Title of Study:  The Digital Disconnect:  The Widening Gap Between Internet-Savvy Students and Their Schools

Author(s): Douglas Levin and Sousan Arafeh of American Institutes for Research

Summary:

This study of student use of the Internet for educational purposes in school and outside of school is presented largely in the words of the students themselves.

Sponsoring entity(s): Pew Internet & American Life Project

Date conducted: 2002

Location of the study: This study can be accessed through the Pew Internet & American Life Project website.

Setting(s) addressed:

• Classroom
• Outside of classroom learning

Targeted population(s):

• Middle school
• High school

Primary sources of evidence used in the study or report:

• Focus groups
• Demographic questionnaires
• Student essays

Primary Technology Application(s) Addressed:

• Internet

Major education topic(s) addressed:

• Technology integration

Major findings/conclusions:

• Students rely on the Internet to help them complete their schoolwork more quickly, with better understanding and with use of more up-to-date resources than without the Internet.
  
  
• Almost all students use the Internet to do research, write papers and correspond with classmates about schoolwork.
  
  
• Students think of the Internet as a virtual textbook and reference library, a virtual tutor and study shortcut, a virtual study group, guidance counselor, locker, backpack and notebook.

Practical implications of the findings:

• Students report a disconnect between how they use the Internet under their own initiative and how they use the Internet under teacher direction.
  
  
• Students want better coordination of their out-of-school educational use of computers with in-school activities.
  
  
• Students report that there is a wide variation in teacher policies about Internet use and that administrators, not teachers, set the tone for Internet use at school.
  
  
• Students urge policy makers to take the digital divide seriously and eliminate the inequities in the quality of student Internet access.

Reviewer Comments:

This study provides a student voice about Internet use in education in the students’ own words.  All data is qualitative.