Teens and Technology Part 3

In 1995 only 14% of people would sign on to the internet. That number skyrocketed to 85% in 2013, less than ten years. Out of all teens who report using the internet, 80% of those teens have access to social media. 78% of those teens have access to a cellphone. This is interesting because I would have thought that at least 90% of teens would have personal and individual access to a cell phone. The following chart was interesting. It is common knowledge that people in general do not access newspapers, magazines, or radio as much as they used to. This chart, however, puts true numbers out there and allows for readers to actually see how everyone has turned to online sources for news information.



Sadly, only 56% of Americans report visiting libraries in the past year. Most libraries have stepped up and completely integrated technology in order to bring in more patrons. In fact, most public libraries have some type of computer lab in place. The following was also interesting:



Libraries need to base their priorities on their patron's needs. This could be realistic and achievable if libraries surveyed patrons based on what they need and want from their library.

Source:

Zickuhr, K. (2013). Reading, writing, and research in the digital age. PEW Research Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/04/reading-writing-and-research-in-the-digital-age/?utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg-KopIg.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pewinternet.org%2Ftopics%2Fteens-and-technology%2Fpages%2F2%2F

(28 pages) 

Teens and Technology Part 2

My whole educational career has been centered around teenagers. I have been at a high school setting for the past eight years, and I have picked up rather quickly on how important romantic relationships are for them. It is also evident to anyone (not just educators) that teens are especially attached to their cell phones. Smartphones, in particular, have made it incredibly easy for people to send and receive information almost instantaneously. According to Leinhart, Smith, and Anderson, "the digital realm is one part of a broader universe in which teens meet, date, and break up with romantic partners" (2). Anyone who has access to any social media venue can easily validate this claim. Teens use social media in order to spark up their interests, to flirt, to reach out, etc. The authors claim that Facebook is the primary social venue for teenagers. Again, anyone can validate this claim if they have access to social media. One thing that took me by surprise is that only 8% of teens have met their romantic interest online. What this means is that while teenagers do use social media for romantic purposes, they knew the person they are in contact with before making contact through a social venue. I also thought it was quite interesting that most teenagers see social media as a way to strengthen their relationship. I suppose I can understand this to a certain point since most teenagers are not allowed to go on physical dates as often as adults do.

Source:

Lenhart, A., Smith, A., & Anderson, M. (2015). Teens, technology and romantic relationships: From flirting to breaking up, social media and mobile phones are woven into teens' romantic loves. PEW Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/10/PI_2015-10-01_teens-technology-romance_FINAL.pdf
(77 pages)

Life with Technology

Over the past few months, I have blogged about several useful technological tools that anyone in the education field can find good use for. Some of these resources caught my attention a lot more than others. I was especially excited about the opportunity to create comics using ToonDoo. This tool offers teachers and students endless opportunities to create various types of comics; vocabulary reviews, creating interesting characters, interesting story lines, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and so much more. I absolutely love the freedom the students have to make this comic their own with various characters, backgrounds, and accessories (add-ons) to choose from.

I also enjoyed learning how to create a screencast. Screencast-O-Matic was relatively easy to use as long as Java was updated. I love that this tool allows teachers to show students how to do certain things on a step-by-step basis. Teachers can then upload this screencast or video to YouTube, to a blog, or to a personal or educational website. This enables students to access important information (and instructions) for their home if they need the extra help or reminder. I feel like students can also use this resource if their teachers teach them how to use this beforehand. (Or, they can create a screencast on how to create a screencast? Ha! Isn't that something?!) Students can create screencasts to show progress of projects or to teach students how to do something. Sometimes students understand each other a bit more and this tool allows for that information to be shared easily.

Infographics are a great way to emphasize the importance of certain topics. However, I can't decide how I feel about infographics 100% of the time. Don't get me wrong; I love how beautiful, creative, and colorful completed infographics can be. The trouble with creating an infographic is that students (and teachers) may have trouble distinguishing exactly what information they should display on their infographic and what information should be omitted. No two minds are exactly alike. Therefore, what one person deems important may seem irrelevant to someone else.

The tool that I am least fond of is creating a Vine. I have never been a big fan of vines personally, so I am probably being biased. I think too little time is allotted, so information isn't always illustrated in a practical manner. Time flies by and so does the clip. I am sure, however, that students would love to create vines in order to show comprehension, to dramatize scenes from a play or novel, etc.

Instagram and Vines

I don't know about you, but my students constantly talk about Vine. The first time I heard about Vine, I honestly had no idea what they really were. That remained true until an avid Vine watcher constantly urged (and nagged) me to watch certain Vines and even slapped his phone into my face once in a while with the newest Vine that had immensely grabbed his attention. It was then that I finally discovered that Vines are short, six-second video clips that restart over and over again. Perhaps you have seen these around all types of social media. Most are meant to be comical, but they can also serve a great purpose in the classroom. Teachers can use Vines to help students learn key terms or to predict what might happen next in a story. It is a fresh take on the strategies and skills that are constantly reinforced inside the classroom.

Instagram is similar to Facebook and Twitter in the sense that it allows users to share certain facets of their lives with other users. In this case, users can share short videos or images. Text is limited, but not too bad. It is a little more private than Facebook. Instagram can also be used in the classroom as a way for teachers to showcase star work and communicate with students. Teachers can share important dates with both students and parents. They can also remind students about deadlines and homework.

Here are a few examples of how I have used these tools with my writing classes.

In this first shot from my classroom Instagram, I showcased a high quality expository essay written by one of my 1st period students. I did not include the student's name, but he/she is welcome to reveal her identity if she wishes too.



Here's a short Vine I made to help students remember how to use a Funnel as a strategy in their introductions.

By the way, I did use Screencast-O-Matic to help record a video of my Vine and upload it to my blog.