A few big points that I found noteworthy, maybe to allow you to avoid reading the entire article, was that the number one item learned that students listed are technology skills, followed by creativity, open-mindedness, and communication skills. So we must ask ourselves, are Facebook and MySpace really harming our students, or are they preparing them for 21 century society in a way that we as educators are not providing (or cannot provide).
Understanding the restraints and limitations we face when striving to increase amount of technological self-efficacy of the students in our classrooms, we still cannot ignore the benefits that these heathenish web apps offer. The question regarding them may change. Rather than ask "How can we keep our students from accessing MySpace at school?" (because we all know how creative they are at navigating around firewalls and filters), we can now ask, "How do we employ these powerful web tools within the confines of maintaining a safe digital environment?" An analogy was made by the lead researcher, Christine Greenhow, relating educating teens on safe social networking and teaching them to drive. If driving is dangerous, why don't we push to keep kids from getting behind the wheel the same way we try to keep students from engaging in something that is proven to make a difference?
It is a tough question with no concrete answer. However, this research shows that educators must not hastily invalidate progress by ignoring the existence of such remarkable learning tools by only focusing on their negative aspects. Let's collectively resolve to find better solutions than an ultimate block of things that really do teach students good skills.
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