Get Connected - Fall 2007 - (Page 11)

social networking as a means of sharing and coordinating information.” 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. Is official school policy overly tainted by unfounded fear? social networking will help students learn to collaborate to solve academic problems. Parents have a brighter outlook. More than three in four (76 percent) expect social networking to help their children improve their reading and writing skills or express themselves more clearly. Three out of four also expect social networking to improve their children’s conflict-resolution abilities; 72 percent expect it to improve their children’s social aplomb. The future of educational social networking boards throw open the doors to all online resources, nor do they suggest educators stick their heads in the sand. The first course of action would jeopardize the trust of parents and communities. The second would squander the potential of a powerful tool—and foolishly ignore social networking’s increasing role in business and higher education. To strike the balance of protection and 21st century erudition, the NSBA suggests school boards: • Personally explore social networking sites Perhaps the greatest surprise of the survey is that students and parents report fewer problems such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying and unwelcome personal encounters than school fears and policies seem to imply. One in five students say they have seen inappropriate pictures on social networking sites in the last three months. But personally directed incidents are rare: 7 percent report having been asked for personal information; 7 percent say they’ve experienced cyberbullying, and 4 percent say they’ve had conversations on social networking sites that made them uncomfortable. Only .08 percent of all students report they’ve actually met someone in person from an online encounter without their parents’ permission. School districts seem to believe that negative experiences are far more common. More than half of districts (52 percent) believe that students providing personal information online has been “a significant problem.” Current expectations Will Richardson, who’s both a teacher (adjunct instructor, Seton Hall University, Executive Ed. D. program) and parent (of two, ages eight and 10), in addition to being a renowned speaker, author and blogger on Web-related technologies (http:// weblogg-ed.com), has a different outlook. As he explained in an October Webinar presentation to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), networked education is absolutely critical to negotiating in an increasingly networked world, and most schools currently are not preparing their students for that world. As he puts it: The question is, for us, at this moment, is how and when will we be forced to re-envision our models of education and our models of learning in face of these changes? … We need to be sure that [students] have literacies that surround networking, [because] they will be ubiquitously connected, all the time, and they will have to be literate at forming personal learning networks that they can then tap into at any time, just like I can now in my network and community of people who are interested in technology. A network that will sustain them throughout their lives in terms of personal learning. …That’s hugely important … and I just don’t think schools are thinking about preparing them for that eventuality. Those networks are going to be much more open, they’re going to have to work with people in shared, synchronous spaces, with people in the moment, with people from disparate geographies. It’s going to be on the fly in terms of how they connect and work. These are skills that are not being taught to my kids in any meaningful way. They are not ready for a world that looks like that. … They’re going to have to be part of the dialogue, a part of the conversation. so that perceptions and decisions are based on real experiences • Consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development • Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking • Ensure equitable access so that some students aren’t left on the far side of the digital divide • Pay attention to the nonconformists— educators could learn something from them while simultaneously engaging their attention • Reexamine social networking policies • Encourage social networking companies to increase educational value The study is based on three surveys: an online survey of nearly 1,300 nine- 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, and does not necessarily represent the views of the underwriters. For a PDF of the full report, visit http://www.nsba.org/site/view.asp?CID =63&DID=41340. Don’t miss ENA’s Using Wikis in the Classroom Webinar! Schools and especially parents may be warming up to the educational possibilities of social networking. Nearly half of district leaders (48 percent) expect social networking to introduce students to “new and different kinds of students,” and 43 percent hope that social networking will help students “learn to express themselves better creatively” and “develop global relationships.” As for “harder” educational value, districts leaders become more skeptical. Fewer than one-third (29 percent) believe social networking could help students improve their reading or writing or express themselves more clearly. Slightly more (36 percent) hope that When: Thursday, December 6, 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December, 12, 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 19, 10:00 a.m. (the three Webinars are identical) If interested, contact: Monique Carucci at mcarucci@ena.com Ultimately, the authors of the NSBA study don’t recommend that American school 11 http://weblogg-ed.com http://weblogg-ed.com http://www.nsba.org/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Get Connected - Fall 2007

Get Connected - Fall 2007 NSBA Social Networking Study A Letter From the President Network Services for Libraries 25th Annual TETC Conference Partnership for 21st Century Skills E-mail Archiving Social Networking 101 Ramp Up for E-Rate Season News From HECC Notes From the CTO

Get Connected - Fall 2007

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