Project Eagle Research Capsule (PERC) #19
September 2005

Timely Information for Online Instructors:
Summaries of Two Recent Releases

Teens and Technology

Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Paul Hitlin*
Pew Internet & American Life Project
July 27, 2005

The following statistics are findings from a telephone survey of 1,100 teens, 12-17, and their parents in October-November 2004. The last similar Pew survey, The Internet and Education, was done in December 2000.

• 87% of U. S. teens aged 12-17 use the Internet (73% in 2000). By contrast, 66% of adults use the Internet (56% in 2000).
  
  
• 51% of teenage Internet users go online daily (43% in 2000).
  
  
• 81% of users play games, compared to 37% of adults.
  
  
• 57% of users have gotten information about a prospective school, compared to 45% of adults.
  
  
• 30% of users have looked for job information, compared to 44% of adults.
  
  
• 76% of users get news, basically the same as adults.
  
  
• 43% of users have made online purchases, compared to 67% of adults.
  
  
• 31% of users have obtained health information.
  
  
• 26% of users have looked for spiritual or religious information.
  
  
• 13% of teens do not use the Internet, half saying they used it but stopped. (Many are African-American, while nearly all teens in households earning more $75,000 annually are online.)
  
  
• 84% of all teens report owning at least one personal media device (computer, cell phone or PDA); 44% have two or more; 12% have three; 2% have four. (Only 16% of all teens have none.)
  
  
• 45% of all teens own a cell phone and 33% send text messages.
  
  
• 75% of wired teens use instant messages (IM), compared with 42% of online adults. (Teens use IM for communicating with friends and email for communicating with adults.)
  
  
• 48% of teens who use IM do so at least once every day.
  
  
• Teens have used IM to share links (50%), photos (45%), and music over video (31%).
  
  
• 51% prefer the landline phone to talk to friends, 24% IM, 12% cell phone, 5% email, and 3% text messaging.
  
  
• 47% of families with teens with Internet connections at home use dial-up access; 51% use broadband. (The dial-up/broadband proportion of all online Americans is also 47%/51%.)
  
  
• 26% of teens who go online do so from a private area, 73% from an open family area.
  
  
• 54% have gone online at the library (36% in 2000), 78% from school (64% in 2000).
  
  
• 60% of 6th graders reported using the Internet, but by 7th grade, the number was 82%. By the 11th and 12th grades, 94% were online.
  
  
• Older teenage girls (15-17) are most actively engaged in Internet use: they email, text message, search for information, and visit entertainment-related Websites.
  
  

*In a supplementary Pew Data Memo, The Internet at School, dated 8/2/05, Lee Rainie and Paul Hitlin reported the following additional statistics:

• 37% of all teens and 27% of parents believe that too many of their peers use the Internet to cheat.
  
  
• 86% of teens and 88% of online teens believe the Internet helps teens do better in school. (80% of parents and 83% of online parents agree.)
  
  
• 25% of all teens and 44% of parents believe that children not using the Internet by the time they start school will fall behind their peers.
  
  

Fifty-One Competencies for Online Instruction

Theodore C. Smith
The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 2, Number 2
July 2005

As its abstract states, this article "identifies and describes 51 competencies [listed below] needed by online instructors." It also outlines a training program to develop those competencies.

1. Act like a learning facilitator rather than a professor.
   
   
2. Avoid overloading new students at the start of the course.
   
   
3. Be clear about course requirements.
   
   
4. Be willing to contact students who are not participating.
   
   
5. Become a lifelong learner.
   
   
6. Communicate high expectations.
   
   
7. Communicate technical information in plain English.
   
   
8. Create a warm and inviting atmosphere that promotes a sense of community among participants.
   
   
9. Create an effective online syllabus - one that lays out the terms of the class interaction (expected responsibilities/duties, grading criteria, musts and don'ts of behavior, and the geography of the course.)
   
   
10. Deal effectively with disruptive students.
    
    
11. Define participation and grading criteria.
    
    
12. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students.
    
    
13. Develop relationships.
    
    
14. Effectively and efficiently manage (administer) the course.
    
    
15. Effectively use whatever technology has been selected to support online learning.
    
    
16. Emphasize time on task.
    
    
17. Encourage contacts between students and faculty.
    
    
18. Encourage students to bring real-life examples to the online classroom.
    
    
19. Evaluate ourselves.
    
    
20. Evaluate students.
    
    
21. Foster learner centeredness.
    
    
22. Get students to respect assignment due dates and agreed-upon working times.
    
    
23. Give prompt feedback.
    
    
24. Harness the technology.
    
    
25. Help integrate students into the institution and its culture.
    
    
26. Help students develop critical thinking skills.
    
    
27. Help students identify and use appropriate learning technologies.
    
    
28. Help students identify strengths and areas of needed improvement.
    
    
29. Keep informed of the latest trends and issues, continually improve skills and knowledge.
    
    
30. Maintain the momentum of the course.
    
    
31. Make the transition to the online learning environment.
    
    
32. Manage student expectations.
    
    
33. Mandate participation. Step in and set limits if participation wanes or if the conversation is headed in the wrong direction.
    
    
34. Model good participation.
    
    
35. Network with others involved in online education.
    
    
36. Prepare students for online learning.
    
    
37. Promote collaborative learning.
    
    
38. Promote reflection.
    
    
39. Provide structure for students but allow for flexibility and negotiation.
    
    
40. Remember that there are people attached to the words on the screen.
    
    
41. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
    
    
42. Respect institutional performance guidelines.
    
    
43. Respect privacy issues.
    
    
44. Set up a well-organized course site.
    
    
45. Teach students about online learning.
    
    
46. Translate content for online delivery.
    
    
47. Use active learning techniques.
    
    
48. Use best practices to promote participation.
    
    
49. Use humor.
    
    
50. Use the Web as a resource.
    
    
51. Most of all, have fun and be open to learning as much from students as they will learn from one another.
    
    

www.spjc.edu/eagle/research/perc/perc19.htm
For a list of previous Project Eagle Research Capsules, go to www.spcollege.edu/eagle/research/perc/index.htm
For more information, contact the project manager: lechnerj@spcollege.edu

The contents of PERC were developed under a grant from the U. S. Department of Education (DOE). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the DOE, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.