Posted at 06:36 AM in Education, Technology in Education | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Reprinted from http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/3869.html By Chris Harnick
August 7, 2009
Nickelodeon's new study on the role iPhones and iPod touches play in people's lives revealed parents think Apple devices are appropriate for children.
The new study looked to get behind the hype and truly understand how parents think their kids use iPhones and iPod touches and how children actually use the product. At least 50 percent of parents said they would begin to consider the device appropriate to use by children 12 years old and up.
Nickelodeon is a kids and family cable network owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom.
"The iPhone and iTouch are ‘do touch' instead of ‘do not touch' devices in parent's minds," said Alison Bryant, senior director of research of MTV Networks, New York. "They think that they are appropriate for their kids and are willing to purchase content for them."
According to the study, iPhone and iPod touches are used mostly for distraction purposes, citing the entertainment and education benefits. Parents surveyed said videos, music, photos and the Internet are the most commonly used functions by children 12 and older.
Of all the applications and functions available on these devices, music, photos, games and phone -- only on the iPhone -- are considered most appropriate for children.
The study compared the two devices and found the iPod touch is considered more kid-friendly with 98 percent of parents saying it's appropriate for children under 18. Eighty-four percent of parents consider the iPhone appropriate for children under 18.
Although some concerns like children viewing inappropriate or unsafe content, most parents are game for Apple device usage by their children. Children are also ready to embrace the technology.
The study found kids like to hear many sounds, including encouragement to obtain an objective. Back and forth interaction with a game is also a coveted factor for younger children.
Kids of all ages prefer games that have objectives -- scores and timers are viewed as important and add excitement. Children 12-17 are using applications, like Facebook and Tetris on their parents' Apple products while kids 11 and under are using Kid Art and Bubbles most frequently.
The willingness of parents to open their homes to iPhones and iPod touches has a great affect on mobile marketers.
"IPhones and the iTouch are not just cool for 20 and 30-somethings, parents are just as likely to buy them and use them," Ms. Bryant said. "Also, you are getting more than one set of eyeballs on iPhones/iTouches that are in family households, in the same way that you get multiple eyeballs in prime-time TV."
Editorial Assistant Chris Harnick covers content, gaming, media, television, music and social networks. Reach him at chris@mobilemarketer.com.
Posted at 11:25 AM in Families On The Go, IPhone Apps | Permalink | Comments (1)
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(Monday, 24 August 2009) - Contributed by Marc Prensky - Last Updated (Tuesday, 25 August 2009)
"For our twenty-first century kids, technology is their birthright"
When I recently upgraded my iPhone 3G to the 3Gs (after almost 1 year, so I got the discount) I had to decide what to do with the old one. My 4-year-old son was clamoring for it, and I said OK. But then I thought about it. It’s a pretty expensive, complex, breakable, adult device. Should a 4-year-old really have an iPhone?
My answer, after only a couple of months, is absolutely—with only a few caveats. The first is that I bought him a nice bright red safety case, so that he could find the iPhone easily, differentiate it from mine, and hopefully not break it if he dropped it (although as far as I know, that hasn’t actually happened.) Second, I disabled the phone function, so he can’t make or receive calls. Although he would no doubt enjoy calling his friends and relatives, given ATT’s rates, it makes sense for him not to be randomly calling around the world, (Whether they would like hearing from him with the frequency he might choose is another matter.)
So actually he has an iTouch, rather than an iPhone, with the latest phone OS. He is, though, connected quite robustly to the Internet via our home Wi-Fi, and he/we will certainly try some VoIP apps in the future.
What He Does
What has he used his iPhone for (almost entirely without my guidance)? His favorite thing is voice recording. He sings, he makes up conversations, he runs his imaginary taxi business. He records in a couple of ways. Sometimes he uses the recording app which is part of the 3.0 software. At other times he uses the recorder built into his “Wheels on the Bus” app.
I downloaded The Wheels on the Bus for him the other night, along with a couple of matching games and some writing/reading programs (i.e. forming letters, recognizing words) from the App store. He was excited to wake up and find all the new icons on the screen. I was about to suggest he start with The Wheels on the Bus , but he went straight there without me (good icon!) He has since started up and used on his own all the apps I downloaded.
iPod? He uses it often. His favorite song is Michael Jackson’s ABC, which, somehow, he again found without me.
Camera? He uses it all the time. I did have to teach him that photographing his private parts was not such a good idea, even though he was SOO proud of himself for doing it.
Internet? He’s explored, but the absence of Flash is so far the biggest disappointment, as he can’t play Curious George and his other favorite games. But according to Gear Live, that’s “just around the corner.” Webkinz and Club Penguin will probably come as soon as it does.
Writing? He does lots of it, using the on-screen keyboard. And while it looks like gibberish to me, he knows exactly what it says and to whom it is addressed (Also part of the taxi business, I think.).
Reading? We’ve begun to read simple words and stories together. Reading on the iPhone is great!
Oh yes, plenty of drawing, coloring and stamping. He also regularly checks the date, the weather around the world, and the maps when we travel.
The most interesting thing to me was that he asked the other day if there were any games I could get him. I said “You have lots of educational games.” His answer: I don’t want educational games, I want fun games like on the DS.” Well here they come, with a motion sensor!
So should you give your 4-year-old an iPhone (or at least an iTouch)? My answer is that, if you can afford it, why would you deprive them? And if you can’t, there ought to be public subsidies. In fact, every kid in school—especially primary school—should have one.
So watch out computer, watch out DS, watch out educators. The kids are coming to claim their birthright, and the world will never be the same.
About the Author
Marc Prensky is an internationally acclaimed thought leader, speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer in the critical areas of education and learning. He is the author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw Hill, 2001) and Don’t
Bother Me, Mom, I’m Learning (Paragon House, 2006). Marc is the founder and CEO of Games2train, a game-based learning company, whose clients include IBM, Bank of America, Pfizer , the U.S. Department of Defense and the LA and Florida Virtual Schools. He is also the creator of the sites www.SocialImpactGames.com , and www.GamesParentsTeachers.com . Marc holds an MBA from Harvard and a Masters in Teaching from Yale. More of his writings can be found at www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp . Marc can be contacted at marc@games2train.com.
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