Interactive Games

Tech with Kids: How to Assess Reviews, Find Quality Apps

June 19, 2015 by Amy Jussel 1 Comment

June 19, 2015 One of the thorny questions I posed at the recent Tech with Kids Conference involved how to "review the reviewers."There are a wide array of reputable resources...Common Sense Media gives a macro view of kids media, as a one stop hub of advocacy, tips, and over-arching views across a vast media spectrum (TV, movies, books, apps, and beyond...) and Tech with Kids … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games Tagged With: #DiversityInApps, #techwkids, #WWDC2015, Apple Design Award, apps for kids, Apps for Traveling with Kids, Apps Playground, Apps reviews, best kids apps, Best Pick App, best practices apps for kids, Common Sense Media, creativity apps, don't pay for app reviews, edtech, educational apps, FTC disclosure law, future of storytelling, Gender and diversity in apps, ipad Apps for Kids, Jinny Gudmundsen, Kid Tech, kids apps, maker movement, media conflict of interest, media-literacy, Reviewing apps reviewers, STEAM apps, Summer fun apps, Tech with Kids, trusted app sites

CCFC: A Positive Pick, Even When Calling Out Negative TOADY Toys

December 4, 2012 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Dec. 4, 2012 No question I continue to land hard on watchdogs that aren’t woofin’ when it comes to media and marketing’s impact on kids, but nobody does it better than Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) with a solid lip curl and warning snarl before tearing the pants off of those without a corporate conscience focused on profiteering over public health…...So … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Counter-marketing, EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Nutrition & Wellness, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: age compression, apptivity ball, baby media, best toy of the year, Bratzillaz, building brain plasticity, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, CCFC, consumer watchdogs, corporate profiteering, digital devices, Digital Literacy, Digital Media Learning, digital world, early childhood education, Early-Sexualization, Facing the Screen Dilemma, FTC, Healthy kids in a digital world, impact of excessive screen time, Kids health, kids rights, kids socioemotional health, Lego Friends, media use, media-literacy, Monster High, National Parenting Publications Awards, Nielsen reports, nurturing healthy brain development, power of play, screen time, Susan Linn, TOADY Awards, Truce, value of unstructured play, winx, worst toy of the year

Blizzard’s Snow Job: Security About As Tight As Parental Controls

November 14, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Nov. 14, 2012 Call it karma, payback, or just ‘got caught,’ the class action lawsuit against Blizzard Entertainment (makers of mega-hits like Diablo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft etc) is really about gamers tired of being played.Anyone who thinks youth and gamers “don’t care” about privacy and security might want to watch closely as this media mess unfolds, because it’s an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Shaping Youth, Vapid Values Tagged With: Activision, Authenticator, Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard law suit, childrens online privacy protection act, commodification, compromised accounts, COPPA, Cybersecurity, data breach, data hacks, deceptive trade practices, digital privacy, Ethics-Gaming, FTC, gaming, gaming addiction, gaming violence, kids data privacy, Kids-gaming-secret-codes, Media management, MMORPG, multiplayer games, new proposed FTC rules, opt-out, parental controls, parental permissions, parenting, personal information, privacy-data-youth, security breaches, Terms of Use, U13, undermining parents, workarounds, World-of-Warcraft, WoW

War Games Blitz the Homefront: Halo 4, Call of Duty Livestream

November 12, 2012 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Nov. 12, 2012 There’s irony noting many who’ve never served in the armed forces are in a firestorm of shoot ‘em ups with newly hyped titles lobbed into the media mix like grenades bombarding the homefront this Veteran's Day. Halo 4’s empty end cap display at Target shows a few remaining remnants with Mountain Dew cases supporting the cardboard promotion, picked over like a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: AAP, aggression, battle games, battlefields, Black Ops2, Call of Duty, COD, combat, Culture jamming, Ethics-Gaming, gaming, gaming addiction, gaming violence, Halo 4, impact of violent video games, livestream COD, Media-Education-Foundation, media-literacy, Militainment, military recruitment, military service, MMORPG, multiplayer games, multiplayer headset chat, prolonged exposure, PTSD, Seal Team 6 TMI, SEALs in media, Veterans Day, Video game realism, violence and video games, violence studies, virtual healing, Virtual Iraq, War Games, war play dilemma, War realism, women in the military

Life 360: Family Locator Apps-Mapping the Shades of Grey (Part 1)

October 15, 2012 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

Oct. 15, 2012 Teens call them ‘trackers,’ parents call them ‘tools,’ and the telecom industry refers to GPS and LBS (location based services) as sheer “growth” in a mobile market that’s booming with map-based apps that pinpoint the whereabouts of users. We need to uncork this whopper of a conversation beyond the micro (oooh, handy! or ewww creepy!) and into macro … [Read more...]