Smartphone use survey

This survey analyzed teen smartphone usage by site (e.g., Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are the most popular social media sites) and demographics. 92% of teens go online daily, and a quarter state that they go online, mainly by phone, “constantly.” African Americans were most likely to have a smartphone; of teens who did not have such a phone, only two-thirds went online daily.

Pew Research Center. (2015). Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015: Smartphones Facilitate Shifts in Communication Landscape for Teens. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/04/PI_TeensandTech_Update2015_0409151.pdf

Digital learning by teens survey

Based upon a nationwide survey, this annual analysis examines K-12 students’ learning environments: using tablets, learning in blended or online learning environments, and STEM experiences. The researches found that student access to technology tools and resources results in: deeper and more sophisticated learning; higher estimation of technology, greater college-career readiness, and builds self-directed independent learning ethos.

Project Tomorrow. (2015). Digital learning 24/7: Understanding technology-enhanced learning in the lives of today’s students. Irvine, CA: Project Tomorrow. 
http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU14StudentReport.pdf

Digital vs. print media reading and gender

Girls have more firmly embraced digital literacy and formats such as Facebook, email and text message, while boys are more comfortable with traditional printed media such as comics, manuals and newspapers, according to a study published by the National Literacy Trust.
The snapshot – based on responses from 32,000 pupils at more than 130 schools in the UK – found that girls continue to outpace boys in their enthusiasm for reading outside school at all age levels, with black girls in particular showing a prodigious appetite for literature.
Girls studying for GCSEs, for example, were more likely to read emails and social network sites than boys of the same age – and were also more likely to read fiction, suggesting that the growth of digital media has not diminished the popularity of literature.
Boys studying for GCSEs were more likely than girls to read print products such as comics, with 38% saying they read newspapers at least once a month compared with 30% of girls of the same age.
Overall, boys reported lower levels of enjoyment from reading than their female peers, according to the figures compiled by the trust. Boys also tended to read less often and think less positively about reading than girls did.
National Literacy Trust. (2015). Children's and young people's reading in 2014. London: National Literacy Trust.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/nlt_research/6646_childrens_and_young_peoples_reading_in_2014