Technology gives kids constant media access

In fact, young people now spend more time listening to music, playing games, and watching TV on their cell phones (a total of 49 minutes daily) than they spend talking on them (33 minutes), the survey found.

Balkam said the findings highlight the need for schools and teachers to revisit their methodologies.

“What we have now is a situation where kids are having to power down when they get to school and basically go from the 21^st century to the 19^th century in terms of methodology and approach,” he said. “That’s not true for all schools, and that’s not true for all teachers, but by far the majority of schools simply do not know how to integrate the technology that’s in the schools—the computers themselves—and most are clueless about how to integrate the technology that kids bring into school.”

To make that change, Balkam said educators must blur the lines between what they consider to be entertainment and what they consider education—although, he noted, the idea faces resistance.

“We’re at that stage now, and what is so extraordinary is that kids are far more clued in to how the devices work and where to go while on them,” he said. “And the parents and the teachers are trying desperately to catch up.”

The report states that while the study cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between media use and grades, there are differences between heavy and light media users.

About half (47 percent) of heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades, meaning mostly Cs or lower, compared to 23 percent of light users. These differences might or might not be influenced by their media use patterns. Heavy users are defined as young people who consume more than 16 hours of media a day, and light users are young people who consume less than three hours of media a day.

But Balkam noted that the study did not differentiate between the different types of entertainment media.

“I don’t feel as pessimistic as some people did in responding to that. Yes, there must be a balance, yes, there must be a time when kids switch off somewhat. I think that to be constantly stimulated by your cell phone buzzing or constantly updating your Facebook account, anything that gets to sort of obsessive levels can’t be healthy,” he said.

Balkam said school and district leaders need to rethink teaching and learning by providing professional development for existing teachers and recruiting new teachers who are comfortable with interactive technology use.

“I think we’re at a generational shift. In five, 10, 15 years, the kids who are growing up with the internet, particularly the mobile internet, who will then become the next generation of teachers will find it far easier to integrate this,” he said. “I think what we’re having is a generation of digital immigrants trying to teach digital natives. And there’s a mismatch here.”

Jean Westcott, senior marketing and publicity manager for International Publishers Marketing and author of Digitally Daunted: The Consumer’s Guide to Taking Control of the Technology in Your Life, said the study holds value for those who might not have considered just how much technology is rooted in children’s everyday lives.

Westcott said she was shocked with how fast media use has increased from five and 10 years ago.

But just because today’s students spend more time on iPods and in front of the computer does not mean those behaviors, when within reason, are unhealthy, she said.

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