Teachers say the digital age has had a good influence—and a not-so-good influence—on this generation of American teenagers. More than 2,000 middle and high school teachers took an online survey. Researchers also spoke with teachers in focus groups.

Three-quarters of the teachers said the Internet and digital search tools have had a "mostly positive" effect on their students' research habits and skills. But 87 percent agreed that these technologies are creating an "easily distracted generation with short attention spans." And 64 percent said the technologies "do more to distract students than to help them academically." Many students think "doing research" now means just doing a quick search on Google.

The Pew Internet Project did the survey with the College Board and the National Writing Project. A majority of the teachers came from Advanced Placement classes, which provide college-level work for high school students.

Judy Buchanan is deputy director of the National Writing Project and a coauthor of the report. Ms. Buchanan says digital research tools are helping students learn more, and learn faster.

But one problem the survey found is that many students are lacking in digital literacy. In other words, they trust too much of the information they find on the Internet. Judy Buchanan says these students have not developed the skills they need to judge the quality of online information.

"It's just a lot to learn about how to discern credible sources. And it's something that really has to be taught and paid attention to. It's like everything else—in a world in which things can happen quickly, you really do need to have a way to step back, reflect, and analyze the information you have. And teachers can do a lot to teach that."

Another problem the survey found is blamed on something that might not seem like a problem at all: being able to quickly find information online. Teachers say the result is a reduction in the desire and ability of their students to work hard to find answers. They say students are overly dependent on search engines and do not make enough use of printed books or research librarians.

Many teachers are also concerned that the Internet makes it easy for students to copy work done by others instead of using their own abilities.

教師表示，對美國青少年一代來說，數位時代的影響喜憂參半。兩千多位中學和高中的教師參與了網路調查，研究人員也和由教師組成的焦點團體進行交流。

四分之三的教師稱，網路和數位研究工具在多數情況下，對學生的研究習慣和技能有幫助，但87% 的教師認為，這些技術使得青少年容易分散注意力，且注意力持續時間很短。而64% 的教師表示，科技使學生更易分心，而不能在學業上有所幫助。許多學生認為，做研究只是上谷歌快速搜索。

Pew 網路研究專案與大學委員會，以及「國家寫作專案」教育團體合作完成這項調查，大部分教師來自大學先修課程班，專為高中生提供大學程度的課程。

茱蒂．布坎南（Judy Buchanan）是「國家寫作專案」團體的副主任，也是這份報告的共同著作者。她說數位化研究工具，有助於學生們學到更多，學得更快。

但調查也發現了一個問題，許多學生缺少數位素養，也就是說，他們過於相信在網路上找到的資訊。茱蒂．布坎南說，這些學生尚未具備評價網路資訊品質的能力。

「要能識別資訊來源是否可信，要學習的還很多，這才是真正需要教導與留意的。和其他事物一樣，世界瞬息萬變，你要有能力站在局外思考自己掌握的資訊，以及對它們進行反思和分析。老師們在這方面的教學能使得上力。」

調查發現的另一個問題，起因於一個乍看之下不像是問題的現象：學生們能夠在網路上快速找到資訊。教師們表示，其結果就是學生們的求知欲，和努力尋找答案的能力都下降。他們說，學生過於依賴搜尋引擎，沒有好好地利用書籍和圖書館。

許多教師還擔心，網路讓學生們更容易抄襲他人的成果，而不是發揮自身的能力。