96% of teenagers use smartphones, 93% own them, and 65% almost never part with them, according to the study 'Mobile devices in learning and teaching'. Students use smartphones for entertainment, to develop interests, for homework and during classes.
The report is the result of research conducted by the Copernicus Science Centre among students aged 13-19.
The study shows that children and adolescents in Poland commonly use mobile devices. 96% of the surveyed teenagers declared using smartphones. 79% said that they used a laptop, 48% - a game console, 39% - a tablet, 31% - a smartwatch, 11% - e-book readers. 48% of them use desktop computers.
The smartphone is definitely the most personal device. 93% of the survey participants have their own smartphones, 43% have laptops, 36% have tablets, and 35% have desktop computer.
A smartphone is a personal device for 92% of students aged 13-15 and 93% of students aged 16-19. A laptop is a personal device for 39% of respondents aged 13-15 and 47% of respondents aged 16-19, and a desktop computer - 31% of younger and 39% of older respondents. In the case of tablets, 30% of younger users (versus 23% of older users) declared that they used mainly this device, but other people also use it sometimes. Occasional use of a tablet, which is used 'mainly by other people', was declared by 12% of respondents aged 13-15 (vs. 17% of 16-19).
A tablet, smartphone, laptop and desktop computer are most often used in the evenings and afternoons - on both work/school days and weekends. A smartphone is much more likely to accompany its users throughout the day.
Smartphone owners most often declare that they 'almost never part with them' (65 percent of responses). They are more often older respondents (70 percent) than younger ones (61 percent). A large group of users of the devices claim that they use them only when necessary (tablets - 31 percent, laptops - 27 percent). In the case of desktop computers, 32 percent of users state that they 'usually have it close to them'.
All of the discussed devices are most often used at home: smartphones - 97 percent of responses, laptops - 96 percent, tablets - 94 percent, desktop computers - 87 percent. Young people also use smartphones at school - 84 percent, in means of transport - 80 percent, and during social gatherings - 66 percent.
Much more often than the other three types of devices, smartphones are used for entertainment purposes, to develop interests, and also during classes. In turn, laptops are most often used for doing homework. Tablets are significantly less often used in school situations (during classes and while doing homework) than smartphones, laptops and desktop computers.
Smartphones are used for entertainment purposes by 87 percent of students aged 16-19 and 85 percent of students aged 13-15, for developing their interests - 75 percent of older students and 69 percent of younger students, for doing homework - 70 percent of older students, 63 percent of younger students, during classes (including homeschooling and cloud school) - 53 percent of older students and 33 percent. younger students, for additional educational activities (e.g. tutoring, language learning, etc.) - 45 percent of older students, 38 percent of younger students.
During classes, individual devices are used for different activities. The domain of smartphones is searching for information and communicating. Programming and creating audio/video/photo materials is done more often on desktop computers and laptops than on tablets and smartphones. Solving quizzes/puzzles, reading and listening - smartphones and tablets are chosen more often in this case than laptops and desktop computers. Tablets are most often used in class for taking notes.
Over 78 percent of the surveyed teenagers who use smartphones at school claim that teachers assign them (at least sometimes) tasks that require using them. This most often happens in foreign language classes (41% of responses), followed by: computer science (36%), mathematics (34%), Polish (32%), geography (31%), history (31%) and biology (29%).
Students use all of these devices when doing homework. Tasks related to programming and creating audio/video/photo materials are fone more often on desktop computers and laptops than on tablets and smartphones. Laptops are most often used for taking notes and writing. They are followed by desktop computers, and then tablets and smartphones.
The study was conducted between September and December 2023 on a sample of 2,099 primary and secondary school students: 1,054 students aged 13-15 and 1,045 students aged 16-19. The sample was random, representative of the study population in terms of age, size of town and province. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland
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