How Much Technology are Students Using?

Recently, technology has become quite the hot topic at our elementary school. Teachers, students and administrators are looking at ways to incorporate more tech in our teaching. How much are students already using at home and at school? Well, since I have the entire school for my art and music class, I thought a good way to explore what we have is to poll our classes. My poll found that a staggering 90% of our students had used at least some form of iPod, iPhone, or iPad device, and nearly 75% of students had one of the devices in their own home (even if it was a parent's phone). Nearly every home also had at least one computer, and about 50% had some form of a tablet device as well. This information shocked me as our school isn't considered to be a part of a "rich" community by any means. I chose a sampling of four students, two from a lower grade, and two from our highest grade (although one got sick mid-day and had to leave). I chose these students specifically because I know their families, and that they have availability to technology at home. I was curious to see how much of that technology they were actually using, and how much. (my apologies for the dismissal announcement in the middle, but I left it in because I figured you other teachers would appreciate it!)