tuesday that downloading a musical work from websites provided by Internet companies such as Yahoo! And RealNetworks does not qualify as public performances.”

http://politic365.com/2010/10/01/federal-court-rules-downloads-are-not-public-performances/

Website of the Day: stemchallenge.org
Digital Deal: Walmart.com– Visio LCD Television-$400

Mario with CNNs Ali Velshi talking video games for education!

by Mario Armstrong

Today at 2:04 pm EDT I will be on CNN with Ali Velshi discussing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)and my thoughts on how video games can be used as a vehicle to ignite student interest in these disciplines. For too long people have looked at video games as a source of negativity, social-isolation and a vehicle that’s dumbing down our youth. However, many of these opinions I have come across, tend to come from those who have NOT programmed a game, developed an animated character or tested bugs in a game. I have seen and have done these things, first hand. I have video game developers as friends and I have visited and have observed behind-the-scenes at video game companies. Bottom line: If you have never seen a video game developed then you you may be pretty clueless to its educational potential. In addition, I have spoken in person to over 9,000 kids in the last 14 months & I have a solid sense of what connects to them and gets them excited. And it’s the reason we hired 11 high school kids to create the 1st STEM social network: http://TechTechBoom.com

I often say “when you peel back the layers behind all the bright colors, shapes and action of a video game you’ll find Math, Physics, Engineering and Literature” and that’s true. Did you know before a character is created on-screen it’s essentially a polygon (a-hem Geometry)? To move (animate) a character requires an understanding of the laws of motion (a-hem Physics)! The development process requires programming and designing on an X & Y axis etc… (a-hem Algebra). The game has to make noise (a-hem sound engineers). Oh and you need creative writers who can develop characters, develop scenarios, outcomes and a plot (a-hem creative writing) – I could go on and on with this list!

My point is this,  we need to meet kids WHERE THEY ARE, we need to MAKE EDUCATION RELEVANT! Yes, kids should be excited about Geometry but more kids are excited about creating games – if that is the hook to get them to learn math – why fight it?

The next time your kid is playing a video game ask them about the plot, the hypothetical scenarios and ask them how they would change the game, what would they design differently. You might be surprised at the answer.

And for my teachers that work so hard — let’s dissect the video game development process and create curricula about the STEM involved in making games.

What are your thoughts? Can video games play a role in the classroom? Can we increase student interest in Math and Science through gaming? Are you now a believer or still a skeptic of my position?

Guest, Robert “Bob” Armstrong: Conference Chairman, Modeling and Simulation World Conference and Expo

by Mario Armstrong

Robert “Bob” Armstrong has over 25 years of experience in military training and over 15 years experience in modeling and simulation. As the Marine Corps’ first modeling and simulation officer, and later as director of the Training and Education Technology Division, Bob led the development and acquisition of many of the simulation-based training tools in use in the Marine Corps today, including the Deployable Virtual Training Environment and Combined Arms Command and Control Training Upgrade System. Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, Bob joined the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC), serving as technical director. Currently with Booz Allen Hamilton, Bob provides modeling, simulation and analysis support to the Air Force’s Air Combat Command in Hampton, Virginia. Bob has a B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.S. in Computer Science from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School

Website of the day: None

Digital deal of the day: None