EduGuide Study Shows Teens Close Digital Divide for Parents

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new study by EduGuide: Partnership for Learning has found that in their homes teens act like an eraser for the digital divide. Surprisingly, 80 percent of parents with less than a college degree, previously thought to be among the least connected, now use the Internet compared to 72 percent of all adults.

"Teens are digital super-connectors," said study author and EduGuide President Bryan Taylor. "Parents may feel slow compared to their teens. Yet trying to keep up with their kids puts these parents ahead of other adults."

But the results may be a surprise for educators. More than half estimated that 40 percent or less of parents, who didn't have a college degree, would use the Internet.

"Cell phone and broadband use is high too, even among so-called 'hard-to- reach' families," Taylor said. "While smaller gaps persist, educators now have far more opportunities to connect with families using digital strategies."

The report also found that 65 percent of college access professionals, such as counselors, and admissions staff, feel "not sure" about their ability to effectively use digital technologies in their programs. A smaller set of professionals is pioneering new digital services from podcasts to webinars.

The EduGuide Digital Disclosures Report by the non-profit EduGuide: Partnership for Learning analyzed a yet-to-be released Pew Internet & American Life Teen and Parent October-November 2006 survey data set and compared it with findings from its own EduGuide College Access Sector Poll. Full results and strategic resources for educators are available at www.eduguide.org/ .

EduGuide: Partnership for Learning is a national award-winning, non-profit organization that specializes in engaging families from cradle through college. EduGuide annually equips more than one million families to get directions on their personal roadmap to student success. EduGuide Digital Disclosures Report was funded in large part by a generous grant from TG, a Round Rock, TX-based non-profit corporation that supports access to higher education as an administrator of the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

Sidebar included below.

Editor's Note: Sidebar

In follow-up interviews, parents of teens gave a variety of reasons for getting plugged in:

     -- Their teen asked for it.
     -- They wanted to monitor and control what their teen was doing on the
        internet.
     -- Their teen needed it for homework.
     -- They wanted to connect to information about school assignments grades
        and events.
     -- They wanted to access resources for their teen regarding everything
        from health information to back to school online shopping deals.