As smart phone usage rises it is becoming more and more important that educators recognize both the imperative and the opportunity that the devices bring. In 2006, data showed that smart phone usage among middle and high school students to be at 9 percent. In 2008 that had risen to 24 percent and 2009 data will far exceed that.
The most recent data referenced below shows that:
- Teachers report less smart phone ownership than both high school and middle school students.
- Smart phone ownership among students in kindergarten through second grade is equal to that of their teachers. Astounding!
And why in the world does a Kindergartner (age 5 or so) need a cell phone of any kind?!
ReplyDeleteJeannie, the easy answer would be "for the same reasons we do", but that, I think, is only half the story. Mobile devices are becoming so ingrained in our daily lives that they will become as ubiquitous and de rigueur as wristwatches were 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI watch my granddaughters (5 and 12) use these devices and it is quite simply second nature to them. The one thing I almost never see them do is talk on the phone! It is all text, games and social stuff.
I am just finishing my degree in Early Childhood Education. I find the uses of these devices in a school environment, however forward-thinking I may be, to be terribly counterproductive to the purpose of K-2nd.
ReplyDeleteHow are children supposed to be properly socialized as active and functioning members of our society if they have more understanding of their iPhone then the do of their friends and surroundings.
I am fully aware of the fact that these devices will soon be an integral part of our society, but come on... kids also need to be kids.
How connected do you need to be at 5? Who are you talking to? Is not having a smart phone in Kindergarten going to be a new definer of socioeconomic status? Things like this truly outrage me. Children these days are terribly spoiled, to the point that their parents are robbing them of the essential joys of being a child. Why don't we just start making cars and jobs for them too?
I just think it's sad, that's all.