Technology Tip Number 85
Keeping Teens Off-task

It can be intimidating if you’ve never seen it before.  Students are pretty adept at finding what they want on the internet.  And as you might expect, what they want to look at and what adults might want them to look at are two completely different things.  Lets face it, the internet can be very distracting for an adult.  Imagine how distracting it is for a 13 year old.   

Below are some examples of the kinds of websites that teenagers wander off to.  Please note that this is not an all inclusive list.  You should also know that this list is constantly changing.  But by taking a few minutes to look at these sites you can start to get an idea of the distractions kids face while online.

Helicopter Game: Not much educational value in this game that demands hand-eye coordination to fly the helicopter through the green cave.  Sure seems to be addictive though.	YouTube: It was started as a quick way to share internet video.  Now it's a phenomenon and students often search it for their favorite videos, both appropriate and inappropriate.
InkLink: Pretty much the same idea as “pictionary”  You draw the picture and whoever else is online tries to guess what it is.  It could actually be rather educational.	Bubble Trouble This is a game available at a website called http://www.englishbanana.comwhich is supposed to help teach English.  There are a number of favorite student games at their site also.
Solitaire This old favorite is available on most school computers.  Students don’t need internet access to practice putting the black queen on the red king.	Line Rider Here's a rather addictive game that was originally created for an exam by a Slovenian University Student.  You just draw a line and this little guy on a sled rides it.

PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Go ahead, Try a game right now: WebPacMan.com

TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  To find out more about the kinds of websites that attract the attention of teenagers try searching the internet for:

Flash games
Games for kids
Addicting Games

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