No need to track down your teenager when you get home from work. She’s right where she usually is—in front of her computer, posting on Facebook. Your rule: Homework first, social networking second. Her rebuttal: I’m doing homework and networking. Oh really? Really. “Students turn to MySpace, Facebook and other online networks for more than just socializing,” says Christine Greenhow, EdD, a learning technologies researcher at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “They may log on for a quick study break, see which friends are also online and end up working together on a school assignment.”

Dr. Greenhow recently studied how students use social networking sites (SNSs) as learning tools and found that students are developing “twenty-first-century skills”—like competency in technology, creativity, communication and collaboration. Many use SNSs to discuss homework and school-related anxieties as well as to post their creative ventures like pieces of fiction writing, photographs and videos. In short, the sites are now part teen hangout, part study hall. 

This may be news to you, as parents learn of SNSs mostly in terms of their dangers (online predators), disadvantages (late bedtimes due to socializing) and embarrassments (surprise-posted photographs). So, though you want to encourage SNS study, you should remind her to use these sites wisely: She should never post personal data, like her contact info or address, or photos that can possibly be misconstrued—all things that may attract predators; nor should she converse with strangers. (Find more on safety from the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec1.pdf.)

As for online time limits, adjust your mindset a bit. “Kids don’t always differentiate online and offline time as we ‘digital immigrants’ do,” Dr. Greenhow says. “They dive in and out of networks, so it’s hard to separate time spent in school-associated talk from other chat.” Rather than setting times, discuss time management: what your child hopes to achieve and what she needs to do to reach those goals. If your daughter wants to become an accomplished pianist, for instance, does she think she’s spending her time in the right ways to make that happen?

Help your child reap the benefits of these sites and avoid the dangers by getting your own SNS account. Get familiar with the sites’ terms of service, particularly safety measures, and discuss them with your teen. And when monitoring her profile, try not to hover. “If she’s let you into her friend network, return the favor by not openly commenting on transgressions you may see,” advises Dr. Greenhow.

“You can always send a private message.” Just keep an open mind. Your child is learning to think creatively about new educational tools, and so should you.