The NSBA article was interesting, but not surprising.  This is the world kids have grown up in and it’s a natural part of their surroundings.  I have a 5 year old and 8 year old at home and they use Webkinz and other similar sites.  They know the rules, I don’t let them completely “loose” and I have to trust that they we are helping them develop a sense of right and wrong.  They make decisions online much like they do on the bus, in the cafeteria at school and playing with friends- we hope we teach them appropriate behaviors and rules (and that they follow them).  At their ages, I prefer they don’t use “open” chat and social networking sites, but that time is coming quickly with my older child.  However, she was on one that had ability to send pre-made messages.  Some of the pre-made messages even made her uncomfortable (they were sort of mean) and she asked me to not allow her on there anymore- hopefully this sense of hers will continue.  Everything has a downside, but I found the statistics promising in terms of percentages of kids that use these things inappropriately.

On the whole, I think it’s important as teachers to be aware of what kids are already using, try and harness their enthusiasm for it in positive ways and hope that we are teaching them in a way that they can use it for good.  It’s about creating communities and environments that foster learning, so why not do it in a language they intuitively understand?