10 Things to Know About How Teens Use Technology Kristen Purcell, Ph.D. Associate Director, Research Pew Internet Project ACT Enrollment Planners Conference

10 Things 10 Things to Know About to Know About

How Teens How Teens Use TechnologyUse Technology

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.Associate Director, ResearchAssociate Director, Research

Pew Internet ProjectPew Internet Project

ACT Enrollment Planners ConferenceACT Enrollment Planners ConferenceJuly 10, 2013July 10, 2013

• Part of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” based in Washington, DC

• PRC’s mission is to provide high quality, objective data to thought leaders and policymakers

• Data for this talk is from nationally representative telephone surveys of U.S. adults and teens (on landlines and cell phones) unless otherwise noted

• Presentation slides and all data are available at pewinternet.org

A story about Kristen and Holly…

Kristen was born in 1970

She grew up in a house with a landline telephone (eventually two

landlines!)

She used a payphone to call her parents to pick her up at school

Her family had a VCR and an answering machine, and Kristen

had a walkman

“Call waiting” was the rage in HS

This is Kristen (she may look familiar)


Kristen took typing classes in high school and typed papers on an

electric typewriter (with autocorrect!)

She used library books to do research for school

She typed her college applications on her electric typewriter and

submitted them by mail

Everything she knew about the colleges she applied to came from

books, friends, and teachers



Kristen got her first computer, a Mac, freshman year in college (1988)

She began using something called “email” junior year in college (1990)

She would analyze datasets by dialing in to her college mainframe

In graduate school, Kristen got a laptop and a Palm Pilot, did most of her research online, and submitted

papers as email attachments



Kristen was the last one she knew to get a cell phone, in 2004 at age 34

She now has a smartphone, an iPad, two laptops, and a desktop

She has broadband and a wireless network at home, and MiFi for traveling

She can access work documents and email anywhere in the world

Kristen now has a Facebook page, Twitter account, and Pinterest profile,

and loves texting



Holly was born in 1995

She is entering her senior year in high school and is applying to colleges

Holly has never known a world without the internet, email, PCs or cell phones

When she was born, almost half of adults used the internet and had cell phones

By the time she was 10, 73% of adults had cell phones and 30% had laptops

This is Holly(this is not actually Holly, she would kill me if I used

her real picture)

A story about Kristen and Holly…At age 10, Holly got her first cell phone

At age 14, on a family trip, Holly was forced to teach her aunt how to text

Today, Holly has an iPhone – she is one of 37% of teens who have a smartphone and one of 78% of teens who have a cell

phone of any kind

Like 87% of her peers, Holly has a phone that can take pictures

Holly can also use her phone to record video, watch and share videos, and listen

to music


her real picture)


Holly got her first computer when she started middle school – so she

could do her homework online

Today, she has her own laptop – she is part of the 93% of teens who use a laptop or desktop computer at home

When Holly was born, the World Wide Web was 5 years old…. today Holly is one of 95% of teens

who use the internet


her real picture)


Facebook emerged in 2004, when Holly was 9

Today, Holly has a Facebook page, where she (reluctantly) is friends with

her aunts and uncles

Holly is joined by 82% of her online peers on social networking sites

She is one of 62% of online teens who post photos of themselves online

Holly likes Facebook but she LOVES Tumblr – along with 5% of her peers


her real picture)


Twitter emerged in 2006 when Holly was 11 and in middle school

Holly doesn’t use Twitter – but one in four of her online friends do (24%)

YouTube emerged a year prior to Twitter, in 2005, when Holly was just

starting middle school

Today, 27% of Holly’s online peers record and upload videos

13% of her online peers stream live video to the internet and 37% use video

chat


her real picture)

A story about Kristen and Holly…Holly researched colleges online and

emailed programs before deciding which schools to visit

A main source was YouTube, where she saw not only “official” school videos, but videos by students that revealed a LOT

about college life

She chose not to visit schools with slow or difficult to navigate websites because she felt it was a sign they were not keeping up

with technology

Holly submitted her first college application this week – online


her real picture)

• 78% of teens have a cell phone, almost half (47%) of whom own smartphones

• That means 37% of all teens have smartphones, up from 23% in 2011

• 23% of teens have a tablet, comparable to the general adult population

• 95% of teens use the internet

• 93% of teens have a computer or access to one at home

• 71% with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use most often is one they share with other family members

“Teens and Technology 2013”

• 74% of teens access the internet on mobile devices

• 1 in 4 are “cell-mostly” internet users (15% of adults who are cell-mostly)

• Among teen smartphone owners, half are cell-mostly internet users

• Older girls are most likely to be cell-mostly internet users; 34% mostly go online using their cell phone, compared with 24% of boys ages 14-17 (boys and girls are equally likely to be smartphone owners)

• Among older teen girls who are smartphone owners, 55% use the internet mostly from their phone

• Overall, teens living in lower-income and lower-education households are still less likely to use the internet

• However, those in low income or low education hhs are just as likely and in some cases more likely than those in higher income or more highly educated hhs to use their cell phone as a primary point of internet access

“Teens and Technology 2013”

10 Things to Know…#1 – Among teens 12-17, social network site growth has slowed (particularly Facebook), but Twitter use

is growing rapidly

FB remains

dominant platform

There was little room left for FB

growth among

teen social media users

10 Things to Know…

#2 – Today’s teens are sharing more personal information online than teens have in the past


#3 – Today’s teens do care about online privacy

Most teens use the

“private” setting on Facebook

Only 1% don’t know what

their privacy settings are

Teen Facebook users are aware of their privacy settings

On Twitter, most teens’ tweets are

public

12% don’t know what their

privacy settings are

Twitter is a more public platform for most teens

40% of teens are at least “somewhat concerned” about 3rd party access to their info…


#4 – Today’s teens take active steps to manage their online reputations

Teens manage their online reputations by deleting undesirable material

One in five teen

social media users regret some-thing they

posted

Most teen social media users have deleted or blocked people in their network


#5 – Parents of teens are very aware that online content can impact their teens’ lives

Parents of online teens are as concerned about reputation management as they are about strangers online

72% express concern

about strangers

online

69% are concerned

about online reputation

mgmt


#6 – Most teens’ educational environments include the use of at least some digital technologies

Cell phones are used more than

tablets or e-readers as

educational tools

All of these tools are more likely to

be used by teachers of higher

SES students

• 42% of AP and NWP teachers say their students use their phones to look up information in class

• 38% say students take pictures or record video with their phones for class assignments

• 18% say students use cell phones to upload school related content to the internet

• 11% report students texting in class with a teacher/other students as a part of a class assignment

• 2% have students use an online cell phone platform like CELLY

Teens are using cell phones as learning tools

Research is the most common online activity teachers give

students

Teachers are less likely to use

interactive tech tools such as wikis or GoogleDocs as part of the learning

process


#7 – The internet has fundamentally altered how teens do research, but not necessarily for the worse

Teachers’ see the internet having both positive and negative impacts on students’ research habits and skills

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.

For today’s teens, research =“Googling”

The internet and digital tools open up a vast array of information and

resources

Yet students must have the skills to dig through this

information to find the most credible

and salient content

Overall, teachers say the positives outweigh the negatives

Overall, would you say the impact of the internet on students’ research habits has been mostly positive or mostly negative?

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.

“The internet makes doing

research easier….

easier to do well and easier to do poorly”

– AP teacher focus group


#8 – Digital tools can benefit teens’ writing skills and abilities, according to teachers

Teachers' Views of Potential Impacts of Today's Digital Ecology on Students

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012. Based on a non-representative sample of 2,067 middle and high school teachers.

Students write more and are more engaged

in their writing

A broader audience + more opportunities for expression

and feedback have many students more engaged in

the writing process

92% of AP and NWP teachers surveyed describe

writing assignments as “essential” to the formal

learning process

“Writing effectively” tops teachers’ list of skills students need to be

successful (91% say it is essential)

In focus groups, teachers

expressed concerns about…

• Informal language and

grammar creeping into formal

writing

• Generally diminishing

grammatical and vocabulary skills

• Cultural emphasis on

truncated forms of expression

Digital technologies are perceived as contributing to both positive and negative writing skills and habits % who say computers and other digital tools for writing…

Make students

MORE LIKELY

to…

Make students LESS LIKELY

to…Make NO

DIFFERENCETake shortcuts and not put effort into their writing

68 10 22

Write better because they can revise and edit easily

56 19 25

Be creative 50 12 37

Present ideas clearly 46 13 41

Write too fast or be careless 46 19 35

Use poor spelling and grammar 40 38 22

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012. Based on a non-representative sample of 2,067 middle and high school teachers.


#9 – Teachers are divided as to whether “digital natives” are all that unique

Are “digital natives” unique? Yes and No


#10 – A digital divide persists in the area of education and technology

Teachers of the highest and lowest income students are not on a level playing field, and they are concerned

These AP and NWP teachers

see disparities

in tech access both at

home and in schools

Teachers of the lowest income students…..•Are less satisfied with the support and resources provided by schools – 50% say their school does a “good job” in this area, compared with 70% among teachers of high income students

•Are less likely to say their school provides formal training in how to effectively use digital tools in the classroom – 73% of teachers of high income students receive formal training compared with 60% of teachers of low income students

•Are more than twice as likely to describe their school as “behind the curve” when it comes to using the newest digital tools – 39% say this, compared with 15% of teachers of high income students •Are twice as likely as teachers of the highest income students to say their schools’ internet filters and rules about cell phone use have a major impact on their ability to bring these tools into their teaching

How many of your students have sufficient access [INSERT] to the internet and other digital technologies they need to effectively complete school assignments…

Source: Teacher data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.

54% of these teachers say all or almost all of their students have sufficient access to digital tools

while IN SCHOOL, but just 18% say the same is true AT HOME

Overall, 84% of AP and NWP teachers surveyed say digital tools are leading to greater disparities across schools

% of teachers of high and low income students who “strongly agree” that today’s digital tools are leading to greater disparities between affluent and disadvantaged schools and school districts…

Source: Teacher data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.Associate Director, Research

Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

[email protected]

Twitter: @pewinternet

@kristenpurcell

THANK YOU!!All data available at: pewinternet.org

Documents

10 Things to Know About How Teens Use Technology Kristen Purcell, Ph.D. Associate Director, Research Pew Internet Project ACT Enrollment Planners Conference