Tech-savvy 'iGeneration' kids multi-task, connect - USATODAY.com - (Private Browsing) By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY Move over, Millennials. You're not the younger generation anymore. For the past decade, you were the ones to watch. But now, as the eldest among you are fast approaching 30, there's a new group just begging for some attention. They're still kids, and although there's a lot the experts don't yet know about them, one thing they do agree on is that what kids use and expect from their world has changed rapidly. And it's all because of technology. "It's simply a part of their DNA," says Dave Verhaagen, a child and adolescent psychologist in Charlotte.
To the psychologists, sociologists, and generational and media experts who study them, their digital gear sets this new group (yet unnamed by any powers that be) apart, even from their tech-savvy Millennial elders. Kathryn Montgomery, a communication professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and author of the 2007 book Generation Digital, hears similar stories from her students. •Adeptness at multitasking. KID INSIGHT. More Kids Between Ages 4-14 Becoming Tech-Savvy // Current. To Our Faithful Current.com Users: Current's run has ended after eight exciting years on air and online. The Current TV staff has appreciated your interest, support, participation and unflagging loyalty over the years. Your contributions helped make Current.com a vibrant place for discussing thousands of interesting stories, and your continued viewership motivated us to keep innovating and find new ways to reflect the voice of the people.
We now welcome the on-air and digital presence of Al Jazeera America, a new news network committed to reporting on and investigating real stories affecting the lives of everyday Americans in every corner of the country. You can keep up with what's new on Al Jazeera America and see this new brand of journalism for yourself at Thank you for inspiring and challenging us. . – The Current TV Staff. Millions of Kids Younger Than 13 on Facebook, Consumer Reports Survey Finds. An estimated 7.5 million of the 20 million Facebook users are younger than 13. Credit: Getty Images School is out for the day, homework is complete, and your tween is chilling out, messing around on an educational website. Yeah, right. She's totally on Facebook. A survey by Consumer Reports notes that some 7.5 million of the 20 million Facebook users are younger than 13, the Chicago Tribune reports, and more than 5 million of those kids are 10 and younger.
There's a reason the social networking site requires members to be at least 13 -- youngsters (heck, oldsters, too) can fall prey to bullies, predators, viruses and more, according to the newspaper. Consumer Reports estimates "1 million children were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on the site in the past year," the Tribune reports. So, how are the kids getting on Facebook in the first place?
Also noted in the Consumer Reports survey: Corporate Site | corp.epals.com. The ePals® approach provides an effective way to instruct and reach today's technology savvy students and teachers. ePals provides digital content designed for collaboration and self-paced, self-directed learning as well as a safe platform to share work globally. Authentic ePals projects are centered around meaningful content and experiences that require teamwork, digital literacy skills, higher-level thinking and communication. By engaging in authentic learning experiences about relevant issues, students, teachers and mentors learn and work together, strengthening core learning while motivating learners and building self-confidence and skills necessary for future careers. At the same time, ePals helps teachers learn to use technology effectively in their classrooms, providing professional development, curriculum, contests and other resources.
Effective Learning Global Collaboration Safety and Security ePals Foundation. Kids and digital storytelling: Who will teach them? As a former statistics major, I know that no one should read too much into a single example. But watching my 10-year-old son embrace video production is challenging some of my beliefs about the timing and content of journalism education. But it’s not just my son. For many of his elementary school classmates, producing and distributing video has become as ubiquitous as writing and passing paper notes was to students of my generation.
I’ve seen kids whip out Flip cameras and cellphones at school events and around the neighborhood, recording their conversations, performances and play. Don’t mistake this as the activity of a privileged few. These are children at a public school where more than half the students are receiving free or reduced-price lunches. Thanks to cheap cellphones and Flips, digital video technology has become so inexpensive that it’s penetrated well beyond the middle class into poor segments of American society. It’s no joke. More Kids Between Ages 4-14 Becoming Tech-Savvy // Current. More Young Kids Can Use Technology Than Tie Shoes. The 'Digital Diaries' study from Internet Security Company AVG polled 2,200 mothers with Internet access and with children aged 2-5 in the U.S., Canada, the EU5 (U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It asked the mothers which tech skills have their kids mastered and what life skills.
The answer was what could be considered a generational shift. More kids can play a computer game than ride a bike. Even at the tender ages of two and three, 44 percent know how to play a computer game vs. 43 percent that know how to ride a bike. While 19 percent of kids aged 2-5 know how play with a smartphone application, only nine percent of kids those age know how to tie their shoelaces. Technology has changed what it means to be a parent raising children today - these children are growing up in an environment that would be unrecognizable to their parents. Kids and technology. Children Driving Consumer Electronics Purchasing Decisions. New research from the NPD Group reveals that many consumer electronics purchases are made with the express purpose of letting the kids use them.
According to the company, 78 percent of portable video game systems purchased and 56 percent of portable digital media players purchased were for kids. The research also shows that there are almost as many kids using computers (73 percent) these days as there are using televisions (74 percent). Three-fifths of kids (60 percent) are using a portable or console gaming system as well. A child's presence in a household is a driving force in adoption of newer technologies, according to the data. Among households with a child between the ages of 4 and 14, e-readers and media tablets were acquired at 8 and 5 percent rates, respectively, over the past year. The number of days in which children use cell phones, media players and portable video game systems has declined as new technologies drive trends and usage.
Source: Media Post.