"Challenging books promote reading for pleasure, help improve standards and lead to better overall academic achievement and social mobility.
It appears that beyond a certain age, young people may not be being encouraged to read at the appropriate level of difficulty for their age – perhaps because it is assumed they can already read, and their literacy no longer needs development."

— Secondary school children ‘shunning difficult books’

"Yes, according to Nielsen, 32 percent of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 report that they engage in social networking while on the pot. Nielsen did not report the numbers for other demographics. But it’s well-understood in the technology industry that the behavior of this bellwether group heralds the shape of things to come for the nation as a whole. In short, our days of leafing through newspapers and magazines on the commode are numbered."

— Nielsen social media study: Everyone’s tweeting in the bathroom.

gjmueller:

How walking through a doorway increases forgetting

The key finding is that memory performance was poorer after travelling through an open doorway, compared with covering the same distance within the same room. “Walking through doorways serves as an event boundary, thereby initiating the updating of one’s event model [i.e. the creation of a new episode in memory]” the researchers said.

photo via flickr:CC|kimba

gjmueller:

No, Facebook Is Not Ruining Your Grades

The study, published last week in Computers in Human Behavior, analyzes 1,839 college students’ survey data about Facebook use and actual grades (as opposed to self-reported grades). It also takes into account students’ high-school GPAs.

On average, students say they spend 106 minutes on Facebook per day. Each increase of 93 minutes beyond 106 minutes correlates with a GPA decrease of .12 grade points — statistically significant, but not dramatic when applied to a real-world situation.

photo via flickr:CC|English106

Wait til my hundreds of Facebook “friends” hear about this in my next status update…

Study: Women Post More on Facebook to Boost Self-Image →

infoneer-pulse:

Next time you notice endless snaps posted on Facebook by that woman in your life, you may want to spare a thought for her self-esteem before slipping into Facebook envy. It turns out her posts could just be an attempt to boost her self worth.

In a study out of the University of Buffalo, professor Michael Stefanone examined how gender stereotypes–like women valuing themselves based on appearances and men on achievements– played out online. To determine social media behaviors based on gender, his team asked 311 participants to fill out a questionnaire that examined their contingencies of self worth as well as what their typical behaviors were on Facebook.

Not only did the study show that women identify more strongly with their image and appearance, but the findings also suggested that this image-conscious view was linked with their activity on Facebook. Women shared five times as many photos, had larger social networks and spent more time on Facebook than males. Those who sought approval based on how others’ viewed them had a much more active social media profile, particularly when it came to photos.

» via Time

Ladies of Tumblr: What do you think? Is this accurate or off-base?

As always, feel welcome to reply via Reblog, Submit box, or Disqus comments for this post on the actual Tumblr page.

"In a survey about the future impact of the internet, a solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders said the Millennial generation will lead society into a new world of personal disclosure and information-sharing using new media. These experts said the communications patterns “digital natives” have already embraced through their use of social networking technology and other social technology tools will carry forward even as Millennials age, form families, and move up the economic ladder."

— Overview of responses | Pew Internet & American Life Project

Looking at Achievement Studies →

Now don’t get me wrong—this is very impressive as a work. But should any of this really be surprising?

Every once in a while a book comes around for educators that everyone from administrators to parents need to own. This book which is truly the best book that I have encountered in years is “Visible Learning, A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement” by John Hattie. The Times Educational Supplement says, “It reveals teaching’s Holy Grail.”

So what makes this book so extraordinary? The book takes nearly every study done on achievement and compiles them. It then gives the reader an analysis of how effective each practice is. Each practice is given a rating from -0.2 (reverse effects) to 1.2 (desired effect.)

Taking a look at the top five practices that yield the highest rankings is:

* Self-reporting grades (1.2) – This is allowing students to estimate and evaluate their own performance.

* Piagetian programs (1.2) – Recognizing the accurate stage of development based of the stages developed my Piaget allows for teachers to instruct at the appropriate level. These stages are: logical operations, concrete, formal-operational

* Providing formative evaluations (.9) – When teachers constantly measure student knowledge instead of at the end of a unit they can decide better what needs to be taught and have a prescription for success for every student.

* Micro-teaching (.88) this typically involves student-teachers conducting lessons to small groups of students and then discussing the lessons. Usually these lessons are videotaped.

* Acceleration (.88) – This practice is an alternative to gifted programs and allows brighter students to forge ahead with their peers.

Experts Agree: Gen Y Will Not Grow Out of Social Networking [STUDY] →

When it comes to Millennials, 67% of experts in the respondent pool agreed with the following statement:

“By 2020, members of Generation Y (today’s ‘digital natives’) will continue to be ambient broadcasters who disclose a great deal of personal information in order to stay connected and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities. Even as they mature, have families, and take on more significant responsibilities, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will carry forward.”

Pew found that the experts believe the advantages and social benefits of sharing personal information online far outweigh the consequences, an attitude that these young “digital natives” will carry into adulthood. A survey response from a Mozilla programmer exemplifies this notion: “Unless Generation Y has a collective privacy-related epiphany, they will continue to happily trade it for convenience.”

There’s even consensus that society may learn to forgive these teens of their youthful errors in judgment online.

For the record, that last part is huge.

Image-conscious youth rein in social networking →

Among other things, the study found that young adults ages 18-29 are the most likely to limit the amount of personal information they share online—and the least likely to trust free online services ranging from Facebook to LinkedIn and MySpace.