Teachers Report Mixed Impact of Digital Media

Educators say digital tools used both inside classrooms and outside schools in students' personal lives are having a mixed impact on students' academic and social development, according to two surveys released last week.

For example, many teachers believe the Internet and digital tools overall have positively affected how students do research, but at the same time have hurt their attention spans, concludes a survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project that examined the impact of digital media on students' research habits.

A separate survey from Common Sense Media found many teachers believe entertainment media—including not only computer-based tools like social networks and video games, but also music, film, television, and text-message communication—to be harmful to students' overall academic and social development, while at the same time helping students learn how to find information quickly...