The Impact of Technology on Relationships in Educational Settings

by Costabile; Angela

• ISBN13: 9780415610087
• ISBN10: 0415610087
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-03-05
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Our lives have been changed by ICT in numerous ways and the implications for education are enormous. ICTs have transformed the linguistic, cognitive and visual dimensions of human communication, as well as our perceptions of the self, and social identity in the global culture. New and emerging information and communication technologies are increasingly presenting society with significant challenges, such as those concerning the safety and wellbeing of our young people. At the same time, they are re-writing how we learn and interact socially and are forcing reconsiderations of social boundaries, psychological perspectives and the relationships which operate in and around them. The Impact of Technology on Relationships in Educational Settingsis based upon a huge research project spanning 27 countries under the auspices of COST (European Consortium of Science and Technology), set up to explore the role of ICT in relationship forming, social networking and social relationships within our schools. Researchers from across Europe, Israel and Australia came together to pursue new knowledge, and devise strategies and interventions which will support young people as they navigate their on-line worlds. This cutting edge international text offers cross-cultural, psychological perspectives on the positive uses of new and emerging technologies to improve social relationships and examples of best practice to prevent virtual bullying. As the lines between the parallel universes of off-line and on-line behaviors are becoming increasingly blurred, educational settings are challenged to not only respond in a reactive sense to the safety issues that arise through the misuse and abuse of new technologies: through specific intervention or post-ventions, but also to take proactive action to ensure that the positive uses of new technologies are acknowledged and championed, and are viewed as enablers of young people and their wellbeing. This book focuses on that challenge: using psychological theory as a lens to highlight the positive uses of new technologies in relationships, in educational settings, which will inform practice and shape policy, and to advocate for social supports and learning opportunities which can be delivered through technology. This book is comprised of 18 chapters: with contributions by the leading researchers from across the breadth of Europe, Israel and Australia. Whilst each nation has its own unique cultural identity and education system, new technologies cross all boundaries of time and place, making this book an exciting cross-cultural evidence-base of the positive uses of new and emerging technologies in relationships in educational settings, at a time when much of the focus in current writings has been on the more negative aspects which have emerged as new technologies evolved: cyberbullying, cyber-aggression and cybersafety concerns. A concluding chapter summarizes the key themes presented by this diverse evidence base, and presents the reader with challenges to consider and directions for the future.

Author Biography

Angela Costabile is Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Calabria in Italy. Her research centres on network relationships between children of school age and revealed behavioural categories. Barbara A. Spears is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of South Australia. A founder member of the Australian Universities' Anti-Bullying Research Alliance [AUARA], her research has examined girls, peer relationships, and covert and cyberbullying practices.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. viii
Notes on contributors	p. ix
Foreword	p. xvii
Acknowledgements	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Positive uses of ICTs: background issues	p. 5
Positive uses of social networking sites: youth voice Perspectives	p. 7
Secure net addresses: secure internet and responsibility	p. 22
Media education: a new academic curriculum	p. 30
Scholarly settings	p. 43
ICT and relationships: promoting positive peer interactions	p. 45
The use of interpersonal communication technologies to establish and maintain peer relationships	p. 55
Prosocial use of the internet in adolescence	p. 66
Using the internet positively in schools: the case for notebooks	p. 77
The digital generation gap revisited: constructive and dysfunctional patterns of social media usage	p. 91
Kids in the fast lane: achieving well-being through online support	p. 102
Online support in psychological and pedagogical practices	p. 116
Online counselling for enhancing relationships	p. 128
Prevention of cyberbullying	p. 137
Peer education intervention: face-to-face versus online	p. 139
Cybermentoring	p. 151
Bullies' and victims' experiences of the anti-bullying game from the KiVa program	p. 158
FearNot!: an innovative interdisciplinary virtual intervention to reduce bullying and victimization	p. 169
Using mobile phones to counter cyberbullying: an innovative project	p. 178
A review of initiatives using technology to promote cyber-safety and digital citizenship	p. 188
Conclusion	p. 204
Index	p. 207
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