Abstract
Although much literature has focused on the negative impact that online behavior can have on young people’s wellbeing, and the unsafe use of the internet by children and adolescents (e.g. Valcke, De Wever, Van Keer, & Schellens, 2011), Costabile and Spears (2012) emphasized the positive inuences of technology on children’s and adolescents’ social, academic and personal wellbeing and adjustment in their edited book: The Impact of Technology on Relationships in Educational Settings. This chapter summarizes the contributions by members of Working Group 6 of the COST Action (see Chapter 1) towards understanding the positive uses of new technologies, and highlights ongoing evidence relevant to it. In doing so, we present a counterpoint to the known, negative consequences of new technologies, such as cyberbullying, and challenge the reader to adopt a holistic view, reecting on both sides of the ICT “coin” in terms of relationships in educational settings: where positive uses and impacts are not only the converse of negative, but are also closely intertwined.