Usefulness of Social Network Sites for Adolescents' Development of Online Career Skills
2016; IEEE Computer Society; Volume: 19; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1436-4522
AutoresMariëlle Rutten, Anje Ros, Marinka Kuijpers, Karel Kreijns,
Tópico(s)Gender and Technology in Education
ResumoIntroduction With the emergence of social media, the internet has transformed into an interactive environment offering multiple opportunities for communication, knowledge-sharing and development, and cooperative production. Due to this development, the internet has become an integral part of the working and learning context for all people. The internet also appears to be of growing importance for any individual who wants to direct and develop his or her career (Nikolaou, 2014; Reid, 2012). Social network sites (SNS), in particular, are used by individuals to direct their career by presenting themselves and their resumes online, by building a network, and by using it to create new opportunities for their careers (Roobol & Oonk, 2011). Since SNS are now a major context for career exploration and development (Nikolaou, 2014; Reid, 2012), individuals need to learn how to deal with this context (Gerard, 2012; Hooley, 2012). Although young people may be more familiar with using SNS, this does not mean that they are able to use a SNS appropriately for career purposes (Benson, Morgan, & Filippaios, 2014; Gerard, 2012; Longridge & Hooley, 2012). Research has shown that students first start experimenting with how they present themselves online at age 13 (Valkenburg & Peter, 2011; Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2009). However, these young students are not aware of the opportunities and risks involved in using an SNS in general (Vanderhoven, Schellens, & Valcke 2013; Valkenburg & Peter, 2011), nor do they consider the possible consequences of their online behaviour for their future career (Benson et al., 2014). Therefore, different researchers suggest that schools should teach young students (age 13-16) how to use SNS in a safe, appropriate and effective way (Vanderhoven et al., 2013; Valkenburg & Peter, 2011; Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008). Students attending prevocational education often start working at age 16. Schools for prevocational education therefor increasingly recognize the importance of preparing their students to cope with changes in their professional context and ambitions. Since many of their students start using SNS at age 13, it seems logical to expect that these schools integrate the use of a SNS and the development of online career skills in their career learning programme. However, in one of the few studies on the role these schools can have in guiding young students in learning to use SNS, Vanderhoven et al. (2013) conclude that the guidance schools offer is incidental and not integrated into the curriculum. Moreover, these schools seem to be reluctant to offer students possibilities to practice their online skills by using a SNS as part of classroom practices (Vanderhoven et al., 2013; Greenhow, 2011). Schools would feel more comfortable using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or a SNS specifically designed for educational purposes (Greenhow, 2011), instead of using a SNS designed to enable its' users to communicate with others and network. But are these VLE's as suitable for practicing online skills as SNS? Research on how different types of environments may support different learning purposes is scant (Tzeng & Chen 2011; Petrovic, Jeremie, Cirovic, Radojicic, & Milenkovic, 2014). The goal of this study is to understand how the characteristics of different SNS and VLE's -referred to as digital environments- may support students to practice and learn their online career skills. Online career skills Due to technological and economic developments, it is important for young people to learn to cope with the ongoing changes in professions and career perspectives. Since some students start working at age 16, many schools for (pre)vocational education no longer only provide career guidance, but have shifted their attention to career learning which focuses more on the students' development of competencies and skills that will enable the individual to deal with changing professions and careers(Meijers, Kuijpers, & Gundy, 2013; Kuijpers, Meijers, & Gundy, 2011). …
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