The Speak Up (2010) data are out and various bloggers are analyzing and offering comments. I like the data – so many folks make pronouncements and I would a little more in the way of evidence. BTW – I do think the Speak Up data should not be considered a representative sample and may over-estimate the value/importance of tech trends.
A couple of numbers immediately caught my attention – the % of students with a personal cell or smart phone. For the age group with the highest level of access, these values are 56% and 44%. If I read the chart correctly (a phone without Internet access and a phone with Internet access – these values would define mutually exclusive groups unless we assume some students have several phones), this would mean that 100% of high school students have a phone of some type. Not possible. This is what I mean by my concern that the data originates from a non-representative sample. I checked the original source and the ReadWrite Web post uses the table of data from the original.
I do think the 44% with a smart phone is useful to consider. I do not agree with those who consider any phone a useful educational tool. I understand you can do some cute things messaging, but these demonstrations are a novelty. A little novelty now and then can be interesting, but far more is needed before a tool has general utility. Understanding that less than half of students can provide a device with reasonable power and versatility probably implies that schools must assume responsibility for providing learning tools.