Social Networking & Schools Studied

Northwest libraries have been hearing a lot about “the social web” lately, most notably from NWILS workshop “Flickr, Wikis, and Blogs—Oh My.” That workshop premiered in May and has since been repeated in some county settings around the region. Last month, the National School Board Association (NSBA) released a study entitled “Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines Regarding Online Social and Educational Networking.” The study was conducted by Grunwald Associates and underwritten by News Corp, Verizon, and Microsoft.

The study defined social networking as “…a cluster of technical functions that allow users to easily create, share, and respond to information…” Overall, the study provides real support for many points made by ALA regarding the importance of student access to the social web. Some valuable findings include:

60% of students report using social networking for education-related topics.
Negative experiences online are much lower than expected.
Parents are, in fact, much more involved in their kids’ use of technology than is commonly perceived.
Classroom use of technology is increasing, but school technology leaders are still skeptical of social networking applications.
The majority of school districts are using some kind of social networking software to communicate with students, parents, and the community.
Social networking does allow students to engage in creative expressions of all kinds.

The report also includes in-depth statistics and a list of recommendations for educators….find it here http://www.nsba.org/