Technically Trying

 Apple has been a long time "go to" for all things cell phone related for a very long time. Adults everywhere are familiar with their products, if not because they have one, then because they have seen them advertised and used by their friends and businesses.  When the iPhone first came out, it was very basic, but touted a faster experience, better access to the internet, and knowledge at your fingertips. Adults used this to help their work and home relationships. But notice I've only mentioned adults. Not children. Children are a completely different human being than adults. Their frontal cortexes aren't developed until they are 25. They react instead of plan. They are children in an adult world.  This means they are not ready for adult content . And that brings me to my post today: iOS 18 update. This was released on September 16, 2024. In the past week, there have been numerous reports of iPhone users under the age of 18 having unlimited access to anything they can...

 I was reading recently about the app CapCut and discovered that it is owned by TikTok. The app has a very TikTok feel to it with user generated videos and short clips featuring fun songs or frameworks to make your own videos. The display on the main page is similar to TikTok in that it shows a video feed of all the different videos offered on the app. Thanks to this scrolling feed, users are pulled in just like any other social media platform and can be found scrolling for hours. I also discovered that this app has a social community platform available to any user which can put younger children at risk for connecting with someone with less than desirable intentions. Unfortunately, this app in its current form has no parental controls . The only possible control a parent can put on the app is to block TikTok from being connected to the app and blocking users after  they try to connect with you.  Check out PYE's review of the app with much more in depth conversation about ...

 I came across a really cool app that I think would be extremely helpful to teachers in the classroom. The app is called "Diffit" which reminds me of the word differentiation which is exactly what teachers do in the classroom every single day. This app uses AI to generate leveled work according to their needs. So a 7th grade paper could be generated into a 3rd grade reading level. A literature vocab test could be created into ten different worksheets and interactive slides. The possibilities are endless with this program! This program seems really easy to use and free for the first 60 days. Once I went in and located our school in their list, I was able to extend our free trial out until the end of December! Diffit free trial here  - use this link to join our school! Here are some screenshots of how I worked my way around their website.      The main page of the website is very easy to read. You simply enter your resources that you'd like to work on here and the...