13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology
Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project July 23, 2014 ACT – College Enrollment Planners Chicago Email: [email protected] TwiHer: @Lrainie
Dispelling myths
1) No playbook for new environment
2) No sure cure for making contact
Stupid NarcissisQc
Privacy indifferent MaterialisQc AnQ-‐social Mean
Especially savvy ‘digital naQves’
3) Teens are not an alien species Teens are more _____
What is different about them does Qe to technology
4) Teens have tech-‐saturated lives • 95% use internet / ~ three-‐quarters have broadband at home
74% access internet on mobile device – 25% “cell mostly” internet users
• 78% have cell phones / 47% have smartphones – 80% have desktop/laptop – 23% have tablet computers
• 81% use social networking sites – 76% use Facebook -‐ 24% use TwiHer – Approx. from young adult data: a quarter of teens use Instagram; 1 in 7 use Pinterest; 1 in 10 use Tumblr
5) This has networked informaQon
• Pervasive / portable / persistent
• Personal via new filters • ParQcipatory / spreadable • Linked
• Replicable and editable • Immediate • Timeless / searchable • Given meaning via networks /
algorithms
ImplicaQons for learners and informaQon seekers
6) InformaQon is a ‘third skin’
7) Teens have a new aHenQon layer – “conQnuous, parQal”
8) Teens have a fiih lobe
9) Teens parQcipate in the ‘fiih estate’
10) There is a Yin and Yang story when it comes to the way this affects teens’ research
Online survey of 2,462 Advanced Placement and WriQng Teachers
77% of teachers surveyed say the internet and digital search tools have had a “mostly posiQve” impact on their students’ research work
87% agree these technologies are creaQng an “easily distracted generaQon with short aHenQon spans”
76% of the teachers in this study strongly agree “the internet enables students to access a wider range of resources than would otherwise be available”
76% strongly agree that internet “search engines have condiQoned students to expect to be able to find informaQon quickly and easily”
65% agree to some extent that “the internet makes today’s students more self-‐sufficient researchers”
83% agree that the “amount of informaQon available online today is overwhelming to most students”
90% agree that “the internet encourages learning by connecQng students to resources about topics of interest to them”
71% agree that today’s digital technologies “discourage students from using a wide range of sources when conducQng research”
Grading students’ research skills
7%
6%
11%
12%
19%
20%
20%
15%
26%
26%
29%
36%
38%
35%
37%
39%
26%
29%
33%
43%
24%
20%
21%
9%
0% 50% 100%
Ability to recognize bias in online content
PaQence and determinaQon in looking for informaQon that is
hard to find
Ability to assess the quality and accuracy of informaQon they
find online
Ability to use mulQple sources to effecQvely support an
argument
Understanding how online search results are generated
Ability to use appropriate and effecQve search terms and
queries
Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor
What is the future of learning? -‐-‐ Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communi1es”
New: Learning as a process
Knowledge is objecQve and
certain
Old: Learning as transacQon
Knowledge is subjecQve and provisional
New: Learning as a process
Learners receive knowledge
Old: Learning as transacQon
Learners create knowledge
What is the future of learning? -‐-‐ Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communi1es”
New: Learning as a process
Knowledge is organized in stable, hierarchical structures that can
be treated independently of one
another
Old: Learning as transacQon
Knowledge is organized “ecologically”-‐disciplines are integraQve and interacQve
What is the future of learning? -‐-‐ Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communi1es”
New: Learning as a process
We learn best passively, by listening and watching
Old: Learning as transacQon
We learn best acQvely doing and managing
our own learning
What is the future of learning? -‐-‐ Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communi1es”
New: Learning as a process
Our “intelligence” is based on our
individual abiliQes
Old: Learning as transacQon
Our “intelligence” is based on our
networks
What is the future of learning? -‐-‐ Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communi1es”
How will hyperconnected Millennials live? hHp://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Hyperconnected-‐lives.aspx
Vote for …
Millennials’ future • In 2020 the brains of mulQtasking teens and young adults are "wired" differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields helpful results. They do not suffer notable cogniQve shortcomings as they mulQtask and cycle quickly through personal-‐ and work-‐related tasks. Rather, they are learning more and they are more adept at finding answers to deep quesQons, in part because they can search effecQvely and access collecQve intelligence via the Internet. In sum, the changes in learning behavior and cogniQon among the young generally produce posiBve outcomes.
… or …
Millennials’ future • In 2020, the brains of mulQtasking teens and young adults are "wired" differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields baleful results. They do not retain informaQon; they spend most of their energy sharing short social messages, being entertained, and being distracted away from deep engagement with people and knowledge. They lack deep-‐thinking capabiliQes; they lack face-‐to-‐face social skills; they depend in unhealthy ways on the Internet and mobile devices to funcQon. In sum, the changes in behavior and cogniQon among the young are generally negaBve outcomes.
Millennials’ future
Change for the beGer
52% Change for the worse
42%
11) Theme -‐ Supertaskers
12) Theme – New winners/losers
13) Theme – The distracted are toast
6 media zones
1) STACKS
How it works • MoBve – learning, mastery, producQvity • Content – acQonable info, how-‐to sensibility, links and other resources
• Device – desktop / laptop • Engagement – full aHenQon – verQcal reading
• InfluenBals – trusted brands and known experts (professional and amateur)
• ~ Mindshare – quarter to a third of media Qme
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – Search opQmized / findable – AcQng as informaQon sherpas – Problem solving mindset – Cut and paste – FAQs – How-‐to videos – Feedback friendly
2) SIGNALS
How it works • MoBve – real-‐Qme awareness • Content – headlines, new informaQon, first impressions maHer most
• Device – smartphone, tablet • Engagement – glancing OR galvanized • InfluenBals – brands • ~ Mindshare – < 5% of media Qme
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – News, especially scoops – Deals – LocaQon enabled – Insights from analyQcs
3) SNACKS
How it works • MoBve – killing Qme, beaQng boredom • Content – gamified, bite-‐size headlines, link-‐dense
• Device – smartphone • Engagement – distracted, quick-‐twitch • InfluenBals – brands, quality of social network • ~ Mindshare – 5%-‐10% of media Qme
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – Apps – Immediate connecQon – Predictable and compelling home screen – Grabby copy / acQvity – Clear and consistent Return on My AHenQon
4) STREAMS
How it works • MoBve – catching up / checking in / curiosity • Content – news (broad definiQon), social updates • Device – any / all • Engagement – conQnuous parQal aHenQon / horizontal scans / sharing
• InfluenBals – editors, social networks • ~ Mindshare – quarter to a third of media Qme
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – Apps – Smart curaQon – Customizable filters – Compelling ecosystem of content – Tagging and saving for future immersion – Social network mediated – Serendipity encounters
5) SOCIALS
How it works • MoBve – friend grooming • Content – social, personal, entertaining • Device – all • Engagement – parQal, browsing • InfluenBals – super-‐networkers / primary nodes in the network
• ~ Mindshare – 10% of media Qme
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – Social networks are gatekeepers – Spreadable content – Treat central network nodes like tradiQonal media influences
– Enable parQcipaQon and feedback
5) SYNTHESIZED SPACES
How it works • MoBve – my permissions • Content – personalized, anQcipatory • Device – my surroundings • Engagement – immersive, invisible • InfluenBals – my past behavior, analyQcs, algorithms
• ~ Mindshare – most waking hours
ImplicaQon for message makers
• Engagement strategy – SelecQve product placement and messaging – Permission-‐based monitoring / interacQons – Careful of privacy sensiQviQes – Careful of too much “moneQzaQon”
MarkeBng Myopia
What business are you really in?
-‐-‐ Theodore Levi8
Harvard Business Review (1960)
Be not afraid