This research was developed to understand more fully the unique opportunities and challenges facing today’s middle and high school teachers in training students how to write and “do research” in a rapidly evolving digital environment.  In particular, the study was designed to explore teachers’ assessments of students’ research and writing habits, the broad impacts of digital technologies on their students, and the extent to which teachers incorporate digital technologies into classroom pedagogy, particularly for teaching research and writing skills. This study builds on prior Pew Internet research on the growing use of search engines and mobile tools to gather information, the rise of  social networks and texting, and the increasingly immersive digital world in which today’s teens live.

The Study

The study was designed to collect middle and high school teachers’ views of many aspects of the current role of technology in the classroom and in teens’ research and writing practices.  The findings will be summarized in a series of three reports, issued in succession. Broadly, the three reports will be guided by the following questions:

Report One:  How Do Teens ‘Do Research’ in Today’s Digital World?

• How students define and conduct research in today’s tech environment
• If and how new technologies are changing how research is taught
• Whether and how the topics of digital literacy and information literacy are currently being taught in schools
• What are the key skills students need to learn to conduct effective research given today’s digital environment

Report Two:  The State of Teen Writing in Today’s Digital World (forthcoming)

• The specific impacts of digital technologies on student writing skills and habits
• If and how new technologies encourage student collaboration, creativity, and personal expression
• If and how new technologies are changing how writing is taught in middle and high school classrooms

Report Three:  Teaching and Technology (forthcoming)

• How teachers experience and manage digital access issues among their students
• The different ways digital technologies are being incorporated into classroom pedagogy
• School policy and resource issues affecting teachers’ abilities to incorporate new technologies into their classrooms
• Potential changes in assessments, curriculum, and the school environment teachers feel are necessary in response to today’s evolving digital environment
• Whether and how new technologies enable and enhance teacher professional development and collaboration
• Teachers’ personal use of and attitudes toward different digital technologie

Pew Internet’s prior research on teens

This report follows prior research conducted by Pew Internet in partnership with the College Board and the National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools and Colleges.  In 2008, Pew Internet collaborated with the two organizations to study the writing habits and practices of teens.  At that time, focus groups with teens and a national survey of teens and their parents demonstrated that while teens were heavily embedded in a tech-rich world and were crafting a significant amount of electronic text, they saw a fundamental distinction between their electronic social communications and the more formal writing they did for school or for their own purposes.²

This study also builds on Pew Internet’s extensive research on how children ages 12-17 use the internet and other digital technologies more generally.  Since 2001, Pew Internet has released a series of reports on teens’ digital lives, including online content creation, the use of social networking sites, the rise of texting as a central communication form, teens’ online privacy management, video gaming, distracted driving, and most recently, digital citizenship.³ Over the past decade, Pew Internet’s teen research has shown just how deeply the internet and digital technologies are woven into teens’ lives. 

This study is Pew Internet’s first extensive examination of teachers’ perceptions of both the positive and negative impacts of this rapidly evolving technological environment on middle and high school students, particularly on their writing and research habits. 

Pew Internet’s prior research on how adults find information online

The current study also builds on Pew Internet’s research on how U.S. adults locate and assess information online.  Over time, Pew Internet’s surveys of adults have consistently shown that search engine use tops the list of the most popular online activities, along with email.  Currently, 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web, up from 84% in June 2004. On any given day, 59% of those using the Internet use search engines. As early as 2002, more than eight in ten online adults were using search engines, and as noted in an August 2011 Pew Internet report⁴, search is only rivaled by email both in the overall percent of internet users who engage in the activity and the percent of internet users doing it on a given day.  

Most recently, a February 2012 survey of 2,212 U.S. adults ages 18 and older finds that not only are adults increasingly reliant on search engines as an information resource, but they also generally trust the results they get and feel the quality and relevance of the information provided by search engines is improving over time.⁵ Specifically, 66% of adult search engine users say search engines are a fair and unbiased source of information and 55% say that the quality of search results is getting better over time. Another 86% report that they learned something new or important using a search engine that really helped them or increased their knowledge.   

Information goes mobile

Finally, this work builds on Pew Internet’s extensive trend data on the growing use of mobile devices, particularly cell phones, as both communication- and information-gathering devices.  The most recent data indicate that among adult cell phone users, the reliance on these mobile devices for “just-in-time” information is steadily growing.  A March 2012 survey of U.S. adults finds that 70% of all adult cell phone owners had used the device in the past month to get a needed piece of information—including 35% who had used their phone to solve an unexpected problem and 27% who used their phone to settle an argument they were having.  Overall, these “just-in-time” adult cell users comprise 62% of the entire U.S. adult population.⁶

Given these findings, the current study explores the role search engines and mobile devices might play in how teens today conduct research and evaluate information, as well as teachers’ own use of search as an information gathering tool.  Without question, search engines and mobile devices have changed the way information is accessed, shared, and perceived.  How these trends are impacting the research habits of teens today is a central focus of this work.

Part II: The Mixed Impact of Digital Technologies on Student Research

One of the core topics addressed in the study is the degree to which the internet and other digital technologies are shaping the way today’s middle and high school students “do research” and define what “research” is. Overall, survey and focus group findings suggest that teachers view the broad impact of the internet and digital technologies on the research process positively. Yet, they give their students modest ratings when it comes to specific research skills and note deficits that need to be addressed.  According to the teachers in this study, the impact of the internet and digital tools on student research habits and skills is multifaceted and complex; opening up a vast world of multi-media resources, yet also requiring students to dig through this cornucopia to find credible and salient information.  This duality was best captured by a focus group participant who said, “The internet makes doing research easier….easier to do well and easier to do poorly.”

Teachers characterize the overall impact of digital technologies on student research skills as “mostly positive” but observe mixed effects

Asked to assess the overall impact of the internet and other digital technologies on students’ research habits, just over three-quarters of survey participants (77%) say the impact has been “mostly positive.”  Just 23% say it has been “mostly negative.”

Teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the internet are fairly consistent across the full sample, yet some small differences emerge across subgroups.  For example, older teachers and those teaching in rural areas are slightly more likely than others to see the overall impact as mostly positive (see table below).  Likewise, middle school teachers (those teaching grades 6-8) are slightly more likely than high school teachers to describe the impact as mostly positive, as are math teachers relative to those teaching other subjects. 

Conversely, teachers in large urban centers and metropolitan areas and those who describe their students as coming from mostly lower income households or living below the poverty line are slightly more likely than those teaching in most other community types to say the impact of the internet on student research skills has been mostly negative.

While on the whole the teachers surveyed see “mostly positive” impacts when it comes to how the internet is shaping the way their students conduct research, the teachers’ responses to a series of assertions about specific potential impacts the internet may have on student research reveals mixed views about technology’s effects.  On one hand, virtually all teachers surveyed (99%) agree to some extent with the notion that the internet “enables students to find and use resources that would otherwise not be available to them.”  This includes fully three-quarters (76%) who “strongly agree” this is the case.  A majority (65%) also agree with the idea that the internet “makes students more self-sufficient researchers who are less reliant on adult help,” though only a small portion “strongly agree” with this statement (18%).

While majorities of these teachers see the internet broadening available sources to students and encouraging their self-reliance, 76% of teachers also “strongly agree” with the notion that “search engines have conditioned students to expect to be able to find information quickly and easily.”  Another 23% “somewhat agree” with this statement, indicating it rings true to at least some degree with virtually all of the teachers surveyed (99%). 

Large majorities of teachers also agree to some extent that “the amount of information available online today is overwhelming for most students” (83%) and that “today’s digital technologies discourage students from finding and using a wide range of sources for their research” (71%).  Fewer teachers but still a slight majority (60%) agree with the idea that “today’s digital technologies make it harder for students to find and use credible sources of information.” 

Looking at how subgroups of our sample responded to these items, some interesting differences emerge. Teachers in rural areas are particularly likely when compared with teachers in other types of communities to “strongly agree” that the internet allows students to find more resources than would otherwise be available (82% “strongly agree”).  Teachers whose students live in households with incomes below the poverty line are particularly likely to agree that the internet allows students to be more self-sufficient researchers (25% “strongly agree”).  The table below shows which subgroups of these AP and writing teachers are particularly likely (or particularly unlikely) to “strongly agree” with each item.

Most teachers see digital technologies fostering deeper learning and expanded worldviews

In a separate survey question, AP and NWP teachers noted additional positive influences they see the internet and other digital tools having on student learning. A majority of teachers “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree” that the internet and digital technologies encourage learning by connecting students to more resources about topics that interest them (31% “strongly agree,” 59% “somewhat agree”), enabling them to access multimedia content (24% “strongly agree,” 52% “somewhat agree”), and broadening their worldviews (23% “strongly agree” and 49% “somewhat agree”).

Teachers’ perceptions of these impacts vary, particularly across grade level, the socioeconomic status of students, and the subject matter they teach.  Middle school teachers (teaching 6^th-8^th grade) and those whose students live in the lowest income households are particularly likely to “strongly agree” that the internet connects students to topics that interest them, that multimedia online content immerses their students more deeply in those topics, and that overall, the internet helps expand their students’ worldview.  Math and science teachers, in contrast, are the least likely to see these impacts.

The perceived impact of the internet on student research, in a word

The survey posed two open-ended questions asking this group of AP and NWP teachers to reflect on what they see as the “most positive” and “most negative” aspects of students being able to conduct research online.  Teachers’ coded responses are represented in the graphics below, with the size of each word reflecting how frequently it was mentioned by respondents.  Each graphic is accompanied by some examples of teacher responses to these questions. 

The former question asking for the “most positive” aspect of online research elicited many comments about the openness and accessibility of online information.  The latter questions asking about the “most negative” aspect drew mainly responses concerning the ease of copying and pasting information and concerns about students’ ability to judge the quality of online information. 

“ Overall, what would you say is the most POSITIVE aspect of students today being able to conduct research online?”

“Overall, what would you say is the most NEGATIVE aspect of students today being able to conduct research online?”

In focus groups, teachers expanded on their views of the positive aspects of students conducting research online

The focus groups presented teachers an opportunity to talk in more depth about the impacts they see the internet having on their students’ research practices. Among the benefits of these technologies, focus group participants noted how the internet provides students with much greater volume, depth and breadth of information than was accessible to prior generations. Several teachers pointed out that not only is more information available, but it is also available in many different formats, which can be extremely beneficial for students with different learning styles and even cognitive abilities. Moreover, many see the combination of text and images on the internet “bringing to life” the subjects their students are interested in, in ways that prior generations did not experience.

Focus group participants also noted how they see the internet making the research process for students easier and more accessible because students are generally familiar with finding information online in their daily lives and do not find research assignments as mysterious, daunting, or difficult.  The hope expressed by some teachers is that these tools make “doing research” more palatable and even enjoyable for today’s students, fighting what some see as potential apathy in this area.

Many teachers also suggested that because the internet is “open 24 hours a day,” it is much easier for students to fit research assignments into their busy schedules. Because it is possible to conduct research from virtually any location at any time, given the right device and internet accessibility, learning is now a 24-hour process that students can engage in whenever they wish to.

Teachers in the focus groups also raised potentially harmful aspects of online research

At the same time, teachers in the focus groups noted that access to these technologies have some drawbacks when it comes to how students conduct research.  Responses were wide-ranging, but several themes emerged:

Students may accept the veracity of online information too easily.  A pressing concern for these middle and high school teachers is some students’ tendency to accept the first information they find through online searches without verifying that the information is accurate or reliable.  A core concern in every focus group was that online information is often inaccurate and biased, and that middle and high school students do not have the skills necessary to identify the most credible information.  A major challenge teachers cited in teaching effective research skills is getting their students to look beyond the first link in the search result list and to “dig” for high-quality, reliable, and accurate resources.  Some teachers noted a perception among some students that "because it's on the Internet, it's right.”  Moreover, a common litmus test used by students to confirm the truthfulness of information is finding the same information in several different places online; both teachers and students acknowledged in focus groups that this is a commonly used strategy among students. 

Today’s students are not skilled enough at thinking critically about or synthesizing the information they find online. Many teachers expressed the idea that today’s relatively “easy” online research process can result in fewer original thoughts, less critical thinking, and not as much actual synthesis of information on the part of their students.  They point out that students can—and sometimes do—copy and paste information they find online directly into documents, without adequately thinking about it.  This not only raises obvious concerns about their understanding of concepts such as plagiarism and fair use, but also worries some teachers that students are not developing adequate ability to think critically about the information they find and what it means vis a vis other information.

Students are becoming too reliant on the internet in lieu of other valuable sources of information.  Focus group participants repeatedly voiced concern that the internet, rather than being one of many research tools students rely on, is becoming the only tool some students use.  While many teachers said that online search engines are a good starting point for student research, they would also like to see their students utilize more effectively other resources such as library databases, books, and journals.  Some expressed the concern that students may be losing the ability and/or inclination to use sources other than search engines, which may be better suited to the particular topic or question they are researching.  Several focus group participants suggested that some students are so reliant on the internet and search engines that when these tools are not available, or information cannot be found easily online, they are at a loss about where to look next.  Further, in the experience of these teachers, some students work from the assumption that any information they need can be found online, quickly and easily.  If information the student needs does not appear on the first page of search results, they see some students stop looking for appropriate material out of frustration, use less suitable information that is more readily available, or assume that the information does not actually exist.  Thus, while on the whole teachers acknowledged the benefits of a broad base of information being quickly available via the internet, many also said they would prefer to see tools like Google used as only one of many different types of sources.

Conducting research online can present too many distractions for students, preventing them from fully focusing on the task at hand.  In focus group discussions, some teachers expressed concerns that when students conduct research online, they often are engaged in many other activities at the same time, such as using social networking sites, watching online videos, playing online games, etc.  This online “multi-tasking” may interfere with a student’s focus on an academic task, and may also be impacting time management skills.

Some teachers in the study report that students do not always set aside adequate time to complete assignments, specifically because they believe that digital tools will allow them to complete the task quickly online.  However, when they do go online, students can be pulled into so many competing activities that the time they have allotted is not sufficient.  Teachers say this is particularly true when a student leaves an assignment until the last minute, to find that online searches produce either too much information to sift through in the time available or too little information and inadequate time to research it more deeply.  In focus groups, students confirmed this is sometimes the case.  As one student explained, she has had the experience of going online to do schoolwork and then “suddenly realizing” many hours have gone by and she has spent most of that time on a social networking site—without remembering what led her there.

The volume of information online can be overwhelming for some students, and students often do not have time to winnow through it.  Many teachers say they have watched their students become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available online and either a lack of time or a lack of ability to sort through it effectively to find the best information for the assignment they are working on.  Teens are not alone in this feeling; prior Pew Internet surveys indicate that 70% of adults agree with the assertion that “the amount of news and information available from different sources today is overwhelming.”⁷ The teachers we spoke with acknowledged that they too often feel this way, and are not surprised that students can become easily overwhelmed.  Yet some are concerned that when students feel inundated with information, some respond by using the first information they come across without knowing if it is the best information available.

Cell phones as a classroom (and life) tool for “instant information”

Pew Internet has tracked the impact of cell phones on all Americans, adults and teens, since 2001.  Over that time, as cell phones have become “smartphones,” people have become more and more reliant on these devices as information gathering tools.  Specifically, cell phones have provided users with the ability to get almost any information they need at almost any time in almost any location. 

Among adult cell phone users, the reliance on these mobile devices for “just-in-time” information is steadily growing.  A March 2012 survey of U.S. adults finds that 70% of all adult cell phone owners had used the device in the past month to get a needed piece of information—including 35% who had used their phone to solve an unexpected problem and 27% who used their phone to settle an argument they were having.  Other uses included getting help in an emergency situation and getting real-time everyday information such as weather or sports scores.  Overall, these “just-in-time” adult cell users comprised 62% of the entire U.S. adult population.⁸ It is not surprising, therefore, to see adolescents and teens using their mobile devices as information-gathering tools, both inside and outside of the classroom.

To probe how these devices are being used by teens in their academic work, teachers were asked whether and how cell phones have become part of the learning experience.  Roughly half of the teachers surveyed report that students are not permitted to use cell phones in their classrooms. The remaining half spoke to the impact these devices are having.  The survey asked teachers whether their students use cell phones for any of five specific learning-related functions, shown in the table below.  Reflecting the growing role of mobile tools in providing instant access to information, the most popular among the five activities asked about is students using a cell phone “to look up information in class,” cited by 42% of the teachers who participated in the survey.  This was followed closely by students using mobile phones to “take pictures or record video to use in class assignments” (38%).   

In focus groups, teachers noted how these tools can spur excitement and learning.  Several teachers gave examples of students using phones to look up in class something of particular interest to them, rather than having to wait to look it up later. The teachers felt this fostered excitement for learning and capitalized on the student’s interest in that moment.  While some teachers noted that cell phones can be distractions in the classroom, they also expressed the belief that cell phones are “here to stay” and present an opportunity to connect with their students using devices the students are excited about.

The impact of cell phones is being felt less by teachers in rural areas.  Just 28% of this group says that students use phones to look up information in class, and fully 64% report students are not permitted to have cell phones in class.  In contrast, 52% of teachers who describe their students as mostly upper and upper-middle income say students use their phones in class to find information.

The grade level and subject matter taught also impact how phones are used in class.  Among 6^th-8^th grade teachers, just 23% say students are using phones in class to look things up, compared with 43% of 9^th-10^th grade teachers and 49% of those teaching 11^th-12^th grade.  Likewise, while 49% of history/social studies teachers and 45% of English teachers see students use their phones this way in class, the same is true of just 24% of math teachers and 36% of science teachers. 

Part III: The Changing Definition of “Research”

Beyond simply shaping research habits and practices, this population of middle and high school teachers suggests that the very definition of what “research” is has changed considerably in the digital world, and that change is reflected in how their students approach the task.  The growing use and popularity of search engines among all segments of the population as a critical tool for finding information is reflected in today’s middle and high school students, who have not known a world without these tools.  As a result, their very conception of “research” may be fundamentally different from prior generations.   

“Research = Googling”

According to the teachers in this study, perhaps the most fundamental impact of the internet and digital tools on how students conduct research is how today’s digital environment is changing the very definition of what “research” is and what it means to “do research.”  Ultimately, some teachers say, for students today, “research = Googling.”  Specifically asked how their students would define the term “research,” most teachers felt that students would define the process as independently gathering information by "looking it up" or "Googling.”  And when asked how middle and high school students today “do research,” the first response in every focus group, teachers and students, was “Google.” 

In focus group discussions, teachers framed prior generations’ research practices as a time-consuming process that involved formulating a clear research question and then seeking out relevant and accurate information from trusted sources (mainly libraries), often with the aid of an expert (such as a reference librarian).  In contrast, many suggest that today’s students define and approach the process of “doing research” very differently.  What was once a slow process that ideally included intellectual curiosity and discovery is becoming a faster-paced, short-term exercise aimed at locating just enough information to complete an assignment.  Teachers noted that this trend is driven not only by the immediacy and ease of the online search process, but also the time constraints today’s students face in their lives more generally. 

The survey reveals search engines top the list of resources students use

Teachers’ perceptions that their students use only a handful of resources and rely mainly on search engines for their research are echoed in survey results.  Asked how likely their students were to use a variety of different information sources for a typical research assignment, 94% of the teachers participating in the survey said their students were “very likely” to use Google or other online search engines, placing it well ahead of the other sources asked about.  Second to search engines was the use of Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias, which 75% of teachers said their students were “very likely” to use in a typical research assignment.  And rounding out the top three was YouTube or other social media sites, which about half of teachers (52%) said their students were “very likely” to use. 

Virtually all subgroups of this sample of AP and NWP teachers reported similar levels of student use of search engines.  The only exception to this pattern was among teachers of the lowest income students (those living below the poverty line); this group was slightly less inclined (at 90%) to say their students are “very likely” to use search engines in a typical research assignment. This group was also among the least likely to report their students are “very likely” to use Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias (68% compared with 75% of the total sample).  In contrast, 80% of teachers whose students are described as mostly upper and upper middle income say their students are “very likely” to use sites like Wikipedia. 

The use of online encyclopedias as research tools also varied slightly by subject taught, with English teachers at the low end (69%) and science teachers at the high end (82%) of the range of those saying their students are “very likely” to use this source.  English teachers are also the least likely to describe their students as “very likely” to use YouTube and other social media sites in a typical research assignment, with 44% reporting this level of use.  The figure for the sample of teachers as a whole is slightly higher at 52%. 

More “traditional” sources of information, such as textbooks, print books, online databases, and research librarians ranked well below these newly emerging technologies. Fewer than one in five teachers said their students are “very likely” to use any of these sources in typical research assignments.  In the case of online databases and printed books, half or more of the teachers who participated in the survey said their students are “not too likely” or “not at all likely” to use these sources.  In fact, fewer teachers said their students are likely to use these sources than to use their peers, study guides such as SparkNotes or CliffNotes, or the websites of major news organizations.    

When it comes to the use of print books, the findings across all subgroups in this sample of teachers are surprisingly consistent. Teachers of the poorest students—those living below the poverty line—stand out slightly in that they most commonly say their students are “very likely” to use print books in their research assignments (19% say this). Also among the teacher subgroups particularly likely to say their students are “very likely” to use print books in research assignments are middle school teachers (19%) when compared with 9^th-10^th grade teachers (12%) and 11^th-12^th grade teachers (11%). At the other end of the range, science (7%) and math (9%) teachers are particularly unlikely to say print books are a common source for their students.

Among the subgroups of this sample who are most inclined to say their students are “very likely” to use research librarians as a source are English teachers (20%) and teachers ages 55 and older (22%).  But again, these figures are only slightly higher than the 16% of all teachers who say this is the case. 

In focus groups, teachers noted that students prefer the internet because they find it a more interesting and entertaining platform.  While the internet is a “cool” place to do research, other more traditional sources are perceived as “boring” by students.  The internet offers multi-media content, links to additional information, interactive formats, and textbooks and other print books pale in comparison.   

Teens are not alone in their reliance on search engines

The trend among teens to equate finding information with “Googling” mirrors trends seen in adults over the past decade.  Over time, Pew Internet’s surveys of adults have consistently shown that search engine use tops the list of most popular online activities, along with email.  Currently, 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web, up from 84% in June 2004. On any given day online, 59% of those using the internet use search engines. In 2004 that figure stood at just 30% of internet users.⁹ Moreover, among adult search users, Google is far and away the most used search engine with Yahoo placing a distant second, and its dominance is growing over time.

Not only are adults increasingly reliant on search engines as an information resource, but they also report generally trusting the results they get and feeling the quality and relevance of the information provided by search engines is improving over time.¹⁰ Specifically:

• 91% of adult search engine users say they always or most of the time find the information they are seeking when they use search engines
• 73% of adult search engine users say that most or all of the information they find using search engines is accurate and trustworthy
• 66% of adult search engine users say search engines are a fair and unbiased source of information
• 55% of adult search engine users say that, in their experience, the quality of search results is getting better over time, while just 4% say it has gotten worse
• 52% of adult search engine users say search engine results have gotten more relevant and useful over time, while just 7% report that results have gotten less relevant
• 56% of adult search engine users say they are very confident in their search abilities, while only 6% say they are not too or not at all confident 
• 86% of adult search engine users report that they have learned something new or important using a search engine that really helped them or increased their knowledge
• 50% of adult search engine users say they have found an obscure fact using a search engine that they thought they would not be able to find

In contrast, fewer adult search users report experiencing negative outcomes:

• 41% report getting conflicting information in search results and being unable to determine which information is correct
• 38% say they sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of information found using a search engine
• 34% feel that critical information is sometimes missing from search results

The teachers surveyed are likewise heavy search engine users, and are very confident in their searching abilities

The teachers in our sample are likewise part of the “Googling” trend.  Asked about their own use of different online tools, 100% of the teachers participating in the survey said they use online search engines to find information online, with 90% naming Google as the search engine they use most often. 

Overall, compared with all U.S. adults, this population of teachers is more confident in their own search abilities.  Almost three-quarters (73%) of these middle and high school teachers say they are “very confident” in their own search abilities, with another 26% saying they are “somewhat confident.”  Of the more than 2,000 teachers surveyed, only 1% describe themselves as “not too confident” when it comes to using search engines. 

While this sample of AP and NWP teachers has greater confidence than adults as a whole in their search abilities, they have considerably less faith in the accuracy of the information they find using these tools.  Just 5% of teachers participating in the survey say that “all or almost all” of the information they find using search engines is accurate or trustworthy, compared with 28% of all U.S. adult search users.

The AP and NWP teachers surveyed here are also very different from adults as a whole in that the youngest teachers have less faith in the accuracy of search results.  Among the general population, younger adults tend to have more faith in the trustworthiness and accuracy of the search results they get. Yet teachers mirror the general adult population in that younger teachers have more confidence in their search abilities than their older counterparts:

• 50% of teachers ages 22-34 say that all or most of the information they find using search engines is accurate or trustworthy, compared with 61% of teachers ages 35-54 and 68% of teachers age 55 and older. 
• Meanwhile, 80% of the youngest teachers say they are “very confident” in their search abilities, compared with 75% of 35-54 year-old teachers and 63% of teachers ages 55 and older. 

Part IV: Teaching Research Skills in Today’s Digital Environment

Given these findings about how students today define “research” and approach the research process, teachers are faced with identifying and teaching middle and high school students the skills they will need to be smart information seekers in the digital age. The data indicate that teachers in this study place tremendous value on research skills, with most reporting assigning a research paper to their students in the 2011-2012 academic year and spending class time teaching various research skills to their students.  These lessons are aimed at addressing deficits they see in today’s students.  Most notable among these is the inability to judge the quality of information, a skill the vast majority of teachers deem “essential” for their students’ future success.  

Most teachers in the study assigned a research paper in the 2011-2012 academic year

Among the teachers in the study, the majority assigned at least one research paper to their middle and high school students in the 2011-2012 academic year.  As the graphic below suggests, among this sample of teachers, short essays and journaling are the most commonly assigned writing tasks, with more than half of the sample (58%) having their students write short essays, short responses, or opinion pieces at least once a week and 41% having students journal on a weekly basis. 

Research papers—along with multimedia assignments and creative writing in the form of plays or short stories—are not assigned by many teachers on a frequent basis, but are assigned at some point during the academic year by most of the teachers in our sample.  Just over three-quarters of these teachers report having students complete a research paper (77%) or a multimedia project (77%) at some point during the current academic year.  Two-thirds (66%) have students complete a creative writing assignment during the year as well, such as writing poetry, a play, a short story, or piece of fiction.

Some teachers are more likely than others to assign a research paper; not surprising given the different skills and subjects being taught.  Fully 94% of the English teachers in this sample assigned at least one research paper in the past academic year, compared with 83% of history/social studies teachers, 68% of science teachers, and 36% of math teachers.  Almost nine in ten teachers who participated in the NWP Summer Institute (88%) reported assigning a research paper in the 2011-2012 academic year.

Most teachers rate their students “good” or “fair” on a variety of specific research skills

Despite the overall perception that the internet and digital technologies have a “mostly positive” impact on students’ research habits, in most cases the AP and NWP teachers surveyed rate the specific research skills of their students “good” or “fair.”  Very few teachers rate their students “excellent” on any of the research skills asked about in the survey. 

Overall, teachers gave students the highest ratings on their ability to use appropriate and effective search terms and understanding how online search results are generated.  Yet even for these top items, only about one-quarter of teachers rated students “excellent” or “very good.”  And in focus groups, many teachers suggested that despite the current generation of middle and high school students being raised in the “digital age,” they are often surprised at how poor their students’ search abilities are. 

Reflecting teachers’ concerns about the impact of the internet on students’ expectations of “instant information,” the skill they rate students lowest on is “patience and determination in looking for information that is hard to find.”  Fully 43% of the teachers participating in the survey said that overall they would rate their students “poor” in this regard, and another 35% rate their students “fair” when it comes to patiently pursuing information they need. 

A majority of survey respondents also described their students as “fair” or “poor” when it comes to:

• Using multiple sources effectively to support an argument
• Assessing the quality and accuracy of information they find online, and
• Recognizing bias in online content

These relatively low ratings (of what are by and large honors and advanced students) may reflect teachers’ expectations of the skill level they would like to help their students reach, yet survey results indicate that teachers see room for students to improve in most, if not all, of these areas.

Two patterns emerge in looking at the ratings teachers give their students on their research skills.  In the case of all but one skill asked about, more teachers of the lowest income students rate their students “poor” than do teachers of higher income students.  The only exception to this pattern is “Patience and determination in looking for information that is hard to find” on which teachers across different socioeconomic levels rate their students equally. 

A second consistent pattern that emerges is that teachers with more classroom experience (16 years or more) perceive their students’ skills more positively across the board.  Teachers who have been in the classroom for 15 or fewer years, in contrast, seem to have more negative views of their students’ research skills and more of them rate their students “poor” on every skill asked about.  

When it comes to patience and determination finding information, the lowest marks come from English teachers, 50% of whom rate their students “poor” in this regard.  Looking just at National Writing Project teachers, 53% of this group give their students the lowest rating of “poor.”

What research skills should be taught?

Both the survey and focus group asked teachers which research skills, in particular, are critical for the current generation of middle and high school students to learn. In focus groups, the most commonly cited skills were how to evaluate the quality of information, how to recognize what information is and is not relevant to the question at hand, and how to synthesize information from multiple sources into a coherent piece of work.

Survey findings echo these sentiments.  The vast majority of teachers surveyed feel that “courses or content focusing on digital literacy must be incorporated into every school’s curriculum,” indicating just how critical they feel the ability to locate and assess information in the digital world is. About half of the teachers in the study (47%) say they “strongly agree” and another 44% “somewhat agree” with this proposition, meaning that 93% of teachers support this curriculum change.  NWP Summer Institute teachers are particularly likely to take this view, with 59% saying they “strongly agree” that this curriculum change is needed.  Also expressing strong views on this question are teachers of students living below the poverty line, 60% of whom “strongly agree” such courses are needed.   

Moreover, asked to place a value on various skills today’s students may need in the future, “judging the quality of information” tops the list, along with “writing effectively.”  These two skills were described as “essential” by 91% of the teachers who participated in the survey.  Other skills relevant to the current digital culture also ranked high, with large majorities of teachers saying that “behaving responsibly online” (85%) and “understanding privacy issues surrounding online and digital content” (78%) are “essential” to their students’ later success in life. 

While evaluating the quality of information tops the list of essential skills, 56% of survey participants also feel that “finding information quickly” is essential to success.  Another 40% describe this skill as “important, but not essential,” indicating that while teachers place tremendous value on teaching their students to assess the quality of information, they also appreciate the importance of speed in today’s fast-moving digital world.  Those who have been teaching longer (16 years or more) are slightly more likely than those teaching 15 years or fewer to describe this skill as “essential” (60% of more experienced teachers v. 52% of newer teachers) but otherwise no notable differences exist across subgroups of teachers. 

Among the skills included in the survey, those viewed as less essential to students’ success are “presenting themselves effectively in online social networking sites” and “working with audio, video, or graphic content.”  Fewer than one in three teachers saw either of these skills as “essential” to their students’ later success, though substantial percentages do describe each of these skills as “important, but not essential.”

When should these skills be taught, and by whom?

While the AP and NWP teachers in the study generally agreed on what skills are needed and that these skills should be a part of standard curricula, there was less consistency in their opinions of when these skills should be taught and by whom.  Asked at what point in their educational careers students should learn these critical research skills, many focus group participants felt they should be taught in elementary school, and that students should  already possess these skills prior to entering middle school or high school.  Others felt that elementary students may not be ready to learn the nuances of bias, fair use, and salience, and that these more advances skills are better taught later in a student’s career. 

The question of who should be mainly responsible for this part of the curriculum was also open to debate in focus groups, with some teachers openly acknowledging that they do not currently feel qualified to teach some of these skills.  Some reported that their school’s English department takes the lead in developing research skills, and that their own role is mainly reinforcing these skills.  Yet others suggested these skills need to be taught by all teachers across the curriculum, and that library staff can be a key part of that process.

Current approaches to teaching critical research skills

Asked about different approaches they use to develop effective research skills in their students, two different tracts emerge—first, spending class time teaching and developing these skills, and second, designing assignments that require students to use new or different approaches. 

In terms of devoting class time to this area, fully eight in ten of the AP and NWP teachers who participated in the survey report spending class time discussing how to assess the reliability of online information, and seven in ten spend class time generally discussing how to conduct research online.  Fewer teachers, but still a majority, say they spend class time helping students improve search terms and queries, yet just one-third devote class time to helping students understand how search engines work and how search results are actually generated and ranked.

A second strategy these middle and high school teachers use is intentionally constructing or shaping research assignments in ways that either direct students to the best online resources, or require students to expand the repertoire of sources they use.  Nine in ten survey respondents report directing their students to specific online resources they feel are most appropriate for a particular assignment, and 83% develop research questions or assignments that require students to use a variety of sources, both online and offline.  Substantially fewer teachers, just 29%, assign work to students in which they forbid the use of online sources. 

Suggestions in the focus groups that English teachers generally take the lead on teaching these skills were echoed by survey results.  English teachers in this sample are the most likely to report implementing each one of these lessons/approaches, followed closely by history/social studies teachers.  For example, 93% of English teachers in the sample report developing assignments that require students to use a variety of sources, followed by 91% of history/social studies teachers, 77% of science teachers, and 47% of math teachers.  Similarly, when it comes to spending class time discussing how to assess the reliability of information, English teachers take the lead (94%), followed by history/social studies teachers (90%), then science teachers (69%) and math teachers (46%).

The merits of these latter strategies—structuring or shaping assignments in ways that required students to use particular sources or more varied sources—was discussed at length in focus groups.  Many teachers reported requiring students to utilize offline resources in an effort to familiarize them with materials they might not otherwise use.  Others said they stress to their students the importance of paying attention to website domains, and encourage or require them to use .gov, .org or .edu sites.  And many teachers reported banning the use of particular online sources, most commonly those with user-generated content such as Wikipedia, or telling students exactly which online resources are most useful or even permissible for particular assignments.

At the same time, teachers felt that eliminating the use of all online resources or even particular online resources in assignments is unrealistic and can be counterproductive.  Because students are already reliant on these sources when they arrive in middle and high school, and have a comfort level with them, many teachers feel a better approach is to teach students how to use these tools effectively.  Indeed, in student focus groups, teens acknowledged that even when they are “not allowed” to use Wikipedia in their research, it is still often their “first stop” in completing an assignment.  Students feel that Wikipedia’s fairly short encyclopedic entries provide them with a quick “overview” of a topic from which to orient their research process, and some teachers agreed.  Thus, rather than attempt to control which websites students utilize in completing school assignments, or even their very use of online resources, the underlying philosophy for many is teaching their students to be better information consumers in the digital arena.

Many focus group participants also reported assigning a large research project to be completed over the course of the full academic year, which they can break into smaller steps to help students develop an understanding of the various pieces that go into successful research as well as the time that must be devoted to each.  In designing these research assignments, focus group participants suggested the following elements are particularly important:

• Showing students how to develop a focused research question and a plan of what they should be looking for, to help them “sort through the noise”
• Requiring students to utilize more than online resources
• Teaching students how to properly cite the sources they use, particularly online sources
• Developing a student’s ability to determine the timeliness, relevance, and quality of the online information they find
• Teaching students how to appropriately paraphrase and synthesize information

Challenges to teaching research skills in today’s digital environment

In general, the AP and NWP teachers in the study feel their students are very receptive to learning effective research skills, but point out that teaching these skills is not without challenges.  By far, the most commonly cited challenge is simply a lack of time to devote to developing effective lessons and teaching skills in class.  Teachers repeatedly noted the difficulty in covering these skills in addition to the other content they are required to cover.  They also note that they themselves must become savvy information consumers before they can impart these skills to their students.

Among other challenges teachers report facing are pay walls separating them and their students from the best information online and digital access issues among their students.  Teachers stressed that the best, most credible resources on the internet are often available only by subscription, thus many schools and students do not have access to what is truly the highest quality information in a particular field.  In addition, they point out that for many of their students, research time is restricted by a lack of internet access at home and/or limited library hours. 

The survey also indicates that these teachers face a variety of challenges in effectively incorporating online content and digital tools into their classrooms, some of which may hinder their ability to teach students how best to conduct research online. Virtually all teachers surveyed report working in a school that employs internet filters (97%), formal policies about cell phone use (97%), and acceptable use policies or AUPs (97%).  The degree to which teachers feel these different policies impact their teaching varies, with internet filters cited most often as having a “major impact” on survey participants’ teaching (32%).  One in five teachers (21%) say cell phone policies have a “major” impact on their teaching, and 16% say the same about their school’s AUP.

Looking more closely at subgroups of the teachers surveyed, it becomes clear that those  teaching in urban areas and those teaching the lowest income students are feeling the impact of these types of restrictions more so than those living in other community types and those teaching students from mainly upper and upper middle income households.  In particular, teachers of students living in poverty are at least twice as likely as those teaching the most affluent students to report these policies having a “major” impact on their teaching.

Part V: Teachers’ Concerns About Broader Impacts of Digital Technologies on Their Students

Throughout focus group discussions, teachers noted that their experiences with middle and high school students cannot be isolated from broader trends shaping this generation, and that much of what they see in their students’ academic habits, characteristics, and attitudes are reflections of much broader impacts of growing up in a digital age.  To probe these issues more fully, the survey posed several questions asking teachers to evaluate today’s students compared to prior generations, in terms of basic skills and habits such as attention and distraction, cognition, multi-tasking, media literacy, and overall literacy.  Overall, in the eyes of their teachers, today’s middle and high school students compare both favorably and unfavorably with prior generations.  Yet there are widely varying opinions among teachers about how “unique” this generation is, and how they compare with predecessors on specific dimensions

Teachers are divided on whether “digital natives” are fundamentally different than prior generations of students

On the whole, teachers are divided on the question of whether today’s students are fundamentally different from previous generations.  For instance, 47% of teachers surveyed agree with the statement that “today’s students are really no different than previous generations, they just have different tools through which to express themselves,” while 52% disagree with that statement. Surprisingly, teachers’ views of this statement are consistent across virtually all subgroups, including teacher age and experience, grade level taught, community type, student socioeconomic status, and subject taught.    

When asked in another item, however, whether they agree or disagree that “today’s students have fundamentally different cognitive skills because of the digital technologies they have grown up with” 88% of the teachers surveyed agree, including 40% who “strongly agree.”  Teachers of the lowest income students are most likely to “strongly agree” with this statement (46%) but the difference across student socioeconomic status only ranges from 37% (mostly lower middle income) to 46%, and there are no other notable differences across subgroups of the sample.

Focus group participants were likewise split on the question of how unique today’s students are.  Some feel that growing up in the digital world has significantly impacted the way today’s students think and process information, yet an equal proportion of teachers expressed the opposing view, arguing that what they see in their students today is no different than what they have always encountered teaching young people.  They suggest that while key habits and characteristics may take a different form, or be expressed differently, the underlying challenges they face teaching middle and high school students are the same today as they were prior to the digital explosion.

Teachers say today’s students are more media savvy, but also less literate and more distracted than previous generations

Asked to evaluate this generation on more specific skills and characteristics, a vast majority of survey participants agree with the notion that “today’s students are more media savvy than previous generations” (86%).  Yet, almost as many teachers disagree with the statement that “today’s students are more literate than previous generations” (80%). 

Older, more experienced teachers are slightly more likely than their younger counterparts to “strongly agree” with the idea that today’s students are more media savvy than prior generations.  Among teachers ages 55 and older, 61% “strongly agree” with this idea, compared with 50% of younger teachers.  Similarly, while 56% of those who have been teaching for 16 years or longer “strongly agree” that today’s students are more media savvy than prior generations, the same is true of 50% of those who have not been teaching as long. 

On the question of whether today’s students are more literate than previous generations, teachers teaching in large metro areas or cities are particularly likely to “strongly disagree” with this statement; more than one in five (23%) “strongly disagree” that today’s students are more literate compared with 16% of teachers in rural areas.  Teachers of the lowest income students, those living in poverty, also strongly dispute this statement.  One-third of this group (33%) “strongly disagree” that today’s students are more literate than students of the past, while another 48% “somewhat disagree.”   

The question of overall literacy among students is one that arose often in focus group discussions. Not only did some focus group participants feel that today’s students are no more literate than prior generations, they also feel their students may be losing ground in this area.  Typical of these concerns is the following excerpt from a focus group with teachers at a College Board school, in which several teachers suggested that diminishing writing skills may be due in part to a diminishing desire to read in general, and a diminishing ability to read difficult texts.  While focus group participants disagreed as to whether the underlying issue is a lack of skill or a lack of interest or focus, there was general agreement in this group that today’s students are reading less:

Yet, in the same discussion, teachers spoke about the promise of digital tools to address what others see as an inability or unwillingness of their students to take on long and challenging texts.  As one teacher explained:

In an online focus group with NWP Summer Institute teachers, participants were asked the value of students being able to read challenging (often long) texts critically in today’s digital world.  Across the board, these teachers continue to see tremendous value in this skill, and view it as essential for students to function in an information-based world.  However, some teachers in this group also questioned whether this is a fading skill among “digital natives.”

Distraction and time management are hot button issues for teachers

The topic which generated perhaps the most intense discussion was that of “digital distractions” and their impact on today’s teens.  Overwhelming majorities of survey participants agreed with the assertion that “today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans” (87%) and that “today’s students are too ‘plugged in’ and need more time away from their digital technologies” (86%). 

The former statement suggesting that digital technologies create an easily distracted generation elicited consistent responses across all subgroups of teachers, with no notable differences across teachers’ age, grade level taught, or years in the classroom.  The latter statement suggesting students are “too plugged in” resonated slightly more with older teachers in the sample and among high school teachers.  Among teachers ages 55 and older, 41% “strongly agree” with this statement, compared with 37% of teachers ages 35-54 and 32% of teachers ages 22-34.  Interestingly, years teaching does not correlate with responses to this item.  And while 32% of 6^th-8^th grade teachers “strongly agree” today’s students are “too plugged in,” the same is true of 39% of 9^th-10^th grade teachers and 37% of 11^th-12^th grade teachers.  While these differences are notable, they are fairly small. 

Moreover, in contrast to the many positive aspects of learning in a digital age teachers point to, nearly two-thirds of the AP and NWP teachers surveyed see digital technologies as “doing more to distract students than to help them academically.” Fully 64% of survey respondents agree to some extent with this notion, including 17% who “strongly agree,” indicating that while these teachers generally embrace the power of the internet and other digital tools to encourage and foster greater learning, many also worry that today’s digital environment results in more distracted students. High school teachers express more concern than middle school teachers when it comes to digital distractions.  One in five 11^th-12^th grade teachers (19%) “strongly agree” that today’s digital tools do more to distract their students than to help them in the classroom, as do 17% of 9^th-10^th grade teachers.  Among middle school teachers, 12% “strongly agree” this is the case.   

Asked about their students’ ability to multi-task in an age of constant information and distraction, teachers are more divided, with 46% agreeing that today’s students are “very skilled” in this area and 53% disagreeing.  Surprisingly, teachers of middle school students are more likely to say this is true than are those teaching high school students.  Among 6^th-8^th grade teachers, 54% agree to some degree with this statement, including 13% who “strongly agree.”  Slightly fewer 11^th-12^th grade teachers (49%) agree at least somewhat that today’s students are “very skilled” multi-taskers.  Even fewer 9^th-10^th grade teachers (45%) agree at least somewhat that today’s students are skilled multi-taskers. 

Teachers with more years in the classroom are actually more likely to agree with this statement than are those who have been in the classroom 15 years or fewer.  Half of more experienced teachers (50%) agree at least somewhat that their students are skilled multi-taskers; that figure drops to 45% among newer teachers.  This is a small difference, but may indicate that more experienced teachers see today’s generation comparing favorably to prior generations on this skill, particularly given the amount of information and constant communication today’s students are exposed to.

In focus groups, participants expressed concern about the following elements of “digital culture” and their impact on students’ ability to focus and their time management: 

• Students’ “overexposure” to technology—and the multi-tasking that often accompanies the use of these technologies—contributes to lack of focus and diminished ability to retain knowledge
• Students do not set aside enough time for crucial tasks, and often use the various digital tools at their disposal to “waste time” and procrastinate
• Some students’ “addiction” to online gaming and video games consumes their time and attention
• Students are so often “plugged in” that they are missing out on the world around them
• “Overexposure” and “overuse” of digital technologies is not actually making students more technologically literate or more efficient

In online focus groups with AP teachers, participants were specifically asked if they were “concerned that students are overexposed to technology.” Nearly all participants answered affirmatively that they see their students as “overexposed,” and expressed concern about the impact digital technologies might be having on their students both in terms of their performance in school as well as their wellbeing outside of school. Several participants worried that social media, cell phones, and other tech gadgets are being “abused” by students, and that students are “overstimulated” by doing too many things at once. 

Moreover, many teachers worry that these tools are adversely impacting students’ time management skills, fostering a (sometimes false) sense that all tasks can be completed quickly and at the last minute because so much information is so easily available. Several teachers suggested that it is critical for students to learn time management skills in their middle and high school years, or else it may harm their future success.  They see time management skills as becoming increasingly important in a fast-paced digital world; at the same time, they see the skill potentially declining in their students. 

Yet, almost as many teachers argued that today’s students are not more easily distracted than prior generations, citing examples of students engaging with assignments over long periods of time.  The difference, some teachers suggest, is that today’s students are easily bored by information that is presented in “traditional” ways and that teachers need to adjust their methods to engage students using the digital tools and formats that hold their attention.  Some argue that today’s students are able to handle more information at one time because of the digital environment in which they have grown up, and that rather than being described as “easily distracted,” they should be viewed as being highly skilled at dividing their attention across several things at one time. 

Finally, some teachers in this study feel that the question of “digital distraction” may be a red herring, diverting attention away from other issues that need to be addressed in the classroom and society at large.  Several suggest that the notion of student “distraction” should be reframed not as a problem with today’s students, but as a problem with teachers, parents, and the broader educational system.  For these teachers, the “distracted” label is drawing attention away from a lack of technological skill or understanding among some parents, teachers, and administrators, which they see as the main issue to be addressed.  Several labeled it an “excuse” adults use to avoid changing their own behavior and teaching methods.  Others point out that the issue of “distraction,” valid or not, is a moot point; digital technologies will continue to emerge and shape the world in which teens and adults live, and educators must adapt to this environment.