From Digizen.org, this report looks very promising as a resource for educators and individuals working with youth using social tech tools.

The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can
and are being used to support personalized formal and informal learning
by young people in schools and colleges.

The work opens by asking “What are social networking services?”
This section investigates current definitions of social networking
services and provides a comprehensive review of current social
networking service types and activities.

In Evaluating social networking services,
this report then describes how to use a toolkit – a social networking
evaluation chart covering six different social networking services, and
an accompanying checklist,
which are available to download from the Digizen website to evaluate
services. The chart is not definitive, but provides a comprehensive
framework covering significant relevant issues such as site age
restrictions, the presence of adverts, collaborative tools, security
issues and data management restrictions.

Benefits and opportunities evaluates
the potential educational benefits to individual users, as well as
outlining some of the opportunities that educators and schools using
social networking services might take advantage of. This section looks
at issues around digital literacy and social engagement, skills and
identity development, and opportunities for better understanding
e-safety and data management issues.

Barriers and risks
looks at current barriers to using social networking services within
education, including staff development and support issues, and risk
evaluation and management approaches. Risk areas that educators should
be aware of are outlined, and approaches to manage these are addressed.
Issues include users’ perceptions of the environment they are posting
in, personal data management, and cyberbullying and potentially illegal
behaviours.

Brent Uncategorized socialtech socialnetworking youth