Promoting Global Citizenship through Intercultural Exchange Using Technology: The Travel Buddies Project

Statement Of The Problem

The Internet is rapidly becoming the defining technology for today’s youth (New Literacies Research Team, 2007). The most recent Pew Internet and American Life Project report shows that among teens (aged 12-17) in the United States, 93 percent go online and 73 percent use social networking sites (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). However, this trend is not isolated to the United States. Internet access and use worldwide is exploding with a 444 percent increase in Internet use worldwide over the past decade (Internet World Stats, 2011). Looking specifically at the two countries of interest for this international exchange, the United States shows Internet growth from 2000-2011 at 156.9 percent with a population penetration rate of 78.3 percent; Internet usage in Brazil has grown by an astounding 1,419.6 percent during this same time period with a population penetration of 37.4 percent. The Nielsen report (2009) shows that teenagers (ages 13-19) in the United States are ranked third worldwide with monthly Internet use at 24 hours and 54 minutes, and Brazilian teens are the world’s top Internet users logging 43 hours and 50 minutes monthly. Clearly, Internet use worldwide is on the rise, but what about Internet usage among younger populations?