Online learning is becoming more and more prevalent, and children today are often far more tech-savvy than their parents. But what do parents and teachers think of the educational value of digital media platforms like video games and virtual communities? A national poll from Common Sense Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop found that 67 percent of parents said they didn't think the web helped teach their kids how to communicate. Eighty-seven percent said they didn’t think it helped their children learn to work with others. Teachers, however, were more optimistic about the educational benefits of such media.

The Survey

Two surveys were conducted: one nationally representative survey of parents and one survey of teachers of grades 1 through 8. The margin of error for parents was +/- 3.5% overall and

+/- 9.7% for the ethnic samples. The margin of error for the teacher surveys was +/-6.7%

Findings of Parental Surveys

The findings in the parental surveys found that three quarters of parents believe that digital media is as important as traditional skills, and nearly all agree that knowing how to use digital media is as important as knowing traditional skills. While parents recognize that digital media platforms offer different educational benefits for children, the majority are skeptical of the ability of digital media to help children learn important 21^st century skills.

Further, parents in the survey reported discouraging their children from using digital media (particularly computers) for social networking. Parents believe digital media can offer educational benefits, but one third of them are not convinced that is has true educational potential.

Findings of Teacher Surveys

Teachers are more optimistic than parents of the educational benefits of digital media. Teachers, the survey found, feel the Internet could be a good resource for helping children learn to communicate with others. Unlike parents, they gave digital media credit for its potential in helping children with collaborating and taking responsibility, too.

More than half of teachers see MP3 players as entertainment devices and cell phones as distractions, and feel they have no place in schools. However, teachers view the Internet, CD-ROMs, and computer programs as having more educational potential than other forms of digital media. This is likely because these types of programs require students to use writing and reading skills.

Recommendations

Based on the survey, researchers made many recommendations, among them that policy-makers should support media education and the integration of digital media into classrooms and create standards to make sense of products labeled “educational.” Further, research on the added value of digital media in teaching both 21^st century and traditional skills needs to be conducted, and a public awareness effort should be undertaken to help parents understand what comprises a full range of 21^st century skills.

Researchers further recommended that digital media be incorporated into schools to engage and educate students and help them learn skills that allow them to collaborate, communicate, and create, and that teachers should be offered training on how to maximize educational technology.

For more Information

Visit these sites for more information in the survey, results, and recommendations:

www.commonsensemedia.org

www.joanganzcooneycenter.org.