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The Center for the Digital Future has released the results their international survey of 25,000 people in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe on Internet usage.
Among 18-24 year olds, the top countries with Internet usage:
By contrast, only 88% of American teens of the same age had access, trailed by Hungary and Singapore, where more than seven in 10 young people use the Internet.
The big takeaway? According to the study:
"Fewer young Americans have Internet access than their peers in the Czech Republic, Canada, Macao and Britain, a survey of 13 countries around the world showed."
While we talk a lot about youth being wired and connected to technology, the reality is that there are also a lot of teens who can't afford computers, mobile phones/devices or Internet access.
For the last five years I've volunteered with a youth organization in San Diego. We've maintained a website, blog, Flickr and Facebook page for the last four years. At a recent awards dinner for the teens, one of the leaders mentioned that they would post the photos from the dinner on Flickr and our website. One of the kids raised his hand and asked, "What if we don't have a computer?"
During a quick survey of the 100 youth attending the banquet, we were shocked to find that only a couple had mobile phones, even less had access to a computer and/or Internet access at home. And while they had access at school, most reported that school computers blocked and filtered so much content, it made it an exercise in frustration.
We had been working on the assumption that because they are teens, they are "wired." The reality is, while they wanted to be totally wired, their economic status prevented them from fully participating in the information and social web revolution.
While I was at Yahoo! working on the youth and education project, I had the opportunity to collaborate with school districts both large and small. Time and time again, I heard from school administrators that their students (and many teachers for that matter) didn't have access to a computer and/or web access from home.
So while we talk about all the really great ways that technology can support learning, get youth involved in the political process or how Gen Y is totally wired, it's important to remember that there are still big chunks of this generation who are unable to participate in the shared experiences taking place in Facebook, MySpace and other virtual environments.
In terms of the digital divide, we've made leaps and bounds, but there's still a long way to go.
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Anyone involved with Gen Y knows three things: they love their mobile phones, they are hyper-connected and they have no reservations about broadcasting their life across the social web. Very often they are lifestreaming without thinking about the consequences of their actions.
Take, for example, the mobile phone. They text, play games, take photos and oh yeah--they also occasionally use them to make a phone call. However, a recent investigative report by Emmett Miller and KTLA News found "a growing number of teens are messaging naked photos of themselves to their friends. Not only could it ruin their reputation, but it could land them in legal trouble."
One girl talked about how a guy at her school had a fight with his girlfriend and, in an act of revenge, blasted out nude photos he had taken of her to their classmates. The photos were forwarded on to more and more students, effectively making life at the high school unbearable to the point that she had to change schools.
Another student, commenting on the trend, said:
“I know in my high school that there was a a girl who took naked photos of herself and it went all through our school and it ruined her, 'cause everyone looks at her like a slut.”
But there are serious consequences beyond just being embarrassed or having to change schools. In his report, Miller interviews Detective Dan Morgan from the LA County Sheriff's Department who talked about the LEGAL implications:
Most teens interviewed for this report had no idea that there were legal implications for sending or forwarding nude photos via mobile phone or the Internet. In fact, while most told Emmett that they "would only send nude photo's to their friends," they were completely oblivious that their friends might pass these photos along to other people.
This is an important topic that both parents and school officials should be talking about with teens. The stakes are even higher for a high school student who turns 18 and forwards a nude photograph of a boyfriend/girlfriend who is still a minor.
By doing so, they risk being charged for distribution of child pornography. Not to mention, if they are convicted, they face the loss of attending college, scholarships, and employment opportunities.
The important thing is for parents and school officials not to overreact. Banning mobile phones won't make these types of incidents go away. Teens will simply use another phone. Or have a friend take the pictures for them. The best approach is to sit down with your kids and calmly discuss the appropriate ways to use technology.
Think about it. You don't hand your kids the keys to the car without having them first go through a drivers education program where they learn the rules of the road. So why do we just hand them a mobile phone, computer or, for that matter, a social networking site and expect them to understand what behavior is and isn't acceptable?
As adults we need to also sit them down and outline how their so-called "personal information" can be sold to data brokers or passed around school by friends. We need to educate them on the consequences of lifestreaming and sharing too much information may have on their future.
Most importantly, we need to educate them that just because they delete that photo on their mobile phone doesn't mean that it isn't archived somewhere. Forever. After all, when it comes to the social web, your privacy is an illusion.
You can watch a video of Emmett Miller's entire report, The Naked Truth of a New Cell Phone Trend, by clicking here.
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In the spring of 2007 The Cyber Safety and Ethics Initiative (CSEI) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) initiated the world’s largest cyber research project, which by January of 2008 involved surveying 40,000+ K-12th grade students along with hundreds of parents and teachers.
Here are some of the key findings among students, parents and educators:
Key student findings:
Key parent survey findings:
Key Teacher Survey Findings:
Overall, it looks like parents are doing a good job of keeping an eye on their kids and what they are doing on the Internet. That said, most safety experts recommend that kids use the computer and surf the web from public areas of their home.
While the good news is that the stereotype of the Dateline NBC-esque sexual predator is far from reality, the bad news is that students are being bullied online by their peers. This is a topic that should be addressed both at school by teachers and at home by parents.
In summer 2008, as part of the Yahoo! Teachers Tour, I had the opportunity with my colleague Karon Weber to lead workshops across the country and teach educators how to use web and social computing technologies in their classroom. Time and time again we heard from teachers that this was exactly the type of professional development that was sorely needed.
Moreover, they reported that they were lacking hands-on, practical training on how web and social computing can be used in the classroom to prepare educators for the influx of digital learners filling their classrooms.
You can review the entire findings of the RIT CyberSafety report, including results broken down by grade level, by clicking here (pdf).
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Wired Magazine is reporting that the State of Tennessee, despite huge budget shortfalls in their public university system, will spend over 9 million dollars of public money to help the RIAA fight music piracy.
Earlier this year a UK survey conducted at the University Of Hertfordshire that looked at the music consumption behavior of young people (aged 14-24) found that 63% of students admitted that they download music using P2P file-sharing networks. However, the study also found that:
What I find most appalling about this story is that the State of Tennessee is using public money that should be used for faculty, scholarships and other education related expenses to support the bottom line of the music industry. According to Wired Magazine "Using conservative estimates, the piracy measure is equal to the price of about 100 Tennessee professors' wages and benefits."
If the RIAA wants to go after students who download music, they should pay for it--not the people of Tennessee. The RIAA has been suing students for almost 10 years and by and large the strategy has not worked.
The Internet is not going away. It's time for the music industry and RIAA to figure out a way to work with consumers, especially college students, instead of against them.
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Applications
are now open for the National Center for Women & Information
Technology (NCWIT)/Bank of America Award for Aspirations in Computing.
Award
winners receive $500, a new laptop and a trip to the awards showcase in
Charlotte, North Carolina. Application and materials are due by December 1, 2008. You can get all the details and application material for the award by clicking here.
I just spent a couple days at the YPulse Youth Marketing Mashup East which was held on the campus of Boston University. As usual, it was a fantastic event! Congrats to Anastasia and the Modern Media team for putting together a really informative, fun and relevant event.
I have a few longer posts about the event brewing in my noggin that I hope to push out here on Barking Robot sometime next week. But I had a couple quick thoughts and highlights from the event that I'd like to share while it's still fresh in ye olde noggin.
On Boston: The more time I spend in this city, the deeper I fall in love with it. New England in the fall is something that everyone should experience. One morning I took a walk along the Charles River. The tree's were heavy with orange, yellow and red foliage, the ground was still wet from the overnight rain and rowers glided silently up and down the Charles. Stunning.
On Boston University: Graceful old buildings, a deep sense of history and lots of energy oozing from the student body. Just fantastic. One morning on my way to the YPulse event, I passed the campus chapel and a beautiful sculpture of doves flying up into the sky. At the base of the monument, students had placed bundles upon bundles of flowers. I was curious, but I was also running late, so I didn't have time to learn more.
The YPulse event was opened by Dean Kenneth Elmore, Dean of Students at Boston University. He started with a super energetic and warm welcome to Boston the city and Boston the University. Dean Elmore was full of passion, energy and enthusiasm. As part of his keynote, he spoke about President-Elect Obama, collaboration, community and how great things can be accomplished when we work together. It was very inspiring.
Dean Elmore also took a moment to explain more about the bundles of flowers being left at the base of the sculpture I had seen earlier in the day. The sculpture is a memorial to one of the greatest alumnus ever to study at Boston University--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The morning after Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America, students began to spontaneously leave flowers at the MLK monument to honor Dr. King and his contributions, sacrifice and role in making the Obama presidency a reality. It gave me chills.
We need more people like Dean Elmore in the world.
On Virgin Mobile: Ron Faris from Virgin Mobile USA gave a really fantastic presentation on the Virgin Mobile Festival and Pro-Social Initiatives. He started by having everyone text "karma" to 68405. He then told us that for every text, American Eagle would donate a hoodie to homeless teen. Way to go Virgin Mobile!
Ron's presentation was really, really interesting. Virgin Mobile, and the Virgin brand, have done some really innovative, creative and interesting work in the music, pro-social, marketing and branding space. He also talked about the mobile and texting habits of Gen Y and how Virgin is leveraging mobile to engage and market to youth. You can read more on the live blog transcript.
At the end of his presentation, he mentioned that Virgin Mobile next pro-social cause is to become an advocate on the issue of homeless teens. Virgin Mobile will be launching an awareness campaign in the next couple of weeks. Want to hear something shocking? According to research conducted by Virgin Mobile, there are approximately 1 million homeless teens in the United States of America.
Yes....1 million.
These teens are homeless for a variety of reasons ranging from being kicked out by their parents due to sexual orientation, abusive parents or being abandoned. This figure just floored me. I've spent a lot of time working with homeless adults and mothers with children, but I was woefully ignorant on the subject of homeless teens.
I spoke to the Virgin Mobile team about their homeless teen campaign and I will keep everyone here at Barking Robot updated on how you can help out. I feel very strongly that the education technology community should be actively and passionately involved in this issue. Homeless teens are an education issue.
On SurveyU & MTV: Dan Coates from SurveyU gave a really interesting and relevant presentation titled, What Every Brand Could Learn from the Obama Campaign's Marketing to College Students. He shared lots of really good information, far too much to share here, but you can read more over on the YPulse Live Blog. SurveyU also had a very, very interesting report titled, What Happens to Media as Millennial Take Control?, that I'll blog about in-depth next week.
Dan Hart, SVP MTV Digital, also gave a very insightful presentation, Engaging Viewers Through Multiple Screens, where he talked about MTV's strategy to meet the demands and viewing habits of their (mostly) Gen Y viewers.
One example of how MTV was meeting the always on media habits of Gen Y was Backchannel --a social and interactive platform that allows "fans gather to talk about The Hills as it happens! Type your thoughts and don't hold back! Other players award points with a click of their mouse on the best comments. When it's your turn to click, earn points by predicting the comments you think will be the most popular." Mr. Hart said that this multi-channel approach has been wildly successful and popular.
On YPulse: As usual, this was a fantastic event. The next YPulse Mashup will be held in San Francisco on June 1 & 2, 2009. If you work with youth in education, technology, social services or marketing, you should--no you need--to attend the 2009 YPulse Mashup.
And now, time for that nap...
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Interesting tidbit over on today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board from Caroline Marques, a high school student in Geneva, Switzerland, about how many teens are finding a new way to download free music.
I wonder how Google/YouTube, the RIAA and the music industry will respond to this new trend? Lawsuits? Scare tactics? Some new fangled blocking software?
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Persuasive Technology is all about using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to change what we think and do. We are just entering the era of persuasive technology, of interactive computing systems designed to change people’s attitudes and behaviors.
The Claremont conference will assemble people from all parts of the world interested in such technologies by sharing their insights into how video games, mobile phone applications, web sites and social networking sites can be designed to motivate and influence people.
Academics and practitioners with an interest in research, theory, technologies, design, and applications related to persuasion are invited to submit their work for presentation at Persuasive 2009 to be held at the Claremont Colleges campus, in Claremont, California.
If you're interested in the mobile boom (and you should be!), be sure to check out Mobile Persuasion by my friend, Dr. BJ Fogg. This is a must read for anyone involved with digital media and education technology. BJ also is the founder of the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab.
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Last week I attended the Innovative Learning Conference (ILC) in San Jose, California. Despite what seemed like a very light turnout, it turned out to be a great conference experience. The educators attending ILC were engaging and it gave me a chance to meet up with some of my social networking pals in real life. I also had the opportunity to see some really good presentations.
Like most conferences there was an exhibition hall with lots of vendors touting their goods and services as the latest and greatest learning tool. All the usual ed tech suspects, with their big marketing machines, were there in force.
But what really intrigued me the most was a couple from Vancouver, B.C who have created a mind blowing, game changing and all around awesome web-based comic strip generation tool called Pixton.
What is Pixton?
Simply stated, Pixton is a social community where anyone can easily create, share, remix and publish their comic strip stories with people around the globe. If you find a great comic in French, you can instantly translate it into English. Or German. Or even Greek. Pretty cool, eh?
There are three versions: Pixtion for Fun (public), Pixton for Schools (education) and Pixton Storyboard (private).
Pixton for Schools provides students with an active and fun learning experience. It's also a good way for teachers to tap into the multiple learning styles of their students. Teachers can also create accounts for students without requiring them to have an email address. Pixton is also an amazing digital tool for students to create digital storytelling projects.
In terms of the educational value of comics, the Pixton team emphasizes the following:
In terms of teaching, Pixton for Schools has a Lesson Bank where educators can share their lessons with other teachers. Teachers can also create their own private, safe and secure virtual learning environment (VLE) right on Pixton!
Beyond the classroom, Pixton would be a great way to quickly and easily build professional development, training, tutorials or other pre or in-service materials. You can learn more about the how you can use Pixton in an educational setting or the educational value of comics by downloading the free Pixton for Schools information packet (pdf).
The Pixton tool set is very intuitive, easy-to-use, and really fun. If you browse the public gallery, you'll see all the creative ways people are using Pixton and your mind will quickly overflow with ideas.
And there are lots of ways for you to share what you create with others outside the Pixton community. You can embed your Pixton comic in a wiki (like PBwiki), blog, or share a link via email, Twitter or IM. And soon you'll be able to print out your comic too.
Clive and Daina Goodinson have created powerful and fun learning tool that is bound to be a popular and powerful learning tool for the digital and traditional classroom. All in all, Pixton is an exciting edition to the social web.
Following in the footsteps of Flickr, YouTube and Twitter, Pixton is poised to join the short list of cutting-edge, top-tier and truly innovative social web tools. The really exciting thing is that Clive and Daina are just getting started.
I can't wait to see what else they have planned for Pixton and beyond.
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Gossip Girl stars Blake Lively and Penn Badgley are featured in a new Public Service Announcement (PSA), Partnership for a McCain-Free White House, encouraging teens to talk to their parents about the risks of voting McCain.
The PSA, paid for by Move.org, is a parody of PSA's encouraging parents to have the "birds and bees" talk with their kids. Pretty clever campaign and sure to get youth talking about politics with their parents.
Thanks to Anastasia over at YPulse.com for the scoop.
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This weeks webisode of The Highway Girl features an interview with David Leibowitz, former chief legal council for the RIAA.
In this interview, Mr. Leibowitz talks to host Samantha Murphy about copyright, DRM, the RIAA, music and entertainment in the digital age.
In the pre-roll, Samantha Murphy announced that The Highway Girl has launched a contest to win a Motorola Z9 phone. This is a pretty slick phone with lots of cool features for music lovers. To enter the contest, you just sign-up for the weekly The Highway Girl newsletter.
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The Innovative Learning Conference (ILC) is an interactive three-day conference and exposition produced in partnership with CUE and FETC for the K-12 education community.
ILC 2008, is being held in the heart of Silicon Valley, will offer “hands-on” workshops, concurrent sessions, meetings and exhibitions. I'm excited to be covering ILC 2008 as part of the education blogger and press corps.
I'm pleased to announce that now through Oct. 6, Barking Robot readers are eligible to receive an exclusive discount of $40 off of conference registration fees. To claim the discount, simply use the special promotional code ORG40 during registration.
See you there!
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I am pleased to announce that the book chapter that I co-authored with Dr. Mercedes Fisher, "Pedagogical Mashup: Gen Y, Social Media, and Digital Learning Styles," has officially been accepted for publication in the Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level: Issues and Challenges, to be published by IGI Global later this year.
Dr. Fisher and I wish to thank the co-editor of the book, Professor Subramaniam at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, for his hard work and direction during the writing and peer-review process.
In addition, we appreciate all the members of the peer-review committee for their feedback, suggestions and collaboration on this chapter. It's been a wonderful experience to work with members of the international education technology/media community.
We've saved the links for all the resources and references cited in the book chapter over on the social bookmarking tool delicious, which you can find here: http://del.icio.us/mashup.edu
Related Publications by Mercedes Fisher & Derek E. Baird
“Putting organisations like that into a network instead of running them as walled hierarchies is a massive step. At the moment it’s only beginning to happen, and that’s just in marketing.
“It’s gotta be another twenty years [until things really start to change]. The people in their twenties now who’ve grown up with computers, they’re the ones who are going to do all this [web 2.0] stuff naturally.”
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