Parent+Resources+for+Digital+Literacy

= = While we understand our students to be fairly inundated with digital technologies, in many cases issues of access as well as parental inexperience / concern with these technologies can affect our students' actual levels of experience and comfort as they develop their own digital literacy. These resources are meant to be shared with parents who wish to gain a higher level of experience with and understanding of the interactive technologies and particpatory culture which we hope to use in our instruction of their students.

=Access:=

**[|NYC Public Libraries]:**
====Accessing the digital world: In a world of personal devices, the seemingly obvious resources offered by the public library system can easily fly under the radar if we do not insist on the importance of this institution to our students and their families.==== Note: [|Brooklyn] and [|Queens] are served by their own public library systems.

[|Internet Access]: NYPL has thousands of public-access computers (which may be reserved for use), as well as free wifi. These services are also offered by the Brooklyn and Queens libraries.

[|Adult Ed]: NYPL offers free English and reading/ writing courses.

=Encouragement:= It's essential for parents to understand not only the potential risks associated with digital/ interactive technologies, but also the educational and creative potentials that they open up, so that they may better support the development of their child's (digital)literacy. To a parent, it may seem that their child is "wasting time" online, however, unilaterally restricting screen time may be less effective than helping to direct their child's efforts into more creative and productive spaces.

Here are some blogging sites commonly used by youth to publish and particpate, both within class and without. Parents should familiarize themselves with such sites so they can make informed decisions / offer meaningful encouragement. In addition to this partial list, it is important for educators to reach out to parents about what technologies their students will be using in class informing them about the educative potential of these resources. This should always be an open conversation between educators, parents and students.

__[|Tumblr:]__ Networking, posting and reposting content, commenting
 * Networking on this site is generally centered around more creative aims than, say, Facebook)
 * Allows / facilitates user generated web design

__Wordpress / Blogspot:__ These are some of the most commonly used personal blog platforms, but there are many more. Check out this [|parent's guide] to teen blogging. And here's some [|exemplary blogging] (more than just fashion and selfies!) by youth which has been featured by huffington post.

__[|Deviantart:]__ Publishing, commenting, reviews, networking
 * Users are encouraged to review and respond, discussing one another's artwork - lots of interest based communities for fan art, too!

=Safety:=

[|Parent Resources from Edutopia / Common Sense Media]:
====Understanding your child's relationship to the digital world: Here's a comprehensive compilation of information and materials to help parents better understand and engage their students in thinking about their media use. This page contains a multitude of resources, here are some that I found to be particularly helpful.==== [|The basics] [|Re: The Cellphone]: Understand the risks and bennefits associated with this personal device. [|Re: Online privacy, or lack thereof]: "Ten ways you may be living more publicly than you want to be." [|Recognizing and responding to digital harassment]

[|FBI's Guide to Internet Safety]:
Comprehensive, available in many different languages, and downloadable as a PDF

[|Slideshare Presentation from iSafety]:
For parents looking for a more multimodal presentation about understanding their child's relationship to the digital world