PewInternet.org

Reading, Writing, Researchin the Digital Age

Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project9.23.11School Library Journal Reading SummitEmail: Lrainie@pewinternet.orgTwitter: @Lrainie

Anti-executive summary(Or… Questions I cannot answer)

• Are teens’ attention spans getting shorter?• Are teens’ brains being rewired?• Are teens more narcissistic and more

indifferent to privacy than in the past?• What’s the matter with kids today?

What I think I know….

• Reading is its own virtue …. but it is other things, too…

• Reading (and other media) is raw material• Reading (and other media) is real-time • Reading (and other media) is a “social contact

sport”• New literacies are being elevated

4

Revolution #1 Internet and Broadband

65% 62%

Parents +10-15

????

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?

May 2010 8

What are some things teens doing online?

• 94% go online to do research for school assignments; 48% do so on a typical day.

• 81% go to websites about movies, TV shows, music groups, or sports stars

• 57% have watched a video on a video-sharing site like YouTube

• 55% go online to get information about a college, university or other school that they are thinking about attending.

• 48% have bought something online like books, clothes or music

Reading (and other media) is raw material

• Is there an active fan-fiction base in your school/community?

• Are there local, teen-produced remix videos in your school/community?

• Is there a group of students who participate in “rate the teacher” chatter and websites?

• What is the state of e-book activity in your district?

11

Revolution #2 Wireless

Connectivity

35% own “smartphones”

05/03/23 14

Consequences for information ecosystem

Anywhere Any device

PresencePlace

Any time

Alone together

Reading (and other media) is real time

• Are there homework-help programs in your community?

• Do you use texting in any way to interact with teens?

• Are there other examples of how those who connect “on the go” can tap into your reference and other reading services?

• Are there any mobile apps that you see teens using to do their school work?

20

Revolution #3Social

Networking

Twitter

Reading (and other media) is a social contact sport

• Do you see evidence of more collaboration among students as they study? – In social media spaces?

• Do some students give “status updates” as they progress through their reading?

• Do students share their underlining and notes?

June 25, 2010 25

New literacies are being elevated

- screen literacy - graphics and symbols - navigation literacy - connections and context literacy - skepticism - value of contemplative time - how to create content/knowledge - personal information literacy - ethical behavior in new world

26

Networked readers and learners of the future

• More self directed and less dependent on top-down instructions

• Better arrayed to capture new information inputs• More reliant on feedback and response• More attuned to group outreach and group

knowledge• More open to cross discipline insights, creating their

own “tagged” taxonomies• More oriented towards people being their own

individual nodes of production

Thank you!