1. Connecting and Communicating in the Digital Social Age

2. The original “messaging” between and among students was quite literally...messages. Hand written and slipped to a peer

3. Contact outside of school was limited to use of the family home phone. Time and content was, to some degree, monitored by curious parents. As phones became portable they also became personal devices.

4. The simultaneous development of the personal computer, and the advent of websites devoted to connecting people, led to unprecedented levels of communication.

5. + = Finally, in the most recent evolution of the machinery of connection, computers and cell phones gave rise to the smartphone. Students now have multiple methods for communicating with their peers including: voice, text, and live video feeds.

10. In the face of ever changing methods for communication the only remaining constants are the child, parent, and family. Human Needs -Testing understanding the world -Forging relational bonds -Using peers as mirrors to better understand the self...reassurance -Expressing emotion

11. -Consistency in all spheres -Character...when no one is watching -Integrity...well developed sense of right and wrong -Kindness, Fairness, Responsibility

12. The notion of “Digital Natives and Immigrants” -Digital immigrants are divided into three categories: Avoiders, Reluctant Adopters, Eager Adopters. -Can parents be anything less than Eager Adopters?

14. What to do: -Work to raise children with a strong moral core...technology changes, the human element remains the same. -Be a Digital Native/Eager Adopters -Learn how to do it all yourself...parental controls are a misonomer if your child knows how to do more than you do. -Speak openly with your child about what you are doing and why you are doing it...the default defense is love/care/protection/safety