Should schools teach Facebook?

FACEBOOK, MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia are considered valuable educational tools by some who embrace the learning potential of the internet; they are also seen as a massive distraction with no academic benefit by others.

Research in Nottingham and Notts suggests split opinions over the internet in the classroom.

Some 1,500 interviews with teachers, parents and students nationwide showed the 'net was an integral part of children's personal lives, with 57% of 13 to 18-year-olds in Notts using blogs in their spare time and 58% in Nottingham.

More than 60% of Nottingham teens use social networking sites and 51% in Notts, with 40% in both the city and county using YouTube.

They are a big feature of leisure time – but now the science version of You Tube, developed by academics at The University of Nottingham, has been honoured in the US this week.

The showcase of science videos shares the work of engineers and students online.

With developments like this it is little wonder that two-thirds of parents in Notts want their kids to use technology more, according to the survey commissioned by ntl:Telewest Business.

However just a quarter of teachers use these tools in the classroom and their teaching, preferring to leave children to investigate outside school.

More than half of teachers surveyed in Nottingham and Notts saw no value in the resources.

But at schools such as Rosehill School, in St Ann's, networking, interaction and new technology are key. The school has interactive white boards in every classroom.

Children make good use of the internet, especially Wikipedia, for research, because of its speedy access to images and information.

John Pearson, head teacher at Rosehill School, St Ann's, said: "What was central was getting the white boards in because they are so obviously useful and have updated everyone's skills and given them the enthusiasm to get involved in technology."

The use of interactive whiteboards is also adopted in every classroom at Ambleside Primary School in Aspley.

It creates a network between pupils and teachers and is synchronised with the internet for easy access.

Lee Noble, ICT coordinator, said: "We are a new-build and the head teacher is very keen on technology."

The research commissioned by ntl:Telewest Business is, perhaps unsurprisingly, in favour of increased internet use.

More surprising was research published last week which concluded that schoolchildren should be allowed to use mobile phones in the classroom to boost standards.

Despite fears that mobiles and mp3 players are a huge distraction, it is claimed that pupils can increase their attainment with full-time access to the latest gadgets.

Academics from The University of Nottingham claimed mobiles could be used for a wide range of educational purposes, including creating short movies, setting homework reminders, recording a teacher reading a poem and timing science experiments.

Mobiles which can connect to the internet also allowed pupils to access revision websites, get into the school e-mail system, or transfer electronic files between school and home.

And employing them as part of day-to-day lessons boosts pupils' motivation levels, according to researchers.

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, from The University of Nottingham, who led the research, said: "While the eventual aim should be to lift blanket bans on phones we do not recommend immediate, whole-school change.

"Instead we believe that teachers, students and the wider community should work together to develop policies that will enable this powerful new learning tool to be used safely.

"We hope that, in future, mobile phone use will be as natural as using any other technology in school."

Researchers spent nine months analysing lessons for 14 to 16-year-olds in five schools in Cambridgeshire, West Berkshire and Nottingham.

Mike McKeever, head teacher of the Trinity School in Aspley, where mobile phones are banned from the classroom, said: "It's absolutely ridiculous.

"Mobile phones in schools cause problems.

"It would be okay if everybody was 100% cooperative, but they're not.

"Mobile phones are more likely to be used for illegal and unpleasant purposes than academic.

"We do not need them, we have got enough with our own technology in classrooms."

Teaching unions have called for an all-out ban on the use of mobiles in schools because of the distraction, 'cyber-bullying' and police warnings that carrying mobile phones heightens the risk of being mugged.