The Good and Bad News of Net Access in Schools

Sept. 2, 2005 &#151 -- In this week's "Cybershake," we take a look at what the latest survey says about teens and Internet access at their schools. Plus, we note that the Net has reached a new milestone: Its 36th birthday.

School is back in session, or it soon will be in the United States after the traditional Labor Day holiday. And according to a new survey released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, tech-savvy kids will have reasons to rejoice -- and lament -- as they return to classrooms this fall.

"About 16 million students in middle and high school now use the Internet [in schools] compared to 11 million who were using it in schools just five years ago. That's a 45 percent increase," says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Project. "It's a testament to school systems themselves and also the availability of the Internet at many schools."

Still, while it may be good news that Internet availability and usage has increased among students, the Pew survey did note some sticking points.

Despite the fact that nearly all schools in the United States have Net access, for example, Rainie says 32 percent of all teens do not take advantage of it at all. And while 86 percent of teens polled believed that the Internet helps teens do better in school, some 37 percent say too many of their peers use it to cheat on schoolwork.

But perhaps even more interesting, the young and tech-savvy students say their enthusiasm for Net-based education isn't shared by their instructors -- even though they wish it were.

"We hear from students that they wish teachers would understand that the Internet is a wonderful place to find material that would be relevant to the curriculum, relevant to assignments, and they wish teachers would build more assignments around Internet use," says Rainie. "They know that when they do their own work online, there are great Web sites that help them learn things and help them complete assignments and they wish their teachers were a bit more aware of that."