A new study on online behaviors of teens and ‘tweens, by the National School Boards Association, is well worth reading at http://files.nsba.org/creatingandconnecting.pdf
Below is some press release information, followed by my reactions (prepared for a reporter at Education week) and a link to the Education Week article wherein I am quoted.
Description:
The report, “Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social and Educational Networking,” is based on three surveys: an online survey of nearly 1,300 9- to 17-year-olds, an online survey of more than 1,000 parents, and telephone interviews with 250 school districts leaders who make decisions on Internet policy. The study was carried out with support from Microsoft, News Corporation, and Verizon.
Key findings:
o 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education.
o Nearly 60 percent of online students report discussing education-related topics such as college or college planning, learning outside of school, and careers and 50 percent of online students say they talk specifically about schoolwork.
o Students report spending almost as much time using social network services and Web sites as they spend watching television. Among teens who use social networking sites, that amounts to about 9 hours a week online, compared to 10 hours a week watching television.
o 96 percent of school districts say that at least some of their teachers assign homework requiring Internet use.
Full Press release:
A new study by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC exploring the online behaviors of U.S. teens and ‘tweens shows that 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education.
Nearly 60 percent of online students report discussing education-related topics such as college or college planning, learning outside of school, and careers. And 50 percent of online students say they talk specifically about schoolwork.
“There is no doubt that these online teen hangouts are having a huge influence on how kids today are creatively thinking and behaving,” said Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association. “The challenge for school boards and educators is that they have to keep pace with how students are using these tools in positive ways and consider how they might incorporate this technology into the school setting.”
Students report they are engaging in highly creative activities on social networking internet sites including writing, art, and contributing to collaborative online projects whether or not these activities are related to schoolwork. Almost half of students (49 percent) say that they have uploaded pictures they have made or photos they have taken, and more than one in five students (22 percent) report that they have uploaded video they have created.
Today, students report that they are spending almost as much time using social networking services and Web sites as they spend watching television. Among teens who use social networking sites, that amounts to about 9 hours a week online, compared to 10 hours a week watching television.
“Our study showed that 96 percent of school districts say that at least some of their teachers assign homework requiring Internet use,” said Peter Grunwald of Grunwald Associates. “What this means is that schools may be starting to use the Internet and other technologies more effectively. In the future, schools that incorporate social networking tools in education can help engage kids and move them toward the center of the learning process.”
While most schools have rules against social networking activities, almost 70 percent of districts report having student Web site programs, and nearly half report their schools participate in online collaborative projects with other schools and in online pen pal or other international programs. Further, more than a third say their schools and/or students have blogs, either officially or in the context of instruction.
The report, “Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social and Educational Networking,” is based on three surveys: an online survey of nearly 1,300 9- to 17-year-olds, an online survey of more than 1,000 parents, and telephone interviews with 250 school districts leaders who make decisions on Internet policy. The study was carried out with support from Microsoft, News Corporation, and Verizon.
The complete NSBA report, is available on NSBA’s Web site at http://files.nsba.org/creatingandconnecting.pdf .
My reactions:
1. NSBA is to be commended for doing the study and highlighting the statistics.
2. My current metaphor to describe what is happening: “Kids used to grow up in the dark intellectually, and educators were the people who showed kids the light. Today kids grow up in the light – they are connected to the world through television, the Internet, Social Networking, etc. If educators were smart, they would find ways build on this to increase the kid’s understanding. But instead they make the kids shut off all their connections to the world as they enter the building. In effect, rather than showing the kids the light, they bring the kids out of the light back into the darkness.”
3. Any school board that had some student members would know this stuff. A few boards do, all should.
4. In general, schools (teachers and administrators) are deathly afraid of what I call “The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native” because it is something they don’t understand. Rather than asking the kids about it (say in regular meetings) their typical attitude it to disrespect it and the kids. But the kids just turn around and disrespect the teachers for being illiterate in these increasingly important domains.
5. It is clear that the media have exaggerated the dangers of online, and the public, especially school administrators, have bought it, hook, line and sinker (sucker?).
6. One reason why many educators do not find the new technologies “useful educational tools” stems comes from the fact that the teaching paradigm that most teachers use, “kids being taught” (mostly by lecture), conflicts with these technologies – if you are lecturing, they are mainly an interruption. The technologies become much more useful (and in fact necessary) once the paradigm shifts to “students teaching themselves (with guidance)”. This shift has already happened for the kids in “after-school” learning settings They expect it in their schools as well.
7. Many teachers around the US and the world are incorporating these tools successfully in their teaching, yet other teachers little or no way to learn about these successes and emulate them – Educators are terrible at sharing. Kids can help here by videotaping what works and posting on You Tube or an educational equivalent.
8. Policies around use of technology in school should be set by all the interested parties together. I suggest districts or schools hold meetings at the beginning of the year with panels of teachers, administrators, students parents and technologists to discuss and set policies that work for all.
9. A lot of concerns about the “have nots” would go away if the schools kept their computer labs open till midnight and on weekends, and teachers assigned projects to groups where at least one member (or the school) had the technology. Kids are great at sharing and teaching each other.
10. If teachers would ask kids how they would like to be taught – and actually listen and dialog with the students – many of these issues could be resolved.
Link to the Education Week article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html
Best,
Marc
Marc Prensky | thought leader | speaker | writer | consultant |learning game designer
Author, Don't Bother Me Mom -- I'm Learning and Digital Game-Based Learning
Founder & CEO, Games2train
email: marc@games2train.com
phone: +1 917-826-6965
Buy Don't Bother Me Mom -- I'm Learning at www.marcprensky.com
Posted by Marc at August 22, 2007 12:06 AM