“Dr Davila said: “Texting, instant messaging and social networking

“Dr Davila said: “Texting, instant messaging and social networking make it very easy for adolescents to become even more anxious, which can lead to depression.”” (“Excessive Chatting On Facebook Can Lead To Depression In Teenage Girls” 11.08.16)

2. “She added: “Lots of talking can help if those involved have strong problem-solving skills because it helps them reach a solution and it builds friendships.”” (ibid.)

3. “She said many teenagers have not yet developed effective ways of dealing constructively with their troubles, remarking that parents may need to be aware when they are obsessing about a setback.” (ibid.)

4. “New York, NY (October 31, 2013) – The percentages of college admissions officers who say they have Googled an applicant (29%) or visited an applicant’s Facebook or other social networking page to learn more about them (31%) have risen to their highest levels yet, according to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2013 survey of college admissions officers*. When Kaplan first began tracking this issue in 2008, barely 10% of admissions officers reported checking an applicant’s Facebook page. Last year, 27% had used Google and 26% had visited Facebook — up from 20% and 24%, respectively, in 2011.” (“Kaplan Test Prep Survey: More College Admissions Officers Checking Applicants’ Digital Trails, But Most Students Unconcerned” 11.08.16)

5. ““Many students are becoming more cautious about what they post, and also savvier about strengthening privacy settings and circumventing search,” said Christine Brown, Executive Director of College Admissions programs, Kaplan Test Prep. Kaplan’s student survey also showed that 22% had changed their searchable names on social media, 26% had untagged themselves from photos, and 12% had deleted their social media profiles altogether.” (ibid.)

6. “Charles argues that many users feel anxious or stressed because of Facebook’s intrinsically self-centered structure: “You are almost of mini celebrity and the bigger the audience, the more pressure you feel to produce something about yourself.”” (Can More Friends On Facebook Induce Stress And Anxiety? 11.08.16)

7. ““In today’s digital environment, parents have less time to supervise their kids’ behavior,” said James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media. “Communication and socialization in our kids’ world is increasingly moving from face-to-face to face-to-cyberspace, and parents vastly underestimate the amount of time that kids spend on their networks. That makes it more challenging for parents to actually parent in the crucial areas of social interaction and development, and, in a digital world, parents need to play a more important role than ever in ensuring that our kids get the best of these technologies and are using them safely.””( Is Social Networking Changing Childhood? 11.08.16)

8. “Whether it is through classroom-based discussions or scientific experiments, physical classrooms are able to offer more methods of interaction than online classrooms can provide. With more ways to interact with new subject matter, students may have a deeper understanding of the curriculum with longer-lasting retention of the material. Plus, there is a social component to classroom learning that is compromised with online coursework.” (“The Advantages of Classroom Learning over Online Education” 11.08.16)

9. “While online courses may still require that students take tests and write essays, there is a dramatic reduction in the level of student assessment that can take place. When teachers are not able to see how students work on a daily basis, they will not be able to gauge as accurately whether a student is fully understanding the material. Teachers in the classroom might be able to offer extra assistance or utilize a different approach to teaching a given subject, while teachers managing online courses will not have the same opportunities.” (ibid.)

10. “The relationship building, interaction, and nonverbal modes of communication may seem minor, but they have large effects on teachers. They combat teacher burnout by creating job satisfaction. Although the opportunity for teachers and students to interact still exists in online courses, online education is a more limited environment that cannot reproduce the same depth of interactions that occur face-to-face.” (“Face-to-Face or Online Instruction? Face-to-Face is Better” 11.08.16)

11. “Mrs. Caviness was a new Twitter user who had attended a workshop of ours. Upon getting back to school, she told her geometry students that she just got a Twitter account. After jokingly welcoming her to the 21st century, students immediately began taking out their cell phones and following her. Then, a few nights later at a Texas Rangers baseball game, she was reminded of a problem from class a few weeks earlier. She decided to tweet the following, and within minutes, she had several replies from her students. Days later, at yet another game, Mrs. Caviness decided to dig a bit deeper into students’ thinking. She tweeted a new picture and asked students to develop related problems. Again, students jumped on this opportunity immediately. Before the game was over, she had quite a collection of student-created problems,” (“How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool (continued)” 11.08.16)
12. “Since the Internet hit the big time in the mid-1990s, Amazon and eBay have changed the way we shop, Google has revolutionized the way we find information, Facebook has superseded other ways to keep track of friends and iTunes has altered how we consume music. But kids remain stuck in analog schools. Part of the reason online education hasn’t taken off is that powerful forces such as teachers unions—which prefer to keep students in traditional classrooms under the supervision of their members—are aligned against it.” (“Traditional Schools Aren’t Working. Let’s Move Learning Online.” 11.08.16)

13. Students and parents aren’t the only ones dissatisfied with the way American education works right now. Teachers are unhappy, too. They say they don’t have time for the kind of personal interaction that can make the biggest difference for a child. According to Julie Young, the president and chief executive of the Florida Virtual School, “most teachers and most students who are taking classes online say that they have more interaction with their teachers and students than they do in a traditional setting.” (ibid.)

14. “Students and teachers can easily access social media at any time, anywhere with the use of a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Most of these devices are also set up with pop-up type notifications that will alert the user to any activity they choose to keep tabs on. The pop-up can be viewed over whatever application the user is working with, on the device, allowing the user to be alerted right away and able to act as quickly as possible. This can be useful for time sensitive material that teachers send out. For example, if a teacher wanted to make modifications to an assignment discussed in class, all they have to do is simply tweet, Facebook post, ex. “Make sure to look at the modifications made on the assignment” with the link to the assignment included in the post. Even more simply they could create a post with the modifications explained right in it, “Read pages 33-40 for tomorrow, instead of pages 33-60 ”. The students get the notification instantly and can adapt.” (“Can Social Media Be a Learning Tool?” 11.08.16)

15. “Using social media in the same type of way the students can stay up to date with classroom activity if they are absent or class happens to be canceled (in which case there is applause). The teacher can make it a ritual to tweet, or post out topics/materials that were covered, or supposed to be covered, that day. This allows the teacher to keep the class on track; especially with how much makeup time that is implemented into the curriculum, little to none! At the same time the students can take ownership of their work they missed and make it up in a timely manner. (ibid.)