Teenagers View on Technology
By: Makenna Calderon
Growing up, all of the technology
companies like Apple, had already come out with the internet and were coming
out and developing the iPhone and all of the other Apple technology.
Before that, our parents grew up without the internet and it did not come out
until the 90’s when they were in high school/college. The generation of
teenagers today grew up with the internet and technology right there in their
hands. They were getting iPhones in elementary school and always knew what
their friends and family were up to not because they talked to them or called
them, but because of social media like Instagram, Snapchat, twitter, and other
apps like that. Especially because of
the Covid pandemic, teenagers have now spent even more time on the internet and
on technology to not only keep up with their peers and family, but to learn and
to get educated.
In the article “Teens Know Tech-
They need help managing it,” the author Sam Shrinsky talks about how the
pandemic effected teens with their learning. The pandemic made education more
of an “up to speed” learning, more like a game of catch up. In order to keep
the students engaged and to always improve the engagement with the children,
there should be grade-level specific plans. It is proven that school districts
and students have better learning outcomes during the pandemic. They have
better learning outcomes during the pandemic because it was more of a
step-by-step approach and gave more instruction because it was so new.
The main point of this article is to
figure out which students match with which grade-level specific plan and not
only teach them what they do not know about technology, but help them figure
out how not to get distracted. We are all well aware that most teens know how
to use technology, it shows that 95% of teens have access to a smart phone
and 45% of teens say that they are online constantly. Even though the
percentage of students having access and understanding technology, the two main
focus’ are developing more dynamic experience like the apps and platforms we
use, and supporting tech for keeping students off random pages like YouTube,
and keeping them engaged. In order to keep students engaged, the teachers or
professors can block certain websites like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to
make sure their students are paying attention during class time online. They
are known as “guardrails” and they make sure that the learners have a safe
space to learn without getting distracted. All in all, virtual learning
will keep becoming more dominant in education all around the world. We just
have to make sure it is beneficial and even more educational than in class
learning and it looks like we are already in the right track.
“Teens Tech Week Survey Results’ did
surveys on Teen Tech Week in 2008 on the websites SmartGirl and SurveyMonkey.
They polled about their technology and library use that asked about demographics,
technology preferences, use of technology preferences use of technology at
public and school libraries, and awareness of Teen tech Week events. There were
more than 600 participants in the survey on SurveyMonkey and half of the 600
were between 13-14 years old.
The teens identified which online
activities they used they used the most for themselves and they were mainly
watching movies, playing games, e-mailing, and downloading musics, but the most
popular use was for social media like MySpace and Facebook. There were also
some that answered that they do not use any type of social media is
simply because they either did not want to or they did not have access to
technology. SurveyMonkey also asked about access to technology workshops at their
school’s library and community libraries, 40 percent said their
schools did not and 13 percent said said their community library did not. In
both surveys, it showed that teens from the ages 13-18 use the internet
for more social and general purposes more often than for school or work
purposes. Most of the teens would love to learn more about technology
and the Teen Tech week schools and libraries just need to get the word
out more.
There are a lot of teens out there
that have disabilities, but are more than capable to go to school and
work, and some are even smarter than those without disabilities. They try to
get a job, but no one wants to take someone with a disability because they
automatically think they are incapable of doing work. When the actual case is
that they can do more and do better work, especially in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Especially in teens with Autism, they
have one specific thing that they love and they are the best at it. When it
comes to technology, when a teen with disabilities is into computers
and technology like that, they know everything there is to know and they will
always get their work done the right way because it is something they care so
much about.
It all starts with the education
that the teen got. There are some out there that willing tot are their time
with educating a teen with a disability, but there are others that will not
take the time. This is the first step to disabled teens to be successful in
life. When they are educated the way they are supposed to and feel like they
can accomplish anything, they will always be the best at what they do.
As generations go on, teens are more
and more comfortable with technology. This is a great thing because it
shows that as a society, we are very adaptable. Teenager love technology
because it all was them to listen to music, play games, and stay connected
with the people they want to stay connected to. There is access to computers
wherever you go know-a-days and that is so good for all of society because
those who do not have access to technology or the internet can now go to their
school and library and they will be provided for them. Never overlook a teen
with a disability, especially when it comes to technology and the internet
because that is where they spend most of their time.
Citations:
|
|
Mahoney, K., & Laszczak, K. (2009). Teen Tech Week
Survey Results. Young
Adult Library Services, 7(2), 10–12.
Shrinsky, S. (2021). Teens know tech - they need help
managing it: AGE-APPROPRIATE DIGITAL TRAINING CAN HELP LIMIT
DISTRACTIONS. Leadership,
34–35.
Comments
Post a Comment