Give a young child a phone and they are instantly entertained for hours. Almost any parent will agree with that fact. Over the years, my littlest one has been endowed with not only the toy versions of phones, but old cell phones that have long since been outdated. The latest is a flip phone that her cousins gave her and she seriously carries it around transacting kindergartner business on it daily. My oldest child is more likely to have the latest set of technology because of her age. During the holidays she received an Apple iTouch. My husband got me one also as a gift with the ulterior motive of knowing the details of what our teenager was using security-wise.

Now picture my 5 year old whipping her “cell phone” out of her pocket and pretend chatting. That happened all the time before the holidays. I noticed something very interesting a few weeks ago. She’s changed the way she uses it since December. She used to flip it open and use it as intended by pushing buttons and arrow keys, dialing up her cousin for a pretend conversation. Now she holds the phone out in front of her and sweeps her finger across the screen just like her older sister does with the iTouch. Swosh…there she goes looking up a pretend phone number. Tap…she’s typing in her text message on the screen and not the keyboard. She stares intently at a blank, long ago demised, screen. Never touches the keyboard portion now. Talk about a fast adaptation!

Not a day goes by that I don’t hear a comment from one of my friends about how their children use technology. There are comments about cell phones, mp3 players, gaming equipment, phones, and teacher assignments requiring you to have internet access – let’s face it, our kid’s lives are immersed in technology. Ours, too.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how we, the adults, and along our children define our use of technology. I’m not sure we all realize the reality of our tech profile. The Pew Research Center has been evaluating American society and it’s changes for 62 years with the public portion of the studies and surveys beginning in 2004. They have attempted to chronicle some of the most accurate and detailed information about our current American life. Pew currently has two online quizzes available. I thought it would be interesting to see each other’s answers. I plan on taking the quiz today with my family. It will be interesting to see what labels various members of the family receive. Here’s my challenge to you: take this quiz with your family members. Leave me the answers as a comment on my blog here. I can’t wait to see your replies. Here are the links:

“What Kind of Tech User Are You?”

http://www.pewinternet.org/Participate/What-Kind-of-Tech-User-Are-You.aspx

And, “What Are You Doing Online?”

http://www.pewinternet.org/Participate/What-Are-You-Doing-Online.aspx

I can’t wait to see your answers! Mine will be posted later today after my teen arrives home.