Childnet Releases "Young People and Social Networking Services" Report for Educators

Childnet International's 's digital literacy and citizenship site, Digizen, released a new report on "Young People and Social Networking Services"  for educators. The report looks at how social services, including virtual worlds, are currently being used and can be used by young people for formal and informal education. There's not a lot of new information, but after skimming through the 37-page report, I'd say it looks like a great overview for educators wanting to involve their students in social media. Interestingly, for me it brings together the idea of virtual worlds as an enterprise collaboration and training tool and the idea that children are using virtual worlds to rehearse new social skills and identities.

"Social networking services are designed to support users working, thinking and acting together," explains the report. "They also require listening and compromising skills. Young people may need to ask others for help and advice in using services, or understand how platforms work by observing others, particularly in complex gaming or virtual environments. Once users have developed confidence in a new environment, they will also have gained the experience to help others." [via Izzy Neis]

Comments

[ben rigby]

hi - i just wrote a book on this topic - about how young people are using web2 technologies for civic, educational, and political purposes. it's called "Mobilizing Generation 2.0" more info here:
http://www.amazon.com/Mobilizing-Generation-2-0-Practical-Technologies/dp/0470227443/