Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Pew Research on Teens, Tech

I've been having a great time munching the numbers in the report, released by the Pew Research Center this morning, entitled "Teens and Technology 2013" (*.pdf).

I've shared the document, as well as a few key highlights, with the faculty at my institution, in hopes of sparking some serious conversation about it. I see too many who are still thinking of current technology as just another iteration of the projector - a fad that'll ultimately fade, leaving the same, good old pedagogical frameworks and expectations. I disagree: as near as I can tell, there are serious issues of justice at stake in the adoption of technology in our classes - here's one example:


Approximately 1 of every 4 teens uses on the internet mostly on a smartphone/tablet.
Of these, girls are more likely than boys to be "cell-mostly" internet users.
Among older teen girls who are smartphone owners, 55% say they use the internet mostly from their phone.

If I make a conscious choice to refuse to incorporate (or at least accommodate) mobile technology when it's available, am I affecting my students' access? Dial it back a few years, and a few iterations: what if I refused to accept emails from students, or insisted that essays be hand-written only? Harmless idiosyncrasy, or something else?

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