Ed Tech Research

Image Source: Pocket-Lint

In 2010, which was not to long ago,  Steve Jobs launched the first Apple iPad. Since 2010, iPads have taken up so many forms just to keep up to date with the new trends in technology. Tablets became a very popular item that many families owned. A couple of years ago, my husband decided to buy tablets for our children. Although I was not too excited with the idea, I thought that perhaps they could use them in an educational way. So, I went ahead and downloaded several educational apps for them. Then, one day as I sat next to one of my children, I saw how easily he used the voice recording tool to search for an item. Considering that I had not taught him how to use this tool, and that he told me that he had learned that in school, I decided to be more strict and cautious about the digital tools my children had access to. Something important to keep in  mind is that "digital life is here to stay, and supporting young people requires more than simply managing screen time and setting strong passwords, " (2019, Common Sense Media, page 8). It is our job as parents and educators to sit down with our children and have the discussion about internet safety.

As Common Sense Media presents it, "our kids are at the front line of a digital revolution. Devices, social networks, and media are changing childhood in radical ways." Common Sense Media is a non-profit organization that helps parents and educators learn more about safe technology and media for children. It is a great resource for finding age-appropriate apps, movies, books, TV shows and many more things.

After doing some more research on Common Sense Media, I was not surprised to find out about the increase in internet home connectivity. According to the following image, in 2000 3% of homes had broadband internet, which then increase to 50% in 2007. I would not be surprised if today it would be closer to 100%. This just shows how internet has taken over a big part of the home life.

Image Source: commonsense

Another interest fact that Common Sense presented, which really surprised me, was the number of Youtube views back in 2007. In 2007, there were 1 billion Youtube views per day, which I am very sure this number has increased by today. Nowadays, I find children accessing Youtube like if there was no other thing for them to watch. Luckily, Common Sense media provides parent and education support to bring more awareness on this matter.

My biggest takeaway from doing research on Common Sense Media, was on the importance of our role as parents and educators to bring technology safety awareness in our community. It is crucial that we teach our children to use technology responsibly. We need to help children, young ones and others in general to be digital citizens.

If you would like to learn more about digital citizenship, please visit the Common Sense Media website.


Resources:

Brita O'Boyle, (2019). "History of  the Apple iPad: The timeline of Apple's tablet from then to now," at https://www.pocket-lint.com/tablets/news/apple/146888-history-of-the-apple-ipad

How Tech is Changing Childhood at https://www.commonsense.org/our-impact/

Teaching Digital Citizens in Today's World: Research and Insights behind the Common Sense K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Research report on social media available at https://d1e2bohyu2u2w9.cloudfront.net/education/sites/default/files/tlr_component/common_sense_education_digital_citizenship_research_backgrounder.pdf