Internet Enhances Learning, Personal Lives, Study Says
RSSBy Lauren Barack
"The Future of Social Relations," a report published in July by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, says the social benefits of Internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next decade. The reason? Because email, social networks, and other online tools offer 'low-friction' opportunities to create, enhance, and rediscover social ties that make a difference in people's lives. "The Internet lowers traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time; and it supports the type of open information sharing that brings people together." Some 85 percent of those surveyed agreed with this statement: "In 2020, when I look at the big picture and consider my personal friendships, marriage and other relationships, I see that the Internet has mostly been a positive force on my social world. And this will only grow more true in the future." Barb Fecteau, a library media specialist for Beverly High School in Beverly, MA, believes the Internet has improved her family life. "My husband is a big computer geek, and my 12-year-old and 17-year-old are both big gamers," she says. "We can all be in the family room in completely different worlds, but all be together." Lindsey Dunn agrees. She finds it invaluable to connect to online communities, blogs and listservs, and to find support for personal issues, while retaining some level of privacy. Though she believes it's important to balance offline and online interactions, there can be something healing about having immediate connections to others who share similar concerns. "We can meet people with other perspectives who we could not meet if we didn't have this access at our fingertips," says Dunn, the young adult librarian at the Eva Perry Regional Library in Wake County, NC. Besides helping to forge connections, the Internet can also impact people's lives by opening doors to activities that may have been otherwise shuttered. Deb Logan, a media specialist for Mount Gilead High School in Ohio had six eye surgeries in a nine-month period in 2009, which made reading traditional print challenging. "Fortunately, when print is backlit like on an iPod Touch or an iPad, I can read," Logan says. "When I need to, I can increase font size. Now, I do nearly all of my reading on my Touch or iPad. I feel extremely fortunate to live at a time when books are widely available on these types of devices." Still, 14 percent of those surveyed by Pew noted "the Internet has mostly been a negative force on my social world." Among the negatives is the fact that time spent online takes away from important face-to-face relationships; the Internet fosters mostly shallow relationships; the act of leveraging the Internet to engage in social connection exposes private information; and the Internet is being used to engender intolerance. Dunn adds that she has put herself several times on an "Internet fast, because I wanted to wean myself off of addictive technology," she says. And while Dunn's youngest dog Dewey "takes exception" to her time spent on the Internet by nuzzling his nose under her palm and trying to get her to pet him, she's unlikely to unplug permanently. "The older two dogs used to do the same, but are now resigned to the time I spend on the computer," she says. The survey results are based on a non-random online sample of 895 Internet experts and other online users recruited by email invitation, Twitter, or Facebook from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University.
While educators are well attuned to how technology can enhance learning, they also believe that online tools can augment their social and family life for the better.
