1. 10 Things
to Know About
How Teens
Use Technology
Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Research
Pew Internet Project
ACT Enrollment Planners Conference
July 10, 2013

2. • Part of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” based
in Washington, DC
• PRC’s mission is to provide high quality, objective data to thought
leaders and policymakers
• Data for this talk is from nationally representative telephone
surveys of U.S. adults and teens (on landlines and cell phones)
unless otherwise noted
• Presentation slides and all data are available at pewinternet.org

3. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Kristen was born in 1970
She grew up in a house with a
landline telephone (eventually two
landlines!)
She used a payphone to call her
parents to pick her up at school
Her family had a VCR and an
answering machine, and Kristen
had a walkman
“Call waiting” was the rage in HS
This is Kristen
(she may look familiar)

4. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Kristen took typing classes in high
school and typed papers on an
electric typewriter (with autocorrect!)
She used library books to do
research for school
She typed her college applications
on her electric typewriter and
submitted them by mail
Everything she knew about the
colleges she applied to came from
books, friends, and teachers
This is Kristen
(she may look familiar)

5. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Kristen got her first computer, a
Mac, freshman year in college (1988)
She began using something called
“email” junior year in college (1990)
She would analyze datasets by
dialing in to her college mainframe
In graduate school, Kristen got a
laptop and a Palm Pilot, did most of
her research online, and submitted
papers as email attachments
This is Kristen
(she may look familiar)

6. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Kristen was the last one she knew to
get a cell phone, in 2004 at age 34
She now has a smartphone, an iPad,
two laptops, and a desktop
She has broadband and a wireless
network at home, and MiFi for traveling
She can access work documents and
email anywhere in the world
Kristen now has a Facebook page,
Twitter account, and Pinterest profile,
and loves texting
This is Kristen
(she may look familiar)

7. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Holly was born in 1995
She is entering her senior year in high
school and is applying to colleges
Holly has never known a world without
the internet, email, PCs or cell phones
When she was born, almost half of adults
used the internet and had cell phones
By the time she was 10, 73% of adults
had cell phones and 30% had laptops
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

8. A story about Kristen and Holly…
At age 10, Holly got her first cell phone
At age 14, on a family trip, Holly was
forced to teach her aunt how to text
Today, Holly has an iPhone – she is one of
37% of teens who have a smartphone and
one of 78% of teens who have a cell
phone of any kind
Like 87% of her peers, Holly has a phone
that can take pictures
Holly can also use her phone to record
video, watch and share videos, and listen
to music
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

9. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Holly got her first computer when
she started middle school – so she
could do her homework online
Today, she has her own laptop – she
is part of the 93% of teens who use a
laptop or desktop computer at home
When Holly was born, the World
Wide Web was 5 years old….
today Holly is one of 95% of teens
who use the internet
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

10. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Facebook emerged in 2004, when Holly
was 9
Today, Holly has a Facebook page,
where she (reluctantly) is friends with
her aunts and uncles
Holly is joined by 82% of her online
peers on social networking sites
She is one of 62% of online teens who
post photos of themselves online
Holly likes Facebook but she LOVES
Tumblr – along with 5% of her peers
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

11. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Twitter emerged in 2006 when Holly
was 11 and in middle school
Holly doesn’t use Twitter – but one in
four of her online friends do (24%)
YouTube emerged a year prior to
Twitter, in 2005, when Holly was just
starting middle school
Today, 27% of Holly’s online peers
record and upload videos
13% of her online peers stream live
video to the internet and 37% use video
chat
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

12. A story about Kristen and Holly…
Holly researched colleges online and
emailed programs before deciding which
schools to visit
A main source was YouTube, where she saw
not only “official” school videos, but videos
by students that revealed a LOT about
college life
She chose not to visit schools with slow or
difficult to navigate websites because she
felt it was a sign they were not keeping up
with technology
Holly submitted her first college application
this week – online
This is Holly
(this is not actually Holly,
she would kill me if I used
her real picture)

13. • 78% of teens have a cell phone, almost half (47%) of whom own
smartphones
• That means 37% of all teens have smartphones, up from 23% in
2011
• 23% of teens have a tablet, comparable to the general adult
population
• 95% of teens use the internet
• 93% of teens have a computer or access to one at home
• 71% with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use
most often is one they share with other family members
“Teens and Technology 2013”

14. • 74% of teens access the internet on mobile devices
• 1 in 4 are “cell-mostly” internet users (15% of adults who are cell-mostly)
• Among teen smartphone owners, half are cell-mostly internet users
• Older girls are most likely to be cell-mostly internet users; 34% mostly go
online using their cell phone, compared with 24% of boys ages 14-17 (boys
and girls are equally likely to be smartphone owners)
• Among older teen girls who are smartphone owners, 55% use the internet
mostly from their phone
• Overall, teens living in lower-income and lower-education households are
still less likely to use the internet
• However, those in low income or low education hhs are just as likely and in
some cases more likely than those in higher income or more highly
educated hhs to use their cell phone as a primary point of internet access
“Teens and Technology 2013”

15. 10 Things to Know…
#1 – Among teens 12-17, social network site growth
has slowed (particularly Facebook), but Twitter use
is growing rapidly

17. FB
remains
dominant
platform
There was
little room
left for FB
growth
among
teen social
media
users

18. 10 Things to Know…
#2 – Today’s teens are sharing more personal
information online than teens have in the past

21. 10 Things to Know…
#3 – Today’s teens do care about online privacy

22. Most teens
use the
“private”
setting on
Facebook
Only 1% don’t
know what
their privacy
settings are
Teen Facebook users are aware of their privacy settings

23. On Twitter,
most teens’
tweets are
public
12% don’t know
what their
privacy
settings are
Twitter is a more public platform for most teens

24. 40% of teens are at least “somewhat concerned” about 3rd
party access to their info…

25. 10 Things to Know…
#4 – Today’s teens take active steps to manage their
online reputations

26. Teens manage their online reputations by deleting
undesirable material
One in
five
teen
social
media
users
regret
some-
thing
they
posted

27. Most teen social media users have deleted or
blocked people in their network

28. 10 Things to Know…
#5 – Parents of teens are very aware that online
content can impact their teens’ lives

29. Parents of online teens are as concerned about reputation
management as they are about strangers online
72% express
concern
about
strangers
online
69% are
concerned
about online
reputation
mgmt

30. 10 Things to Know…
#6 – Most teens’ educational environments include
the use of at least some digital technologies

31. Cell phones are
used more than
tablets or
e-readers as
educational tools
All of these tools
are more likely to
be used by
teachers of higher
SES students

32. • 42% of AP and NWP teachers say their
students use their phones to look up
information in class
• 38% say students take pictures or
record video with their phones for class
assignments
• 18% say students use cell phones to
upload school related content to the
internet
• 11% report students texting in class with
a teacher/other students as a part of a
class assignment
• 2% have students use an online cell
phone platform like CELLY
Teens are using cell phones as learning tools

33. Research is the
most common
online activity
teachers give
students
Teachers are less
likely to use
interactive tech
tools such as wikis
or GoogleDocs as
part of the learning
process

34. 10 Things to Know…
#7 – The internet has fundamentally altered how
teens do research, but not necessarily for the worse

35. Teachers’ see the internet having both positive and negative
impacts on students’ research habits and skills
Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to
April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.
For today’s teens,
research =
“Googling”
The internet and
digital tools open
up a vast array of
information and
resources
Yet students must
have the skills to
dig through this
information to find
the most credible
and salient content

36. Overall, teachers say the positives outweigh the negatives
Overall, would you say the impact of the internet on
students’ research habits has been mostly positive
or mostly negative?
Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of
Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.
“The internet
makes doing
research
easier….
easier to do
well and easier
to do poorly”
– AP teacher focus group

37. 10 Things to Know…
#8 – Digital tools can benefit teens’ writing skills and
abilities, according to teachers

38. Teachers' Views of Potential Impacts of
Today's Digital Ecology on Students
Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers,
March 7 to April 23, 2012. Based on a non-representative sample of 2,067 middle and high school
teachers.
Students write more and
are more engaged
in their writing
A broader audience + more
opportunities for expression
and feedback have many
students more engaged in
the writing process
92% of AP and NWP
teachers surveyed describe
writing assignments as
“essential” to the formal
learning process
“Writing effectively” tops
teachers’ list of skills
students need to be
successful
(91% say it is essential)

39. In focus groups,
teachers
expressed
concerns about…
• Informal
language and
grammar creeping
into formal
writing
• Generally
diminishing
grammatical and
vocabulary skills
• Cultural
emphasis on
truncated forms of
expression
Digital technologies are perceived as contributing to
both positive and negative writing skills and habits
% who say computers and other digital tools for writing…
Make
students
MORE
LIKELY
to…
Make
students
LESS
LIKELY
to…
Make NO
DIFFERENCE
Take shortcuts and not put
effort into their writing
68 10 22
Write better because they
can revise and edit easily
56 19 25
Be creative 50 12 37
Present ideas clearly 46 13 41
Write too fast or be careless 46 19 35
Use poor spelling and
grammar
40 38 22
Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to
April 23, 2012. Based on a non-representative sample of 2,067 middle and high school teachers.

40. 10 Things to Know…
#9 – Teachers are divided as to whether “digital
natives” are all that unique

41. Are “digital natives” unique? Yes and No

42. 10 Things to Know…
#10 – A digital divide persists in the area of
education and technology

43. Teachers of the highest and lowest income students are not
on a level playing field, and they are concerned
These AP
and NWP
teachers
see
disparities
in tech
access
both at
home and
in schools
Teachers of the lowest income students…..
• Are less satisfied with the support and resources provided by
schools – 50% say their school does a “good job” in this area,
compared with 70% among teachers of high income students
• Are less likely to say their school provides formal training in how
to effectively use digital tools in the classroom – 73% of teachers
of high income students receive formal training compared with
60% of teachers of low income students
• Are more than twice as likely to describe their school as “behind
the curve” when it comes to using the newest digital tools – 39%
say this, compared with 15% of teachers of high income students
• Are twice as likely as teachers of the highest income students to
say their schools’ internet filters and rules about cell phone use
have a major impact on their ability to bring these tools into their
teaching

44. How many of your students have sufficient access [INSERT] to the internet and other
digital technologies they need to effectively complete school assignments…
Source: Teacher data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle
and high school teachers.
54% of these teachers say all or almost all of their
students have sufficient access to digital tools while IN
SCHOOL, but just 18% say the same is true AT HOME

45. Overall, 84% of AP and NWP teachers surveyed say digital
tools are leading to greater disparities across schools
% of teachers of high and low income students who “strongly agree” that today’s
digital tools are leading to greater disparities between affluent and disadvantaged
schools and school districts…
Source: Teacher data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April 23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high
school teachers.

46. Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Research
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
kpurcell@pewinternet.org
Twitter:
@pewinternet
@kristenpurcell
THANK YOU!!
All data available at: pewinternet.org