Illinois Says Rule-Breaking Students Must Give Teachers Their Facebook Passwords

This falls squarely in the “parental responsibility” category and school officials should have no authority to make this kind of demand. (Not to mention the fact that EULAs clearly state not to divulge passwords.) If the issue is serious enough to require access to the student’s account then go through the proper channels and get a warrant.

via Motherboard – Illinois Says Rule-Breaking Students Must Give Teachers Their Facebook Passwords.

“School districts in Illinois are telling parents that a new law may require school officials to demand the social media passwords of students if they are suspected in cyberbullying cases or are otherwise suspected of breaking school rules.”

 

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Kids should code: why ‘computational thinking’ needs to be taught in schools

Learn to leverage the technology around you or you’re going to get left behind.

“Unchecked, automation will destroy many skilled, middle-income jobs and push more of the middle class into insecure, unskilled work. The winners out of these changes will be those who are able to use machines to advance and enhance their skill sets.”

via The Guardian – Kids should code: why ‘computational thinking’ needs to be taught in schools.

Should Taking Kids Out of School for Family Vacation Be Illegal?

I was surprised to learn that this is even an issue. The nanny state really needs to weasel their way into everything, don’t they? Heaven forbid parents might want to spend a little extra time with their kids.

From Lifehacker: “In some states, it is illegal for parents to pull kids out of school for ‘unallowed’ reasons, such as family events or vacations, with some parents charged with misdemeanors, given fines, or even threatened with jail time.”

Read the full post – Should Taking Kids Out of School for Family Vacation Be Illegal?

Umm…check out these links.

‘Ums’ and ‘ers’ help children learn – via NewScientist.com – An interesting study…It seems to indicate that disfluencies in speech have an unexpected benefit.  They help children learn by calling attention to when something important is said.  Saying “like” every other word still makes you sound retarded, though.

Carry Conditions and Firearm Safety – via ITSTactical.com – ITS Tactical is one of my favourite sites that I visit almost every day.  It’s actually a little strange, now that I think of it, that I haven’t linked to more of their articles in the past.  Anyway…check it out.

And last but not least, today there are two posts over at CoolMaterial.com that are particularly, well, cool…
Red Oak Burger Grilling Planks – Because meat cooked outside with fire just tastes better.
and…
Automatic Maratac Pilot Watch – Because sometimes the new hotness comes in a plain package.  Unfortunately they’re sold out already.