Consumerscope : Teens Take on Technology at School

September 2009 By Angela Titone, Senior Manager, CEA Research Library

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Before her emergency appendectomy, the doctor of a friend's teenage daughter asked her, "So do you have any last minute questions before surgery?" The girl responded asked, "Do you have Wi-Fi in the hospital? I have a term paper I need to e-mail to my teacher."

It's not surprising. Teens today push for the newest technology with all the speed, apps and features they can get. They are connected through cell phones, text messaging, e-mail and social networking in a way that other generations have not been.

According to a recent CEA study, teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 use cell phones above any other electronic product (82 percent) in school, followed by headphones and MP3 players.

The Teens and Technology Usage in the Educational Environment study (August 2009), asked teens about technologies they use in school for personal or school reasons. The study included an even mix of males and females. The teenagers said they spend four hours a week using technology outside of school for school reasons and less than three hours per week using technology in the classroom.

Seventy-five percent of teens agreed that technology helps them with their education. "Teens want more technology to be implemented into the educational process, and they are finding ways to include these tools themselves," said Jessica Boothe, manager of Strategic Research.

News stories today include classroom tales of student blogs, classes streamed on the Internet and video games used to develop complex problem-solving skills. The Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health published in June by the Joan Ganz Clooney Center at Sesame Workshop, discusses the positive effects of video games in educating students and promoting their physical well-being. You can find the article by following this link (PDF.)

Teens said they are required to have some type of calculator more than any other CE product at school. Basic calculators were the most required type of (55 percent), followed by scientific (54 percent) and graphing (51 percent) calculators. But school administrators don't welcome all technology with open arms. Roughly half of teens (55 percent) report they "aren't allowed to bring some electronics devices to school".

Though teens show high aptitude for technology, the use of technology in the school is still limited.  While nearly two-thirds of teens reported that technology is used regularly in their classes, only four in ten reported spending time in a computer class or lab.