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Engage Students, Families, and Teachers

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Apply to be certified by Common Sense Education

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Adopt ISTE Standards

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Technology Use at home

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WASHINGTON - A new survey of parents in the U.S. shows 68 percent of 2-year-olds use tablets, 59 percent use smartphones and 44 percent use video game consoles, sparking fears that technology usage hampers the ability of the young to communicate.

The survey commissioned by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, concludes the usage is occurring when human interaction is key to developing strong communication skills.

"The most rapid period of brain development takes place before age 3," says Judith Page, president of ASHA. "The primary way young children learn is through verbal communication that technology simply cannot duplicate."

Page says children need to have opportunities to develop their vocabulary and communication skills "by listening, talking, reading, and interacting with their parents and others, for which there is no substitute."

According to the survey, many parents are concerned technology misuse can harm their child's ability to to communicate.

55 percent have some degree of concern that misuse of technology may be harming their children's hearing; with respect to speech and language skills, the figure is 52 percent.

52 percent say they are concerned that technology negatively impacts the quality of their conversations with their children; 54 percent say they are concerned that they have fewer conversations with their children than they would like because of technology.

Parents recognize the potential hazard of personal audio devices to their children's hearing; 72 percent agree that loud noise from technology may lead to hearing loss in their children.

Despite their worries, the survey shows parents aren't putting limits on technology use.

For example, 24 percent of 2-year olds use technology at the dinner table - a prime time for the kind of interaction that fosters strong communication development. By age 8, that percentage nearly doubles (45 percent).

Also, by age 6, 44 percent of kids would rather play a game on a technology device than read a book or be read to. By age 8, a majority would prefer that technology is present when spending time with a family member or friend.

In addition, more than half of parents surveyed say they use technology to keep kids ages 0-3 entertained; nearly 50 percent of parents of children age 8 report they often rely on technology to prevent behavior problems and tantrums.

The survey release coincides with Better Hearing & Speech Month.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
© 2015 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.

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Study: Most very young children using technology, communication skills could suffer

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WASHINGTON - A new survey of parents in the U.S. shows 68 percent of 2-year-olds use tablets, 59 percent use smartphones and 44 percent use video game consoles, sparking fears that technology usage hampers the ability of the young to communicate.

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How Seneca Academy students use technology

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Why focus on digital citizenship?

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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A padlet to gather resources to use in the classroom

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A padlet to gather resources for families

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Students will write the computer use agreement for 16-17

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Students will write the computer use agreement for 16-17

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Case Study from Boston

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Student-Centered Acceptable Use Policy

Boston Public Schools (BPS) serves approximately 57,000 students who are enrolled in 128 schools.
They have transformed from a failing school district to one of the most recognized urban public school systems. It is one of the most diverse districts in the country where half of the students speak another language, students are from 135 countries, and 3 out of 4 students live near or below the poverty line.

The Challenge

In 2007, with school-based Internet access on the rise, district technology administrators used high school students to assist with communicating the importance of online safety - specifically targeting K-8 students. With funding from a tech company, district administrators hired two high school interns with graphic design skills for the summer. Under guidance from tech directors, the interns created four cyber safety heroes who effectively conveyed key information to younger children about how to stay safe online. The colorful characters focused on personal and computer safety, copyright and cyber bullying and they became the basis for the BPS Cyber Safety Campaign. However, it became evident to the technology leadership that the district's AUP was not student-centered. It was also apparent that the language in the AUP needed to be adjusted to be understandable to younger students.

The Solution

A member of the Boston Public Schools tech staff was tasked with updating the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) with the goal of making it student-friendly. After scanning AUPs from districts across the country, the staff member found a model to modify by condensing the existing rules into 10 main points. We crafted the language to make students assume responsibility for their actions by starting each rule with the phrase, "I am responsible for...." We contracted a retired elementary teacher to review the language and to assist with developing age-appropriate AUP modules (including a glossary and a quiz) teachers could use in their classrooms. Since we are keenly aware that students do not always bother to read the AUP, we once again tapped high school interns to assist in developing grade-level appropriate podcasts designed to deliver the AUP message. Finally, we trained high school students to be cyber safety mentors who could go to classrooms and into the community to deliver the Internet safety message directly to youth.

Tips

If students are supposed to comply with the AUP, it is critical that they understand what the policy stipulates.Making the document student-centered is the first step in that process.

Engaging high school students in the process of revising the AUP can result in more student buy-in.

Students can use their multimedia skills to help your district develop effective messages that reinforce the AUP.

? High school students can also be tapped to teach younger students how to be safe online.

Having a trained crew of cyber safety mentors who can be deployed into classrooms is an effective way to deliver the AUP message.

Boston Public Schools received funding for this effort from Microsoft, Verizon, Bunker Hill Community College, and Boston Society of Information Management.

Additional Resources

From Boston Public Schools:

From the U.S. Department of Education:

District Point of Contact

Haruna Hosokawa
Email: hhosokawa@bostonpublicschools.org
Diane Hauser
Email: dhauser@bostonpublicschools.org

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Student-Centered Acceptable Use Policy - Office of Educational Technology

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Boston Public Schools (BPS) serves approximately 57,000 students who are enrolled in 128 schools. They have transformed from a failing school district to one of the most recognized urban public school systems. It is one of the most diverse districts in the country where half of the students speak another language, students are from 135 ...

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Students and parents will watch videos; students will do exercises in class to gain their digital passport or compass prior to using computers.

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Common Sense Education | Digital Citizenship Curriculum & EdTech Reviews

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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Common Sense Education Certified School - Checklist

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Common Sense Education Certified School - Checklist

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International Society of Technology in Education

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Scenarios, age band articulation, scope and sequence

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Digital Citizenship Vision Statement Ideas