CyberWise: No Grownup Left Behind!

Is the younger generation running digital circles around you? Thanks to our expert guests our listeners are familiar with many guidelines for parents, educators, and adults in general, who are confronting the challenges of the digital age. This episode goes one step farther, because Diana Graber of Cyberwise.org has provided mini courses designed to teach you what research has shown to be the six most important Digital Life Skills.

Ms. Graber earned an M.A. in Media Psychology and Social Change, making her an ideal guest for The Social Network Show. She and Dr. J discuss the importance of getting research findings into the hands of the public. When researchers write primarily for other researchers, too often even the most useful information can become cloaked in jargon with which the general reader is unfamiliar. Diana has translated and organized valuable information in bite-sized chunks as certificate modules available at the very affordable price of $8.99. (cyberwisecert.com) In fact, your first course is completely free.

Schools can subscribe to Cyber Civics™ [http://www.cyberwise.org/#!get-the-cyber-civics-program/c10pf ], years 1 and 2, to provide curriculum in digital literacy training to middle school educators.

Asking children to show you how to use the social apps they are fans of is a great way not only to learn the ropes, but also to establish the custom of being where your kids are, before they reach the teen years when they are may not be so eager to communicate. Diana observes that the frontal lobe, source of judgment, may not completely develop until the age of 25! She notes other developmental milestones that will help you appreciate the opportunity, as well as the challenge, information technology presents.

Diana emphasizes that behavior is far more important that the particular digital tool-du-jour. Although new tools appear almost daily, behavioral principles are evergreen, carrying over from one app to the next!

Diana Graber has long been a producer and marketer of media — including film, video, television, print, and live sports events. Together with her husband, she co-owns Graber Productions, an Emmy-award winning (8 times!) film and video production company. 

In addition to producing the content for CyberWise, No Grownup Left Behind!, Diana is recognized as an expert in “digital literacy.” As Adjunct Faculty of the Media Psychology M.A. program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP), she taught “Media Psychology for the 21st Century.” She also developed and teaches a middle-school media literacy program called Cyber Civics™. A regular contributor to The Huffington Post and many other publications, she is tapped often by the media (TV/radio) to comment on tech topics.

She has a B.A. in Communications Studies from UCLA, an M.A. in Media Psychology & Social Change from Fielding Graduate University/UCLA and was a finalist for the NAMLE Research Emerging Scholar Award for her paper,  New Media Literacy Education. Her Cyber Civics program was recognized as an "Innovation in Education" finalist by Project Tomorrow and the O.C. Tech Alliance. She serves on the boards of the Journey Foundation and Wheels4Life and resides with her husband and two “digital native” daughters in Capistrano Beach, CA.

You can connect with Diana on LinkedIn