August 2007 — News
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Research: Students Actually Use the Internet for Education
New research released by the National School Boards Association reveals data showing we all might need to reevaluate our assumptions: It turns out kids are actually using the Internet for educational purposes. In fact, according to the study, "Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social--and Educational--Networking," the percentage of children specifically discussing schoolwork online outpaces the percentage that spend time downloading music.
For the survey, the NSBA teamed up with Grunwald Associates to poll 1,277 9- to 17-year-olds, 1,039 parents, and 250 school district leaders who "make decisions on Internet policy." It found that a full 50 percent of students who are online spend time discussing schoolwork, and 59 percent spend time talking about education-related topics, "including college or college planning; learning outside of school; news; careers or jobs; politics, ideas, religion, or morals; and schoolwork."
Further, these students are spending almost as much time on the Internet visiting websites and social networking services (nine hours per week for teens) as they spend watching television (10 hours).
A full 96 percent of students surveyed responded that they use the Internet for social networking purposes, including Facebook, MySpace, Webkins, and Nick.com chat. Seventy-one percent said they use these services at least on a weekly basis.
"Yet," the study asserts, "the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day--even though students and parents report few problem behaviors online. Indeed, both district leaders and parents believe that social networking could play a positive role in students' lives and they recognize opportunities for using it in education--at a time when teachers now routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete. In light of the study findings, school districts may want to consider reexamining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes."
Beyond communications and networking, students are also engaging the Internet for creative purposes, from uploading podcasts to blogging to updating personal websites to writing articles that they submit to sites at least weekly.
And the study shows that schools are, for the most part, limiting, rather than facilitating, students' use of the Internet.
The vast majority of districts prohibit online chatting and instant messaging; and most prohibit sending or receiving e-mail during school, posting on bulletin boards or blogs, or using social networking sites. Almost all use software to block certain sites and require parents or students to sign an Internet use policy. The graph below breaks down these policies by the numbers.
