10 Things to Know About How Teens Use Technology

Purcell, K. (2013). 10 Things to Know About, How Teens Use Technology. [Powerpoint]. Retrieved from: http:// www.pewinternet.org/ACT Enrollment Planners Conference/2013/7/10/10-Things-to-Know-About-How-Teens-Use-Technology/ The articles that I have found are pretty much saying the same things. I have highlighted some of the things that I found to be important. According to Dr. Purcell, social networking growth has slowed down, but Twitter use is growing rapidly. Teens today compared to teens in the past are sharing more personal information online. Teens today do care about online privacy. As the other article I read, this presentation also says that most teens have Facebook on private and Twitter is public. Teens today take active steps to manage their online reputations. 58% of girls regret something they posted, 82% of girls delete people, and 67% of girls block people. Teens' parents are aware that content online can impact their teens' lives. 72% of parents are concerned about strangers online and 69% are concerned about online reputations. According to the presentation, most teens' educational environments include the use of at least some digital technologies. Cell phones are used more than tablets. 42% of teachers say that students use phones to look up information in class, 38% say that students take pictures or record video for class, and 18% say they use cell phones to upload school related content. The Internet has altered how teens do research. It equals googling- the students need to be taught to learn how to find the "good" material over the "not so good" material. According to some teachers, digital tools can help writing skills. It allows students to share their work with wider audiences. It encourages student creativity and greater collaboration. It also has negative effects as well. Students can take shortcuts, write too fast, be careless,or use poor spelling and grammar. Teachers are all not sure if digital natives. 11% of teachers agree that today's students are no different than previous generations. They just have different tools. There is a digital divide in education and technology. Teachers of highest and lowest income students are not on the same playing field. I see this in my school district. The schools on the southside do not have the same access to technology as the northside of the district and it shows on the tests! Very disturbing! 46 slides