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Something I’ve long suspected is confirmed by real research by the Nielsen/Norman Group. Even though young people are comfortable with technology, they are not experts. I noticed this first with my personal sample of nieces and nephews, ages 24-7, who live all over the country. They know what they know, and like how technology makes their lives easier and more convenient, but they rarely look under the hood of technology or explore it deeply.
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A recent Neilsen survey of technology topping holiday lists for children reveals interesting differences by age. While the iPad tops the list for younger students (31% of students aged 6-12 want the Apple tablet), just 18% of youth 13 put it on their list. While 25% of younger students want the Nintendo DS, gaming devices (portable and tethered) fell below 15% for older teens.
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Successful long tail companies make engagement easy. They woo users with an easy interface that remembers who they are, what they like, and connects them with others. Why has this been so hard to do with learning in schools?
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To learn in the long tail, we need systems that help learners find the content, tools, and communities that match their interests, passions, and needs. At the foundation of businesses that have successfully delivered consumer products in the long tail is a powerful platform. A new service from netTrekker has the potential to be that platform for the education industry.
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Today’s children (ages 3-12) are more experienced using the Internet than previous digital natives. But how are they different from other web users? Jakob Nielsen’s latest usability finds that most of the same web design guidelines apply with some important differences.
First, digital natives have more difficulty distinguishing advertising and promotions from web site content. Where adult Internet users tend to ignore banners and advertising, children are inclined to click and explore everything on the page.
Second, while adults hardly think twice about sharing personal information, children are more aware of privacy and security issues. Digital natives think twice before disclosure.
It seems that we’ve taught our children about stranger danger (in this case, the stranger is a computer), but we need to work on media literacy.
