Time spent deliberating over what Lego set to purchase may get a lot lengthier for kids when the building toy company rolls out its new digital boxes.  Lego stores, such as the one at Orlando, will feature boxes that use augmented reality to enable a child to hold up a box to a kiosk and view the 3D model of what the set will look like when built.  While this will seem super cool to kids as they grab one box after another to view its model on screen, the question remains as to whether this new gimmick will entice kids (or rather, parents) to cough up more cash. 

The single biggest motivation for buying lego sets¬†is, and always will be,¬†the quality of the product.¬† Watching a child toil over a 300 piece lego project for an hour elicits a strong sense of pride for any parent.¬† Even more so, when the child covetously displays their finished product.¬† While so many traditional toys collect dust as kids rush to the newest digital craze, Lego maintains its top spot as one of the most beloved children’s toys. One can only hope that this new display technology isn’t a precursor of a more digitized version of Lego. ‘Cause this is one toy that seems to get better with age.

There’s something about Beyonce’s hit, All the Single Ladies that makes the boys go wild.¬† Well, the under-ten year old set, anyways.¬† I try not to chuckle when I hear my nine-year-old belting out the girl power tune as he listens to hear his earphones.¬† “All the single ladies.¬† All the single ladies.¬† Now put your hands up!”¬†

It’s¬†too cute.¬†¬†And, I cannot bear to tell him that this kind of song isn’t meant to be celebrated by¬†the male species.¬† He’ll figure out all that complicated stuff soon enough.¬† While I’d never humiliate my son and film him in action, other parents feel less inhibited.¬† This video of a toddler boy rocking to the song is absolutely hilarious – especially when his father instructs him that he is not, in fact, a single lady.¬† Not something any young boy wants to hear!¬† The video has, not surprisingly, gone viral.¬†¬†Luckily, the little boy is too young to feel the shame that a ten-year-old would feel if caught on camera doin’ the Beyonce thang.¬† I wonder if the parents feel any shame, though,¬†in allowing their kids to be¬†featured in a video viewed by thousands of strangers.¬† Any other parents willing to sacrifice their childrens’ privacy for a short stint of fame?¬† Now put your hands up.

More than ever, I am asked by¬†moms and dads what is the whole point of Twitter?¬† Two years ago the big question was: are you on Facebook?¬† And, as that behemoth social networking site graduates from public confessional to¬†valid business tool, expect Twitter to progress in much the same way.¬† First, a quick definition for the newbies out there… Twitter is made up of users who have followers, as well as, are followers, of other users (you follow?)¬† Each “twitterer” submits status updates called “tweets” that are made up of short messages a¬†maximum of 140 characters.¬† Tweets often include urls and therefore have huge potential to send a video or post viral (the ultimate digital marketing goal.)

Like Facebook, parents are well-advised to jump on the bandwagon and familiarize themselves¬†with Twitter.¬† That’s because it’s more than¬†another cyber-waste of¬†time that provides a¬†person’s household play-by-play (Baby’s crying now!… Just made homemade broccoli soup!… I’m watching Oprah at 4!)¬† While the online socializing aspect will not fade, the greater potential for Twitter will likely be its ability to influence people and outcomes.¬† And what stakeholders are most interested in affecting an outcome?¬† Large corporations, of course.¬† As Twitter (and Facebook) grow increasingly accessible to our kids, their exposure to marketing campaigns will expand.¬† The upside to this is that a growing population of users can just as effectively create an outcome that they desire, simply by trading honest feedback about certain products or services.

Researchers Asur and Huberman of HP Labs have discovered that Twitter can predict a movie box office success in the first weekend it is released, as well as the following weekend.  By reviewing almost three million tweets that mention particular movies prior to release, they were able to forecast this with greater accuracy than the typical method used by Hollywood Stock Exchange.  The implications are immense for all businesses looking to better understand how a new product will fare in the marketplace.  Furthermore, the researchers conclude that their methodology can eventually be utilized to determine election outcomes. 

No doubt, there will be a race by corporations to manipulate the twittering of the masses to turn marketing campaigns in their favour.¬† But the question remains – who has the greater power? The people or the marketers?¬† Parents who are willing to better understand the power of social networking technology can pass along their knowledge to their children and in turn, empower kids to withstand the manipulative forces of marketing while standing up for their own beliefs and opinions.¬†¬†Encouraging kids to bring positive change¬†with their collective digital voice?¬† Now, that’s something every internet-exhausted parent can stand behind.

Interesting Links about this:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1604125/twitter-predicts-box-office-sales-better-than-anything-else

Moms are on facebook.¬† While this may not be an issue for kids as young as mine – who are not yet old enough to post their latest thrills and woes to the online community – it’s an increasing concern among the college set.¬† Would I have ever wanted my parents to catch a glimpse of my exploits at university?¬† Not a chance… but then again, how could they have?¬† The only proof of my shenanigans would have been through the testimony of other drunk twenty-somethings whose memory would have been too impaired to recall with any accuracy anyways.¬† By the time my kids are that age, their generation will undoubtedly have wisened to the folly of proclaiming every action (mundane or explicit) on the internet. Today’s teens, however, are still on the learning curve.

This viral video is a hilarious (although quite crude) presentation of the perils that young adults face as their witless ways, posted on facebook, are evermore exposed to the entire world (uh, Moms and Dads included.) Teenagers, egocentric as they are, have been ignorant to the realities of posting inappropriate images and proclamations on the internet.  It looks like the gig is up and many are realizing that the internet really does include EVERYONE in the world.  Time to start deleting.  Unfortunately, they say once something goes online, it never goes away.

It’s report card time again.¬† Unfortunately, I’ve come to dread reading my boys’ reports as much¬†as the mutual fund statements¬†I get from the bank.¬† It’s not the marks that are the problem.¬† It’s the commentary.¬† I could spend thirty minutes¬†reading every sentence provided by the teacher along the right column of the page, but I’d be no further ahead in understanding what exactly my son needs to do to earn a higher mark.¬†

That’s why I keep it simple.¬† In five minutes I can review his marks and determine if he deserves accolades or a lecture.¬† Did he get A’s or B’s (and better not be C’s.)¬† Did his marks go up or down?¬† I can easily determine how well he has behaved in class by reviewing the bottom one-quarter of the report that lists his progress in Learning Skills (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement.)¬†

No comments are necessary.¬† That’s not to say I wouldn’t appreciate knowing more specifics about why¬†one son¬†went down in Social Studies¬†and another went down in Science and Technology, but the comments listed provide no such indication.¬†

Here are examples of what was provided on my kids’ report cards:

“He investigates mechanisms that include simple machines and enable movement with considerable accuracy.¬† He should continue to assess the impact of simple machines and mechanisms, on people and the world around them.”¬† — Okay.¬† I’ll get right on that!

Other comments border on comical, such as this one on Physical Education:

“He is encouraged to practise jumping and landing safely, using takeoff combinations of one or two feet.”¬† — Perhaps I should have him jump off his bed more often?

That report card listed 51 lines of similar comments.  Besides the fact that they about are as reader-friendly as a manual on how to assemble a cell phone with one hand, they are typed in a miniscule font size.  It makes one wonder whether the school boards even believe we bother to read them. 

I realize teachers spend copious hours doing¬†students’ report cards and are, themselves, shackled by the Ontario boards’ guidelines.¬† They have little flexibility and, I believe, are truly doing their best.¬† Lamented one teacher recently on¬†the Tyndale Library¬†blog’s comments:

We MUST print them this way in our board. They will never get signed by the principal if they are done without the ministry expectations. We are told year after year. DON’T MAKE THEM PERSONAL. USE THE MINISTRY EXPECTATIONS. We slave over those comments, which I agree, make absolutely no sense to someone who isn’t familiar with outcomes. All teachers know that parents look at 2 things on reports which are, the actual grades and the learning skills comments at the bottom. That’s the way reports should be. Grades and then a small blurb about how they are doing. There is a high rate of teacher absences surrounding every reporting period. Why? Teachers get really stressed about these reports, get sick and end up off work. Make them manageable and you’ll see teachers at school during reporting periods. Come on ministry.

There is hope in sight for baffled parents.¬† Globe and Mail reported recently that the Ontario Ministry of Education plans to allow teachers the option of writing their own comments¬†or continuing to use the prefabricated ones provided.¬† The question remains, however, as to how much liberty teachers will¬†be given¬†in their wording selection?¬† If they will continue to be forced to write specific examples of academic achievement, such as how high one needs to jump in phys.ed., it seems quite plausible that teachers will likely continue to do what’s easier – slot in a ready-made comment.

But if teachers are given a fair amount of autonomy, then parents may find reading report cards a lot more enjoyable and informative.¬† Somehow, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.