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Google’s Project Bloks is a new open hardware platform for teaching kids to code

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Google has long offered tools to teach kids coding skills, and Apple introduced an app with similar ambitions called Swift Playground at WWDC. Now, in collaboration with Stanford and IDEO, Google has announced a new project that makes learning how to code physical and easier to understand. Project Bloks aims to create an open hardware platform to allow others to build physical coding experiences…


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Children too trusting of Google and YouTube, unable to identify paid ads, says UK govt report

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A report by the UK’s telecoms and Internet watchdog Ofcom says that children are too trusting of what they find on the web, a surprisingly high percentage of them taking search results on trust, and unable to identify paid ads.

One in five online 12-15s (19%) believe information returned by a search engine such as Google or Bing must be true, yet only a third of 12-15s (31%) are able to identify paid-for adverts in these results.

The report found that the position was even worse with YouTube … 
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Google preparing kid-friendly version of YouTube app for Android for launch next week

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In App Kids

Google revealed last year that it was working on versions of YouTube, Chrome, and other products specifically designed to be kid-friendly. Now it seems the service, called YouTube Kids, is finally ready to make its public debut next week. YouTube is preparing an Android app specifically targeted at kids looking to browse its collection of videos.


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Google partners with Disney on new series aiming to get kids interested in tech

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnQ5gE4Rbxo&ab_channel=disneyjunior]

Google and Disney teamed up to create a new kids show with a focus on getting young viewers interested in computer science, the LA Times noted in a report today. The show, Miles from Tomorrowland, was created by Disney Junior with Google engineers sitting in as consultants.

The two companies are especially focused on getting girls interested in technology by featuring female characters designed to change kids’ perception of the industry. From the Times report:

In “Miles From Tomorrowland,” Loretta is a super cool older sister/computer whiz sidekick who records data from the adventures and discoveries and can find the answer to almost anything with the assistance of a special wrist device known as “the bracelex.”

One episode has Loretta writing code that helps her find another planet.

The show’s creator says that his cooperation with Google has shown him that “you can do anything with coding”—a message Disney hopes to instill in its audience. Miles from Tomorrowland premieres on February 6th.

Kids tablet market gets interesting as Dreamworks and Fuhu team up for DreamTab

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dreamtab

If there was ever a dream team for a new kid’s tablet, DreamWorks and Fuhu has to be one of the hottest contenders for the title. The animated film maker and the company behind the Nabi range of children’s tablets told the NYT they are teaming up to launch a new 8-inch tablet at CES next week, expected to go on sale in the spring.

The tablet is expected to come with a mix of animated games and educational apps, and will include content that can interact with DreamWorks toys. DreamWorks claims the device will have similar power to an iPad and be treated like a cross between a tablet and a TV channel … 
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