Techno Savvy Kids Are On The Rise
Are You Smarter Than a 5 Year Old?
It's an increasingly frequent scene to behold - the toddler glued to an iPad. Some may think it's tragic, others may just take it as the inevitable sign of changing times. It used to be dummies that were used to pacify restless children but now its seems that iPads and smartphones are being thrown at them to pacify them instead.
Oh how times have changed!
It seems like these 6 year olds are part of a bigger and new generation - a generation that Ofcom have aptly named digital natives. These so called digital natives are more tech savvy than the average 45 year old, will have never witnessed and lived through the painful struggle that was dial-up internet (lucky so-and-so's!) and can already, apparently, work touch devices and other tech before even learning to talk!
Jane Humble from Ofcom said, "As a result of growing up in the digital age, they are developing fundamentally different communication habits from older generations, even compared to what we call the early adopted, the 16-24 age group."
To help provide more insight into the changing technology habits of a nation, Ofcom devised a DQ test (digital quotient) to help gather more information. The test is designed not simply to test intelligence, but to gauge the awareness of self confidence around gadgets, knowledge of super fast internet, 4G mobile phone networks and mobile apps. They tested 800 children and 2000 adults and have since released a similar test questionnaire to the rest of the nation for them to discover for themselves how much they know about technology. Find out how tech savvy you are and take the test here.
The results showed that it is in fact the 16-24 age group that has a higher DQ score (113) and know more about technology, however it is the 6-7 year old age group that have come close second with an average score of 98 with the older age group of 45-49 getting the lowest score of 96.
While the results bring up some shocking stats, the notion of techy toddlers is hardly surprising. With newer technology coming out faster than we can process and more apps (aimed increasingly at the younger audience) being released daily than you can shake a stick at, there really is no surprise to find that more toddlers and younger generations than ever are tapping in on the technology bandwagon.
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Techno Savvy Kids Are On The Rise
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Thursday, August 07, 2014
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