Only 4% of the students said they'd ever had an online conversation that made them uncomfortable, and only 2% said an online stranger tried to meet them in person. In fact, after surveying 1,277 students, the researchers found exactly one who reported they'd actually met a person from the internet without their parents' permission — and described this as "0.08 percent of all students."

In fact, 76% of parents expect social networking will improve their children's reading and writing skills, or help them express themselves more clearly, according to the study, and parents and communities "expect schools to take advantage of potentially powerful educational tools, including new technology."

Virtual schools are growing fast, though, at an annual rate of about 25 percent. Estimates of elementary and secondary students taking virtual classes range from 500,000 to 1 million nationally, compared with total public school enrollment of about 50 million.

The Scholar360 Network Learning Environment integrates the best features of a learning management system with the best features of a social network. Instructors can teach online courses, dialog with students via discussion boards and blogs, manage automated tests, lessons and grading. Students can share files, build an eportfolio, blog, build a peer and mentor network.

For several years, many of us have been trying to make a case for thinking about education in new ways, largely as a result of technological advancements and their affects on how we use information.  I think that many education leaders are listening now.  I think that they are ready for clear images and stories about 21st century classrooms and what teachers and students should be doing to better prepare a generation of new century citizens.

I almost lost it when I read, in Cheryl Oats’ comment, “<em>..someone told me they didn’t want to learn one more new thing, they didn’t like new things..</em>“&nbsp; I would want to ask, “You call yourself a teacher?”&nbsp; Who more than teachers should be willing and eager to learn new things?

"The creativity it brings to all of us is remarkable," said Schlachter, who teaches fourth- and fifth-graders at St. Catherine of Siena School. "I'm teaching in a totally different way as a result."

When students know that anyone in the school with an Internet connection – or around the world, for that matter – can read what they have written or created, it is remarkable how quickly their thinking improves, not to mention the final product.

<p class="MainText">Some students believe that their intellectual ability is a fixed trait. They have a certain amount of intelligence, and that's that. Students with this fixed mind-set become excessively concerned with how smart they are, seeking tasks that will prove their intelligence and avoiding ones that might not (Dweck, 1999, 2006). The desire to learn takes a backseat.</p> <p class="MainText">Other students believe that their intellectual ability is something they can develop through effort and education. They don't necessarily believe that anyone can become an Einstein or a Mozart, but they do understand that even Einstein and Mozart had to put in years of effort to become who they were. When students believe that they can develop their intelligence, they focus on doing just that.</p>

Laptops make it easier for students to edit their copy and make changes without getting writer's cramp, he said. As a result, students are writing and revising their work more frequently, which leads to better results. And it's important, Silvernail said, that those skills translated when the test was taken with pen and paper, too.

"It's just a lot easier to edit, to self-critique. Our teachers engage students in a lot of peer editing. Not only are they helping themselves, but they're helping each other as they get to their final projects," Rebar said.