Wp Simon / Getty Images stock

Technology makes it possible to keep tabs on our kids in a way our parents couldn’t. We can put GPS trackers on them and in the vehicles they drive, get text messages automatically when they return home from school, get an audible alert when a toddler strays, and soon, even updates on whether or not they’ve brushed their teeth.

Each act of tracking has its health and/or safety benefits and it’s easy to see why parents would want to use these helpful products. Their use, though, raises questions. Are we using technology in instances when we should be parenting? And, are we raising a generation whose expectation of privacy that’s very different from ours?

Each family needs to assess their kids and their situation, and then weigh the benefits of tracking technology against the invasion of privacy.

For instance, I wouldn’t argue against using a proximity sensor that would alert me to when my toddler wanders more than 150 feet away. I’ve had a few heart-stopping moments when I realized I was watching the wrong blue jacket. But I also worry that using an alarm regularly might make me less vigilant, so I’d probably only use it in crowded places like Disneyland.

The bottom line is that technology is a tool that when used wisely can help. Check out the following devices and tell us which ones make sense and which have taken things a step too far.

Brickhouse Security

Toddler Tag
Clip the Toddler Tag Child Locator to your child’s clothing or bag, and a 56dB alarm will sound if he wanders more than 30 feet from the parental locator unit. Or press a button at any time to trigger the alarm, if you lose sight of him.
Price: $39.95 on BrickhouseSecurity.com

GreenGoose

GreenGoose Toothbrush Tracker
No more breath tests — sensors inside the Toothbrush Tracker register when your child has brushed her teeth. The device, which attaches to any toothbrush, sends a signal back to a receiver, called the GreenGoose Egg, which connects to your home’s Wi-Fi router. The Egg then sends a notification to the app you download to your iPhone (Android version coming later this year).

Also later this year, you’ll be able to purchase a kit to track how well you’re taking care of your pet. Inside you’ll find the Egg, a leash sensor to track when and how long you walk the dog, a collar sensor to measure when you play with him, a food sensor to note when you feed him and a treat sensor.
Price: $49 for the starter kit, $9 for additional sensors on GreenGoose.com

Schlage

Schlage LiNK Wireless Keypad Deadbolt Starter Kit
With the Schlage LiNK Internet-enabled door lock, you can receive a text message alert each time your latch-key kid uses her unlock code, letting you know she arrived safely home. Or, if you prefer she use a physical key, you can use any computer, iPhone or Android phone to remotely unlock the door. If you cancel your subscription, the codes will continue to work and you can program new ones manually using the door lock.
Price: $213.17 on Amazon.com plus $8.99 per month subscription

Cellphone Tracking Services
When you give your child a cellphone, you can track their location — or at least the location of the phone. For $5 a month, Sprint will let you locate up to four phones with its Family Locator service. AT&T’s Family Map service locates two people for $9.99 a month, or five people for $14.99. With the Verizon Family Locator ($9.99 a month), you can set up location-based alerts so you know when your child gets home, in addition to locating anyone on your Family Share plan. And, T-Mobile just added its FamilyWhere service, which enables you to track up to 10 mobile devices.

inthinc Technology Solutions Inc

Tiwi
You can’t always be in the car with your new teen driver, so Tiwi does the monitoring — and nagging — for you. It monitors speed, whether your child is wearing a seatbelt, how aggressively he’s driving and whether he’s traveled outside his designated SmartZone.

Any concerns and the device will tell your teen and send you a text message, voicemail or email. The device and plans are pricey, with a month-to-month contract costing $24.99 a month, plus $599 for the hardware; or a one-year contract costing $54.99 month plus $299 for the hardware. For an extra fee, you can add voice service ($2.99 a month plus $15 cents per minute) or roadside assistance and emergency support ($9.99 per month), which includes voice service.

More stories on Techlicious:

• Safe Social Networking Sites for Kids & Tweens
• How to Baby-proof Your Home Theater
• What to Do Before Handing Down Your Gadgets

Get Suzanne's free daily Techlicious Newsletter or chat with her on Facebook.

Getty Images stock

By Heidi Leder, Techlicious.com

Even if you weren't tuned into the tech festival SWSX, you may have been thinking it would be easier to ignore social networking sites and hope they’ll go away. They won’t. The age of social media and openly sharing information to find others with shared interests beyond geography is here to stay. While navigating tween and teen years in real life can be precarious, it’s equally important these days to learn the process of “finding” and defining oneself in the online realm as well.

The best social media sites for kids and tweens (ages 7 to 13) adhere to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which regulates how much personal information sites can ask from kids under 13 years old, among other things. Like good kids' online gaming sites, most of these sites require a parental account, or for parents to prove they are who they say they are via a one-time credit card verification (typically requiring a $1 fee). It's a good step toward keeping your kids safe online.

With the popular Togetherville site shutting its doors after being acquired by Disney last year, many kids and parents are looking for a similarly safe-yet-fun place to hangout online and practice savvy social media skills. Here are some social networking sites for kids and tweens that give them some freedom to explore the social media realm while giving parents the control to monitor and guide their process:

giantHello
Previously called FaceChipz, giantHello is a social gaming network for tweens that comes very close to mimicking the social networking look-and-feel of Facebook with similar profile pages and layouts.

ChipzCo, Inc.

Once you “friend” another tween, you can leave comments, send private messages, join groups, update your status, upload photos and more. Users even have a news feed and can follow tween celebrity Twitter feeds.

Kids need to share invites with their friends in real life via email or by printing out an invitation code to “friend” them on the site, so everything is connected through the “real world.”

To establish an account, parents must verify their identity via the usual credit card charge, or via the last four digits of their Social Security number. The gaming experience is similar to what you find on Facebook. 

Imbee, Inc.

Imbee
Imbee is quickly becoming a hip and trendy place for tweens to hang out, with a focus on popular media and entertainment with imbeeRadio and tween celebrity news in their imbee Wrap Up.

Imbee also has its own Web series and specials like "Schooled" by Andrew Bosch, "Mindless Behavior," "The Donkey Boyz" and "The Titus Show." Tweens can upload photos and videos, chat with other imbee friends, create their own group or join a FanZone.

A parent must open an account, and they control the security settings to ensure age-appropriate parameters for the child’s online activities on the imbee site. Only parents and friends can see anyone’s zone, or profile blog, and kids must know another tween’s imbee name in order to add him or her as a friend. Imbee is free to use, but requires a $1 parental credit card verification. The sweet spot for this site is the upper range of tweenhood: closer to 10 years old and up.

Kidsocial
Kidsocial defines itself as a social entertainment network for kids and tweens to connect online with “real world” friends. It has the sleekest look of these social media networks, with the presence of relevant brands and branded entertainment pages. This of course, may also qualify KidSocial as one of the coolest social media networks for tweens.

KidSocial

In addition to the usual social network activities, while on KidSocial, tweens can challenge each other in online games, watch streaming content from Hulu, YouTube or Grooveshark via special family-friendly filters. Which again, raises the cool factor.

KidSocial is COPPA-compliant, with users under 13 years old being tethered and monitored by a parental account. Each user receives a friendship code to share with a real-life friend to connect on KidSocial, and both sets of parents have to approve the friendship online. Users older than 13 don’t require parent approval, but parents can enable it for teenagers if they prefer.

KidzVuz

KidzVuz
KidzVuz is a social network site where tweens can share their own video reviews about the toys, movies, books, songs — almost anything — they like or use. The site has an integrated webcam so kids can conveniently record a review without leaving their computer. Like a modern fan club community assimilator, KidzVuz gives kids the freedom to safely stay anonymous yet connect with other kids with similar taste. Users can complete missions or earn badges for posting reviews or answering surveys.

KidzVuz is designed for the under 13 year-old crew, but does require the ability to read and record a video, so the sweet spot would be about 8- to 10-year-olds. Parental oversight is required for each account, and each video is approved before posting by a trusted team of moms.

Scuttlepad
A great social media starter network, Scuttlepad gives 6- to 11-year-olds exposure to a social media network with parental approval, but no adults allowed as members. Kids can join groups and post photos or videos, and even print out “trading cards” to hand to friends in real life to get them to join them on Scuttlepad.

ScuttlePad

Each photo is manually reviewed before posting, and kids can only communicate with others through a list of predefined and approved words in a format that teaches how to build a sentence one word at a time. Using these preset words negates the possibility of negative or a cyberbully behavior.

The site is better suited for 6- to 9-year-old kids as a clean first social media experience, but the graphics and limited options for interaction with others, mean that kids may grow out of it quickly. Scuttlepad is free to use.

What's What, LLC

WhatsWhat.me
WhatsWhat.me takes security a step further than the other sites, requiring a webcam for kids to log in with facial recognition technology, and only allows kids to communicate with others in their grade.

A human actually double checks that the “MeKey” facial profile matches the submitted age each time the account user signs in. The site offers all of the social media main activities: messaging, friending, surfing their friends’ profiles and joining groups.

Tweens can communicate with others they don’t know on the site, but they can’t “friend” someone outside of their grade level unless a parent approves it. WhatsWhat.me costs $4 a month, or $30 for the year, and is geared toward 7- to 13-year-olds.

More stories on Techlicious:

• How to Block Internet Porn
• The Kids Are Online: How to Keep Them Safe
• Computer Security Software Buying Guide 2012

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Good Karma

The average amount families spend per year on each child's clothing ranges from $630 to $1,250, depending on household income and the child’s age, according to the 2010 USDA Expenditure on Children by Families report. But you could cut that expense by as much as half if you rent or trade in your kids’ clothes.  

Take clothing rental site Good Karma, for example. For $47.98 per month (or $575.75 per year), you get seven complete outfits from brands like Carters, Gap and Gymboree, plus seven sleepers and seven onesies. For $64.98 a month, you get higher-end brands like Tea Collection, Mini Boden and Ralph Lauren. There are larger and smaller packages available and sizes range from newborn to 24 months. The monthly price includes shipping.

Wooky Baby

If you’d rather piece together your child's wardrobe, check out Wooky Baby. Most items are available for $8 a month — not a deal for basics, but great for full outfits, costumes and formal attire. You can also choose to purchase at a reduced price. For instance, the three-piece outfit shown here retails for $29; you can buy it for $16, or rent it for $6 a month. Sizes range from newborn to 3T.

If you want to outfit your child in high-end brands like Dior, Baby CZ and Lotusgrace for a special occasion, head over to Fanciu. There you can rent a $230 Lotusgrace purple silk party dress for $35 for four days. Like women's dress rental sites, the clothing arrives just prior to event date and must be postmarked for return the first business day after. Clothing is available in sizes 2-12.

ThredUP

You can sell your kids’ like-new clothes for cash at ThredUP. They'll send you a free empty bag with a prepaid shipping label, and you stuff that bag with your kids’ old clothes and leave it for your mail carrier. There are a few catches. Clothes must have been purchased within the last two years, and you only get cash for those items ThredUP thinks it can sell. You get more for premium brands and sizes that are in demand. Plus, you can’t get your items back once you’ve sent them.

You can also purchase items at 50 percent or more off the original purchase price through ThredUP, and, while browsing, I saw a lot labeled "NWT," or new with tags. Sizes range from newborn to 18.

OutGrowingIn

And if your kids actually wore their clothes more than a few times, you can swap them at OutGrowingIn. You list your boxes of clothing and every time another member picks one of your boxes, you get to pick a box of clothing from the site. You just pay $3 plus shipping.

For $24.95 per year, you can see the brand information of what's in the boxes, search by brand and set up alerts for a specific size or brand. Since you only get a box once someone else has picked yours, members have an incentive to post pictures of the box contents and provide details regarding the clothing.

More stories on Techlicious:

• American Express Promotion Turns Tweets Into Savings
• The Best Places to Trade-in Your Electronics
• 3 Ways Shopping Apps Will Save You Money

Get Suzanne's free daily Techlicious Newsletter or chat with her on Facebook.

By Alex Porter, Techlicious.com

Looking for little gifts your kids will love but don't want to spend a bundle? Here are compact geeky goodies under $50 that will brighten the holidays of the kids on your list.

Hexbugs

Hexbugs Nano Christmas Ornament ($5.99 on Hexbug.com)
For the uninitiated, Hexbugs are essentially mechanical cockroaches — and kids love them. They skitter across surfaces with remarkable speed and can be used on elaborate tracks (or really anywhere that’s flat and smooth). They come in a test tube-shaped package, but for the holidays, they’ve wrapped a special edition in a spherical ornament box and even put tiny antlers on the ‘BUG.

Griffin Technologies

Griffin Helo TC Helicopter ($49.99 on GriffinTechnology.com)
You can control this little wonder by touchscreen using an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Use a virtual joystick to maneuver and tilt to move the helicopter forward, backward and side to side. The remote transmitter plugs into the headphone jack of any iOS device and the Helo TC helicopter is ready to fly.

Ten One Design

Ten One Design Fling Game Controller for iPad ($19.99 on Amazon.com)
Some games, shooters and classic arcade titles for instance, feel awkward on a tablet. This handy iPad accessory sticks to the display with suction cups and provides stable, reliable thumbstick control. It works and elevates tablet gaming to near console-level quality.

LunaTik

LunaTik TikTok iPod Nano Watch Band ($39.95 on LunaTik.com)
These “wrist docks” for the 6th generation iPod Nano are a great way to turn the Nano into a multifunction timepiece. The Nano snaps in easily and stays securely in the TikTok, which is made of tough, silicone rubber. Comes in cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and white.

LaCie

LaCie Key-shaped 8GB USB Flash Drive ($22.80 on Amazon.com)
Solid, metal construction, cool design and a super handy form factor make for a winner in storage. It’s also water and scratch-resistant, so you can throw it on your keychain and toss in your backpack without worrying too much about your precious data getting damaged. Also comes in 4GB and 16GB models.

Mattel

Hot Wheels RC Nitro Speeders Mustang Car ($19.49 on Amazon.com)
These tiny remote control cars are the first micro RC vehicles that go fast enough to complete a full 360-degree loop. The Nitro Speeders come with a carry case that also serves as the remote control and charger. Choose from one of five vehicles: Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Hammer Head Vehicle, Ken Block Ford Fiesta Rally Car, and Team Hot Wheels Mustang.

Coloud

Marvel Comics Headphones ($39.00 on Coloud.com)
These padded, old-school ‘phones have a nice comfy feel and decent sound quality (they're not rated as kid-safe headphones). But the real appeal is the eye-catching design with cool Marvel styles. Should your gift recipient be into pink, Coloud has an impressive line-up of Hello Kitty headphones, too.

Hasbro

Simon Flash ($9.99 on Amazon.com)
Simon has gone high-tech in this re-released version of the classic game, but still tests your memory, speed and logic skills like never before. Instead of the round version, Simon is now four differently colored cubes that can be shuffled around to solve puzzles. Simon comes with four games: Simon Lights Off, Simon Shuffle, Simon Secret Color, and Simon Classic.

More stories on Techlicious:

• The Ultimate Holiday Shopping Survival Guide
• The Best Sites for Creating Gift Wish Lists
• 6 Great Tips for Shopping on Amazon

Chat with Techlicious on Facebook and get the free daily Techlicious Newsletter.

A new study shows that parents see technological doodads as more than just tools for providing a blissful moment of kid distraction. An overwhelming majority of parents said that they found tech educational or otherwise beneficial for children facing life in the 21st century.

PBS Kids

The study, announced in a press release, was conducted in October by ORC Parents Caravan for PBS Kids. As you can see in the chart above, the question was put to parents about how they'd describe the value of technology. And they could choose either that they "think there's great educational potential in it" or that it "prepares (kids) for a 21st century in which technology is everywhere." The other options were that it's a distraction or quick entertainment, or that it's just like any other toy. While some of these may not be mutually exclusive, it was clear that parents favored the most positive responses.

PBS Kids

The survey also spotted some trends for the holiday season, including hottest electronic gifts — game consoles — as well as the top hand-me-down gadgets — PCs and cellphones. But despite the tech optimism, non-electronic gifts do appear to have won this holiday season: 56 percent of parents won't be buying their 10-or-under kids anything from the core tech lineup.

PBS Kids

More on what kids want from msnbc.com:

• iPad 2, iPhone 4S top holiday wish lists
• Meet the parents behind the best kid apps
• The five best HDTV deals for under $1,000

Catch up with Wilson on Twitter at @wjrothman, or on Google+. And join our conversation on Facebook.

Nielsen

Parents who have let their kids play with their iPad now get to reap what they've sown: a recent Nielsen study reveals that nearly half of those kids (44 percent) want an iPad within the next six months, up from 31 percent last year. And right behind it are the iPod Touch (30 percent) and iPhone (27 percent). 

Among consumers 13 and older, the iPad also held the top spot, but it was a much smaller percentage of respondents expressing their desire for one (24 percent), up from 18 percent in 2010. For teens and adults, computers and e-readers followed at 18 percent.

For the kid set, computers, non-iPad tablets and Nintendo 3DS also figured heavily in their minds, with each coming in at 25 percent. Other video game consoles, smartphones and TVs also claiming spots on their wanna-have list.

(You can see the full breakdown in the illustration above.)

Other recent surveys show that the iPad 2 is the most-wanted device of the season, with 65 percent of Sodahead voters putting it at the top of their wish lists. Our own informal survey in that story showed 39 percent of the 632 who voted also wanted an iPad 2 for Christmas, followed by 10 percent for a Kindle Fire.

More stories:

• Report: More kids 'cyberbaiting' teachers
• iPad 2, iPhone 4S top holiday wish lists
• 52 percent of kids under age 8 have access to mobile media
• Your cute kids: Children and Apple technology

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

AVG Digital Diaries

A recent survey of 4,000 parents found that 11 is the age at which they would allow their children to enter into the world of social media, a full two years before Facebook officially allows them to be a part of the giant social network.

The survey, conducted by AVG for the fourth installation of its Digital Diaries study, revealed 53 percent of those polled in the U.S. said their kids were already on Facebook and Twitter as early tweens: 11.

By the time they're 13, they're old hands at posting status updates, tweeting and uploading pictures for their friends.

They get help from their parents, it seems, unless they're saving up to buy their own computers and phones.

For this study, AVG surveyed parents of 10 to 13-year-olds during the week of September 12 from the following countries: the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. 

AVG found that a majority of 10-13 year old kids in every country (except New Zealand) and Japan have their own PC. For the most part, the computers are also in their bedrooms, especially In the UK. Aussies, though, like their computers to be out in the open, in the living room.

But today's kids don't just need PCs to go online — they have phones. 

The survey founds 44 percent of 10 to 13-year-olds access social networks from their phones and in the U.S., that figure jumps to 56 percent.

Parents are, however, say they are being vigilant in their supervision, with 60 percent of those polled admitting they are looking at their kids' PCs. Two-thirds of the parents surveyed said they know their child's passwords, with six out of 10 checking out their PCs when they're not on them. 

Despite this, the AVG study "shows that kids are increasingly able to circumvent parental supervision."

To counter those acts of insubordination and independence-building, AVG has recommendations that include parents educating their children about clicking onto potentially dangerous links (on PCs and smartphones), remaining vigilant over their web surfing and installing software (and apps) that help monitor not only where their children are, but what they are doing online.

To see AVG's infographic that illustrates more of the study, it's below:

AVG Digital Diaries

More stories:

• 52 percent of kids under age 8 have access to mobile media
• Police: Parents should steal kids' Facebook passwords
• Michelle Obama says young kids don't need Facebook, but who does?

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age

msnbc.com

"Perverts."

That's the (incorrect) reason why Facebook has a minimum age requirement, according to parents in a peer-reviewed study, "Why Parents Help Their Children Lie to Facebook About Age: Unintended Consequences of the 'Children's Online Privacy Protection Act' (available from FirstMonday.org).

Other wrong responses included "because it’s more for adults," "children don’t need to have a social media presence"  and "due to adult content and language." Still, "I don't know" was the most common response from parents who were even aware Facebook has an age restriction.

Of the 1,007 parents polled (all with kids aged 10-13), only two referenced the correct answer: "Privacy." More specifically, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Enacted by U.S. Congress in 1998 (practically the Paleozoic era of the Internet), COPPA requires commercial websites to obtain parental permission before collecting the personal info of any user under the age of 13. Facebook and other popular social networks avoid COPPA's costly, cumbersome restrictions by simply restricting user age.

Thirteen years later, parents know little about the government restrictions meant to protect their kids' privacy, and many allow their children to lie about their ages to join Facebook, while losing the intended protections of the government.

That's not how it's supposed to work, according to the study which published these findings:

• Half of parents in the study reported that their child is on Facebook, even in cases where children do not meet the legal age requirement for use of the site.
• Among parents of children who are old enough to be on Facebook — the parents of 13– and 14–year–olds — almost three quarters (72 percent) report that their child uses the site.
• Almost a fifth (19 percent) of respondents who were reporting on their 10–year–old child’s online experiences also noted that the child has a Facebook account. This number increases to nearly a third (32 percent) for children age 11 and over half (55 percent) for 12–year–olds.
• While only 53 percent of parents believe that there is a minimum age, most (89 percent) parents stated that they believe that there "should" be a minimum age for Facebook use.
• Of the 89 percent who believe that there should be a minimum age, the average age that they suggest is 14.9, which is considerably higher than the current minimum age (13). Interestingly, this age is also higher than what these same parents suggest is an appropriate age for a child to join Facebook: 14.

Why parents help their children lie to Facebook

But it's not Facebook and other such sites that need to change, or even parents, the study concludes. It's COPPA.

For the most part, Facebook and other social networks respect COPPA by promptly dumping any account tied to an underage user.

"Facebook removes 20,000 people a day, people who are underage," Facebook privacy czar Mozelle Thompson asserted in March, following a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that found nearly half of all 12-year-olds in the U.S. are using social network sites.

"If you are reporting a child’s account registered under a false date of birth, and the child’s age is reasonably verifiable as under 13, we will promptly delete the account. If the reported child’s age is not reasonably verifiable as under 13, then we may not be able to take action on the account," Thompson said.

In May, Consumer Reports said that 7.5 million Facebook users are under age 13, and "a majority of parents of kids 10 and under seemed largely unconcerned by their children’s use of the site.” Further, the magazine's survey found "found that their accounts were largely unsupervised by their parents, exposing them to malware or serious threats such as predators or bullies."

These findings don't differ much from the new study:

Although many sites restrict access to children, our data show that many parents knowingly allow their children to lie about their age — in fact, often help them to do so — in order to gain access to age–restricted sites in violation of those sites’ Terms of Service (TOS). This is especially true for general–audience social media sites and communication services such as Facebook, Gmail, and Skype, which allow children to connect with peers, classmates, and family members for educational, social, or familial reasons.

Parents equate age restrictions with maturity, and many considered that the litmus test as to whether they allowed their kids to violate Facebook's Terms of Service by lying about their age to join, according to the study. It also found that parents are indeed concerned about privacy and online safety issues, but they also may not understand the risks that children face or how their data or how their data are used."

Perhaps parental unawareness of privacy issues speaks well of COPPA's initial effectiveness. "COPPA has succeeded both in stopping some egregious predatory data practices and in raising some level of awareness of the issue of collecting data about children," the study points out. "The FTC has actively enforced COPPA, leveraging civil penalties against those who fail to obtain parental consent or ineffectively implement its provisions."

Of course, when kids lie about their age to get on Facebook, their personal data is collected, no parental consent needed. Indeed, a lot has changed since COPPA launched in 1998. "Social network sites, mobile communication technology, geo–locative data (i.e., a child’s physical location as known to a Web service or mobile device), and interactive media," are the examples cited in 2010 by the FTC calling for public comments revisiting COPPA.

"Perverts" will always be an Internet danger parents need to be concerned about. "Adult content and language" is now unavoidable in any media form, and arguably "a social media presence" is now a fact of life. Laws can't replace parents when it comes to safely shepherding children through the unavoidable Internet, but there online privacy has its place for both children and adults.

As the government continues to wrestle with Internet regulation and online privacy, the study points out that age restriction — given both the difficulty in online age verification and parental willingness to allow kids to lie — is not a realistic solution. Instead, the study proposes that "policy–makers shift away from privacy regulation models that are based on age or other demographic categories and, instead, develop universal privacy protections for online users." 

Note:"Why Parents Help Their Children Lie to Facebook About Age: Unintended Consequences of the 'Children's Online Privacy Protection Act' (available from FirstMonday.org) is authored by Berkman Center for Internet & Society members danah boyd, Eszter Hargittai, Jason Schultz, and John Palfrey.

More on the annoying way we live now:

• Celebrate Kill-A-Zombie Day with a computer exorcism
• Facebook adds 'trusted friends' and app-specific passwords
• Internet talks about 'Occupy Wall Street,' media listen 

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

Jeff Morehead / AP

Project Leadership board member and volunteer Jacquie Dodyk, left, helps Tanner Williams and other seniors fill out college application forms Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, during College Go Week at Marion High School in Marion, Ind.

By Lisa Bleich, Techlicious.com

When I applied to college in the mid-1980s, I filled out my application on a typewriter, put in in an envelope and mailed it to my prospective colleges. My guidance counselor gathered my letters of recommendations, transcripts, and SAT scores, put them into a manila envelope and mailed them to the schools. Then I waited and assumed that the post office would deliver my applications in good faith.

For current high schools seniors, those same pieces still need to get to the colleges, but with the transition to electronic applications, score choice, digital portfolios and eDocs, the process has become in some ways easier, but in many other ways more confusing.

Here are some resources to help make the process go more smoothly.

Submitting your college applications

• Common Application: With 456 members, the Common Application is the dominant electronic site for submitting applications to colleges. The benefit is that students can fill out one application and submit it to all participating schools. Several state schools also participate, including the University of Michigan, UMASS Amherst, UNC Chapel Hill, and University of Delaware.
• Universal College Application:  The Universal College Application has 59 schools that participate, so it has not gained as much traction as The Common Application. The theory behind it is the same though, one application going to several schools.
• State and school-specific electronic applications: Many large state schools along with Georgetown and MIT have their own applications that can be found on their website. Several universities such as Rutgers and the University of Wisconsin, also allow students to input their transcript, eliminating the need to send a transcript from their high school. Don’t forget to do this step because your application is incomplete without it. On the Rutgers site it is called SRAR or Self Reported Academic Record and it is a separate piece of the application.
• Submitting your transcripts: This piece of the application is going through the biggest transition electronically. Many high schools are using eDocs through Naviance to send the transcripts electronically to the schools, but many high school guidance departments still require that students fill out a paper form with all the information so they can send the transcripts by mail.

It is important to understand the process at your high school and allow at least three weeks before the deadline to make the request.

Sending test scores:

Students must request that test scores be sent to all of their colleges by the appropriate deadline. Your application will not be read until the colleges receive the scores. Here's where to request your scores:

Request SAT scores

Request ACT scores

Tips to avoid common pitfalls:

Consistency the name of the game. When you sign up for the ACTs or SATs using your full legal name and e-mail, use that same name and e-mail for all subsequent application materials.

“The biggest problem is that various pieces can get lost and the easiest way to avoid mistakes is to have the same name and e-mail on everything. So if your legal name is Jonathan Brett Silver, but your nickname is JB, make sure to use Jonathan Brett on anything related to college.” Said J. Scott Myers from Susquehanna University.

Key identity markers are

1. Legal name (does not include nicknames)
2. Email

Electronic does not mean immediate!
Even though you are used to text messages and e-mails being delivered immediately, it doesn’t work like that when submitting applications. The applications go to a processing room and from there the application gets “input” into the college’s own proprietary system either by electronically populating the fields, scanning documents, or printing them for colleges that do not yet read electronically.

1. Every school uses a different system to input data.
2. “Some colleges receive testing information by mail and then enter scores into the student’s file. Others receive test scores electronically and automatically integrate them into their system.” Nancy Rehling, a Director from ACT.

Follow up is key!
Once you submit your application, most schools will send you a unique school ID and login information to check on your application status. “Do this immediately and keep track of what pieces are missing” advises Deryn Pomeroy from Syracuse University

1. Assume it will take from 2-4 weeks for your application to be processed. The closer to the deadline you submit, the longer it will take.
2. If you do not get the green light within in four weeks of submission, call to follow up on the missing pieces.

Somehow the manila envelope that we all complained about does not seem so bad (just kidding!) Electronic filing is here to stay and should become easier as high schools adopt procedures to streamline the application process.

More stories on Techlicious:

• Great Websites to Find the Right College
• Back to School Tech Checklist
• Protecting Your Child's Personal Information at School

 Lisa Bleich is the president of College Bound Mentor.

Duck, Duck, Moose

By Alex Porter, Techlicious.com

The iPhone's touchscreen interface is a perfect, simple introduction to interactivity for little hands. So if you have a toddler, give this handful of safe, smart and fun apps a try. They have both kid and parent appeal.

The Wheels on the Bus
An interactive version of the popular kids song, the app has loads of items to touch, swipe and poke, and a bright, fun art style. Kids can hear the song in English, French, German or Spanish, or even record themselves singing. The simple, bright art style and playful, surprising bits of interaction make for lots of replay value, too. For 3-year-olds, really any app from developer, Duck, Duck, Moose is a great early learning choice, but this one is a nice starter. Price: 99 cents on iTunes

Loud Crow Interactive

Moo, Baa, La La La!
What’s not to love about the simple, charming rhymes and illustrations by beloved children’s author, Sandra Boynton? They’re presented in this app as a traditional board book, but with interactive elements. Kids can be read to by an audio narrator with text highlighting, or have a parent read to them. Better still, every animal than appears on the page responds by quacking, barking, moving and more. Price: $1.99 on iTunes

zinc Roe

Sound Shaker
Think of this as baby rattle 2.0. You start by picking sounds to play with such as chime, whistle, drum, barnyard animal and mystery. Sounds are created by tapping the screen, and represented by colorful circles that can be rolled around, flicked and expanded. The whimsical, simple interface and surprising audio effects make this a gem for sound exploration. Price: $1.99 on iTunes

Random House

Pat the Bunny
Another childhood classic — this one first published in 1940 — gets a digital makeover. Random House has turned Dorothy Kunhardt’s touch-and-feel children’s book into an interactive experience in which kids catch butterflies, tuck the bunny in bed, color. The app lets users pop bubbles, bang pots and pans, catch butterflies, tuck the bunny into bed and more. The app even lets iPad2 users “look in the mirror” by accessing the tablet’s dual cameras. Price: $3.99 on iTunes

Mindshapes

Jellytoons Toddler Skills: Bobo’s Birthday Challenge
Of all the apps in the toddler category, this one has the most, rich educational value. Featuring the Jellytoons, a crew of silly, gelatinous creatures, the game takes the user into six, birthday-themed mini-games. Fine motor, shape and color recognition and counting skills are put to work and the game also tracks a child’s progress in each area, too. $1.99 on iTunes

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• The iPhone 4S? Get it or wait?
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Getty Images stock

My family’s health record currently consists of a folder stuffed with — physicals, hospital forms, test results. I’ve been fortunate in that my kids have been healthy and they’ve all had the same doctor since birth, so I haven’t really worried about it. But what if something went wrong or we moved? Would I have a complete health record to share in an emergency or with a new doctor?

That’s the promise of an electronic personal health records (PHR). It’s an electronic central repository of health-related information collected from all the health professionals and organizations a person encounters. So, notes from my son’s pediatrician, allergist and the ER doctor who stitched his head shut would all appear in one record.

Today it can serve as the basis for providing reminders for vaccinations and easy access to medical test results. In the future, doctors will check patient-reported data for measurements like blood glucose levels or blood pressure and they could use the PHR to see if there are aberrations that might help lead to a diagnosis, or allergies and sensitivities that might rule out using a particular medication.

The thought of manually inputting all of that data into a personal health record for each family member is daunting, to say the least. So I haven’t done it, despite the benefits. But now there are a couple of websites —  MotherKnows and MyMediConnect — that take the grunt work out of loading my data, so I can sit back a reap the benefits.

These sites will contact all the doctors, hospitals and other medical organizations on your behalf and input the data for you. And you can input your own notes once the file is started.

MotherKnows

MotherKnows is a subscription service that sets up links to my children’s doctors and labs to get data on an ongoing basis. I can check growth charts, immunizations and medication history and see full records from doctor’s visits. Plus there’s an Emergency Health Card I can print and give to sitters or to EMS, should there be an emergency.

For $49 a year, MotherKnows will collect records quarterly from up to four healthcare providers. Plus there’s a one-time $49 setup fee to collect records from birth to present. Additional children are $39 per year. There’s also a $4.95 monthly option with additional children costing $4, but MotherKnows will only collect data from one provider quarterly. If you let your subscription lapse, you can still access your records.

MediConnect

For whole-family coverage, there’s MyMediConnect. Instead of a subscription, you pay per record request. It costs $29.95 per request plus a $45 provider copying fee, which includes collecting and scanning your records.

For collecting and creating diagnostic-quality scans of your X-rays, MRIs or CAT scan images, you pay $39.95 per request, plus the $45 provider copying fee. The copying fee is listed separately since, in rare cases, you may exceed the $45 and have to pay more. MyMediConnect works with Microsoft HealthVault, allowing export or import of your records. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)

Both services use 256-bit encryption to store your records and employ industry-standard practices to safeguard your privacy while collecting data. Your insurance company, hospitals, doctors’ offices — they all have electronic health records. The personal health record is your copy of these in one place, enabling you to take charge and present a full medical history to healthcare providers, should the need arise.

More stories on Techlicious:

• Best Free Apps to Help Manage Diabetes
• Apps That Help You Quit Smoking
• Can an App Really Cure Your Headaches?

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Reading is Fundamental, Inc.

Leading to Reading

By Jessica Manger, Techlicious.com

As an elementary school teacher, I’m always asked the same question, “What can I do at home?” There's a wealth of educational sites that can help you build your child’s reading and math skills in fun and motivational ways, but the following are my favorite resources.

Reading sites

Leading to Reading
Get your pre-reader moving, singing and on the road to becoming a fluent reader with Leading to Reading. There are two levels of this site: “Babies and Toddlers” and “Preschoolers." The first section contains music, read alouds, lullabies (in different languages), games, and videos. When your back is aching from “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” turn on one of the videos, referred to as “Finger Plays,” which uses popular rhymes and hand gestures to teach coordination. “Preschoolers” offers activities that are a step up from “Babies and Toddlers”, as it focuses more on letter recognition and reading comprehension. Along with sing-a-longs and games, there are books and an exploration section that features nonfiction videos, fun facts, and videos about animals. The “Grown-ups” tab contains articles and ideas to get your child reading, author interviews, and featured books. Also available and free are downloadable coloring pages that reinforce the alphabet. Besides having stories and lullabies in different languages, this entire site can be translated into Spanish.

Starfall Education

Starfall

Starfall
Starfall is every teacher’s best-kept secret. This site is the complete package, transitioning your child from letter and sound recognition to fluency and comprehension. Students from pre-school all the way to 2nd grade, as well as special education students and English language learners, will enjoy these phonics-based, interactive animations. There are four levels: “ABCs”, “Learn to Read," “It’s Fun to Read" and “I’m Reading." “ABCs” focuses on the basics of the alphabet, “Learn to Read” begins to include vocabulary and grammar, and “It’s Fun to Read” and “I’m Reading” get your child on the road to comprehension and fluency with more difficult texts from a variety of genres. Most of the lessons are followed up with a reinforcement activity or interactive book. Although the intention is to complete the site sequentially, there’s nothing stopping your child from exploring their heart away. This site also offers printables for offline practice. Recently, Starfall added a store, which offers even more resources, as well as an expanded site with extra videos and math-based activities at a yearly subscription of $35 (for three simultaneous users) for a year.

Storyline Online
If you want your child to hear how a story should sound when it’s read aloud, who better to model it than James Earl Jones? Created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, Storyline Online presents literature read by SAG members such as Amanda Bynes, Betty White, Lou Diamond Phillips, Melissa Gilbert and Elijah Wood, so you know they’re bound to be entertaining. Each book comes with a short biography about the reader as well as activities and ideas to further your child’s understanding of the story. While viewing the video, you have options to have captions turned on or off and see it in full-screen viewing mode. You can even read viewer comments or leave your own feedback when the video is over.

IRA/NCTE

ReadWriteThink

ReadWriteThink
Need help trying to figure out which books are just right for you child or how to encourage higher order thinking? ReadWriteThink offers this and more in an easily navigable site. One of the more expansive sites, ReadWriteThink offers parents resources for children anywhere from kindergarten through 12th grade. The purpose of this site, which was created by International Reading Association, is to encourage both reading and writing. Activities and project ideas, games and tools, tips and how-to’s, printouts, and podcasts are all available to offer ways for every age group to connect to reading on a deeper level. This is a searchable site; so if there is a particular skill you want to work on with your child, just use the search-by-keyword feature to find resources. There are even some terrific classroom resources that parents can dip into (I won’t tell!).

Math sites

Bitesize
An all-around great site that focuses on English, science, and math is Bitesize. Children from 2nd grade up looking for math assistance can choose from such topics as “Numbers,” “Shapes,” “Space,” “Measures” and “Handling Data." To further assist in the topics, each of the games comes with step-by-step lessons that can be read online or printed. These lessons have easy-to-understand tricks and tips for improving math skills. After your child reads through the lesson and plays the game, they can take a quiz to test their abilities. These games, which can be played in full-screen, are fun and have pretty impressive graphics. One of my favorite games on this site, “Questionaut,” takes you through fantastical worlds and breathtaking graphics while asking questions about math, English and science.

Arcademics

Arcademic Skill Builders

Arcademic Skill Builders
Created with children in 2nd grade and up in mind, Arcademic Skill Builders uses an arcade-like interface to focus on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, integers, decimals, money, fractions and time. To encourage some healthy competition, your child can choose to either play with other people online, or practice their skills alone. Because there is no real interaction between the gamers, it is completely safe. After they finish the various levels of each game, you can view their score, accuracy and rate at which the questions were answered. It also lists the missed questions and gives you the option to see your child’s progress in graph form.

Cyberchase
Who knew problem-solving could be so much fun? Based on PBS’s popular cartoon series, "Cyberchase," this site has students from 3rd grade and up working on their math and problem-solving skills. Your child will get to practice basic math facts, geometry, measurement and algebra while solving real-world issues. There is also a page entitled “Parents & Teachers” that assists parents and teachers in game choice. In this section, along with a brief summary of the game, the specific math topic, and, if applicable, science topic, is listed. After your child gets their fill of math practice, they can also watch videos, read adventures, and create art. A section titled, “Quest,” will lead a character, customized by your child, though an online quest in order win awards and items to decorate their cyberhome.

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• Tech Toys that Keep Kids Thinking
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