Demos Project : Digital Curriculum - Their Space

schools and social networking

hannah.green@demos.co.uk ( Hannah Green ) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:34:17 -0100

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released the overview of their latest study on teens' usage of social network sites. As danah boyd comments, most of the data is not surprising, but it is interesting. Here are some of the key findings:

55% of online teens (ages 12-17) have created a personal profile online, and 55% have used social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.
66% of teens who have created a profile say that their profile is not visible to all internet users. They limit access to their profiles.
48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often; 26% visit once a day, 22% visit several times a day.
Older girls ages 15-17 are more likely to have used social networking sites and created online profiles; 70% of older girls have used an online social network compared with 54% of older boys, and 70% of older girls have created an online profile, while only 57% of older boys have done so.

What’s interesting for us is that a lot of their findings chime with the research that we have just completed and are poised to launch tomorrow – Their space, education for a digital generation. Given the coverage that this debate has been given in the national press we know it’s a growing and significant issue that clearly has interesting international dimensions.

If you would like to read more about the report have a look at Paul Miller’s blog here, our myspace page here, or download a copy for free from here tomorrow.

Their Space Podcast

hannah.green@demos.co.uk ( Hannah Green ) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:56:31 -0100

It's the seventh Demos podcast, and the first of 2007.

Podcast seven sees Hannah and Celia talking about the report Their Space: Education for a Digital Generation. The project, funded by the National College for School Leadership, explores the skills that young people are learning through their use of new technologies and makes suggestions for how schools and policy makers should respond.

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You can learn more about our podcasts here.

Twas the week after Christmas and all through the office, not a sound could be heard...

hannah.green@demos.co.uk ( Hannah Green ) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:28:18 -0100

...not even a bop-it, Wii, X-box or any of the other games that we’ve been keeping ourselves amused with over the festive season. Although we use these games to wind down, relax and have fun, Demos are just coming to the end of a piece of research that explores the skills and capabilities that a whole generation of people are developing through their use of games and other new technologies. Through the research we particularly focused on how schools should respond to this. Digital technologies have been integrated into everyday life - from blogging and MSN to mobiles and myspace. How should teaching and learning adapt to a generation of young people who have normalised digital technologies?

Approaching technology from the perspective of children our research tells positive stories about how they use online space to build relationships and create original content. It argues that the skills children are developing through these activities, such as creativity, communication and collaboration, are those that will enable them to succeed in a globally networked, knowledge driven economy.

This report will be launched next week at BETT 2007, the educational technology show at the National Hall Olympia. To find out more about the project please have a look at our project page, listen to our podcast or e-mail Hannah Green or Celia Hannon.

Joining up the dots

celia.hannon@demos.co.uk ( Celia Hannon ) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 16:26:04 -0100

The more we find about young people's changing relationship with digital media the more questions this raises about their future as students and employees. Just as some schools find it difficult to capitalise on the creative and technological skills of many of their pupils, so organisations risk overlooking the new skills of young graduates. As the recent Demos publication Working Progress demonstrated, employers think new graduates are arriving without with the skills needed to navigate the workplace. Could part of the problem be that they are looking for the wrong type of skills? According to the American author Marc Prensky young people are entering the workplace armed with an array of new skills such as parallel processing, random accessing (hyperlinking) and the ability to operate at what he calls 'twtich speed'. How could schools and organisations capitalise on these and young people's enhanced media literacy? Some are starting to - job adverts for the creative sectors are already appearing with requests for online evidence of applicants' work or skills. A kind of Myspace CV. Some American Universities are now offering dedicated e-portofolio services for their graduates so that they can showcase their work to the public or employers. Schools may want to start exploring similar options if they want to bridge the gaps between informal learning, school and worklife.