Survey: Most parents support mobile learning devices


A majority of parents overwhelmingly think that mobile apps, mobile content, and technology in the classroom promote positive learning habits and yield benefits, according to a new survey released on May 2.

Living and Learning with Mobile Devices: What Parents Think About Mobile Devices for Early Childhood and K-12 Learning,” from Grunwald Associates, the Learning First Alliance, and underwritten by AT&T, surveyed 2,392 parents who have 4,164 children between the ages of 3-18.

Most children in preschool through 12th grade have access to different technologies at home, and this includes mobile learning devices.

(Next page: The top data)Here are some of the study’s top findings:

  • Seventy-eight percent of parents said someone in their family owns a laptop or portable computer, and of that group, 52 percent said their child uses the device.
  • Twenty-four percent own an eReader and 11 percent of those children use the eReader.
  • Forty-six percent of parents own a tablet and 34 percent of those children use the tablet, with 47 percent using it daily, 46 percent weekly, and 7 percent less than once per week.
  • Seventy-seven percent of parents own a smart phone and 43 percent of children in smart phone-owning homes use the devices. Sixty-five percent of those children use the smart phone each day.

Slightly more than half of all students (51 percent) carry a smart phone every day by the time they reach high school, 28 percent of middle school students bring a smart phone to school each day, and 8 percent of students in grades 3-5 do the same.

Not many schools let students use that technology in the classroom, however. Only 17 percent of parents said that their child’s school requires the use of mobile or portable devices in the classroom, while 83 percent said it is not required. And just 16 percent of parents said their child’s school allows such use, 72 percent said use of portable or mobile learning devices is not allowed in their child’s classroom, and 10 percent did not know their school’s policy.

But parents “report positive values of mobile apps and content–and parents of younger children are even more enthusiastic” about the use of mobile apps for learning. Parents of students in kindergarten through second grade said technology in the classroom, mobile apps in particular, promote curiosity (84 percent), teach reading (79 percent), teach math (75 percent), foster creativity (71 percent), teach problem solving (73 percent), teach science (71 percent), and teach foreign languages (71 percent).

Most or a majority of parents agree that portable or mobile learning devices in schools have a number of learning benefits, including:

  • Make learning fun
  • Keep up with current events
  • Teach reading
  • Teach math
  • Teach responsibility
  • Teach science
  • Perform better in school

The survey also revealed that parents think mobile devices pave the way for new learning opportunities (71 percent), and that parents think schools should use mobile technology more often (52 percent), but just 32 percent said schools should require mobile devices in the classroom.

Parents said they would appreciate school and teacher assistance when it comes to using mobile devices for learning. Seventy percent of parents said teachers should recommend apps for students to use, 64 percent of parents said that schools should teach students how to use devices in a safe manner, and 43 percent said they need help finding quality educational apps for their children.

Safety and efficacy are parents’ major concerns. Eighty-one percent of parents said they worry that their child’s device might be stolen while at school, and 62 percent said mobile devices have the potential to distract students from learning.

Forty-five percent of parents said they plan to buy a mobile device for learning, or already own one for such purposes.

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Laura Ascione
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