Champlain College Marketing Professor Releases Family Technology Guidebook

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Tuned-In Family: How to Cope, Communicate, and Connect in a Digital World

BURLINGTON, VT (05/29/2014)(readMedia)-- Elaine Young, a marketing professor at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., recently released her first book, Tuned-In Family, How to Cope, Communicate, and Connect in a Digital World. The book is now available to purchase on lulu.com.

A parent guidebook for families living in a digital world, Young based the publication on experiences with her own daughter, her students, and ongoing research into how college students cope with learning technologies in the classroom.

"My goal was to write something that emphasized the importance of respect, modeling behaviors, and embracing the positive power of the digital communication technologies all around us," writes Young on her website, tunedinfamily.com. "Each of us has a different comfort level with communication technologies and that comes through in how we integrate digital tools within our family."

"Making thoughtful, well-informed decisions and engaging in relationship-strengthening conversations between parent and child are key to successfully negotiating technology-use-whether your child is five or 15," said Laurel Bongiorno, Dean of the Education and Human Sciences Division at Champlain College and an Early Childhood educator. Bongiorno imagines this new wave of technology is comparable to the first generation of parents who had televisions in their living room; now, cell phones, iPads, video games, and constant connectivity are pervasive.

"This book provides parents with practical support," continued Bongiorno, "She also believes in collaboration between home and school," and that Internet and technology safety, responsibility and awareness should be taught in both places.

Readers find Tuned-In Family engaging to read, easy to understand, and easy to apply to real situations when interacting with children or technology. It helps mediate reasonable conversations with family surrounding technology, and dissipates anxiety stemming from adolescent's technology usage.

Young worked very closely with Champlain College Publishing Initiative, where Champlain students helped with the editing, design and layout, and publishing process suggestions. She also worked with students in Champlain Professor Tim Brookes' "Publishing in the 21st Century" class, as she went through the editing process. "It was a great learning experience for us all and I couldn't have done this without the help and guidance of the group of students who had a hand in making this book move from concept to reality," said Young.

Excerpts from Young's book can be found at her blog, www.ejyoung.com, and worksheets from the book are posted in the resources on the book's website, http://www.tunedinfamily.com.

Buy Tuned-In Family here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/view-cart.ep;jsessionid=A1EB279D107023AFDF72137A3DDFBC3F

Follow along at https://www.facebook.com/TunedInFamily and https://twitter.com/TunedInFamily