A new survey released by the University of Minnesota reveals new educational value of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. The survey of students aged 16 to 18 who have average family incomes at or below the local median, suggests that educators should be thinking strategically about how to integrate social networking into our students’ learning experiences. Students are gaining experience in editing and sharing web-based information, expressing themselves creatively, forming positive views of technology and being exposed to diverse perspectives. Especially noteworthy are the statistics that arguably show a solid use of the internet amongst lower income students. 94 percent of the surveyed students used the Internet, 82 percent go online at home and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site.

This survey highlights the need for educators to carefully consider new forms of technology as learning resources and think creatively about how to weave them into the services we offer our students, as well as methods used to teach them.

Check out the full press release or view the video below for more info!