Filtering harm report

Over-Filtering in Schools and Libraries Harms Education
Schools and libraries nationwide are routinely filtering Internet content far more than what the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires, according to a recent report. CIPA requires public libraries and K-12 schools to employ Internet-filtering software to receive certain federal funding. Schools that over-filter restrict students from learning key digital readiness skills that are vital for the rest of their lives. Over-blocking in schools hampers students from developing their online presence and fully understanding the extent and permanence of their digital footprint.
American Library Association. (2014).  Fencing out knowledge: Impacts of the Children's Protectoin Act 10 years later. Chicago: ALA.
http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/oitp/publications/issuebriefs/cipa_report.pdf

Digital aided learning survey

Results from a recent survey find that school librarians far outpace administrators, teachers, and students regarding their desire for digital content and educational mobile apps. The survey finds that 56 percent of librarians say they are helping teachers find digital content such as games and animations to use within their lessons. Eighty-six percent of school and district administrators said mobile learning improves student engagement. School leaders also indicated that mobile learning is helping prepare students for college and career.
Project Tomorrow. (2014). Speak Up 2013. Washington, DC: Project Tomorrow. 
http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/SU13DigitalLearningPlaybook_EducatorReport.html

BVOD report

More schools nationwide are adopting bring-your-own-device programs, and a majority of districts plan to allow mobile devices in schools over the next five years, according to the recently released Software & Information Industry Association's 2014 Vision K-20 report. However, as schools make way for an influx of new devices, many officials are concerned that they do not have enough bandwidth to support them, the report found.

School librarian cuts survey

School districts nationwide are cutting back on librarians while their job description is expanding, with a new focus on digital literacy and on closing the divide for students who do not have access to technology at home, according to the American Association of School Librarians. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show one-third of public schools do not employ a full-time, state-certified librarian, and 20% of public-school libraries don't have a full- or part-time certified librarian.

Public library report and database

The Public Library Data Service (PLDS) FY2013 data is now available with a special section on outcome measures. This valuable data from more than 1,100 North American libraries can be exclusively accessed and customized through the online data portal PLAmetrics. PLDS captures valuable data (voluntarily submitted annually) on staffing, operating finances, output measures, interlibrary loans, and technology provisions from public libraries.

Nearly 100% of America’s public libraries offer workforce development training programs, online job resources, and technology skills training, according to a new ALA study. Overall, libraries report technology improvements—including nearly ubiquitous public Wi-Fi, growing mobile resources, and a leap in ebook access. The study also documents digital differences among states and an urban/rural divide.
American Library Association. (2014).  2014 Digital Inclusion Survey

Children in poverty report

Data from this annual report showed 23% of U.S. children in 2012 were living in families below the poverty line, a slight increase from last year. The report on child wellness found teen births hit a record low, child and teen death rates fell, more children were enrolled in preschool, and a higher number of students were proficient at math and reading.
Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2014). Kids count.
http://www.aecf.org/work/kids-count/
 

Preschooler problem solving

A recent study finds that preschoolers are better at operating gadgets than college students -- findings attributed to the way young children approach problem solving. Exploratory learning, characterized by a tendency to test unusual theories, comes naturally to young children, researchers say.
Children learn causal relationships quickly and make far-reaching causal inferences from what they observe. Acquiring abstract causal principles that allow generalization across different causal relationships could support these abilities. We examine children's ability to acquire abstract knowledge about the forms of causal relationships and show that in some cases they learn better than adults. Adults and 4- and 5-year-old children saw events suggesting that a causal relationship took one of two different forms, and their generalization to a new set of objects was then tested. One form was a more typical disjunctive relationship; the other was a more unusual conjunctive relationship. Participants were asked to both judge the causal efficacy of the objects and to design actions to generate or prevent an effect. Our results show that children can learn the abstract properties of causal relationships using only a handful of events. Moreover, children were more likely than adults to generalize the unusual conjunctive relationship, suggesting that they are less biased by prior assumptions and pay more attention to current evidence. These results are consistent with the predictions of a hierarchical Bayesian model.
Gopnik, A.,  Bridges, S., Griffiths, T., Lucas, C. (2014). When children are better (or at least more open-minded) learners than adults: developmental differences in learning the forms of causal relationships.Cognition, 131(2):284-99.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24566007