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New report predicts future technology trends among children and young people

The dominance of watching a television set as a childhood pastime is likely to end within the next two years - with youngsters likely to be spending more time online for the first time ever, according to the new CHILDWISE ‘Connected Kids’ report.

Future generations of children are also more likely to watch content, such as TV programmes, on a tablet, or even a phablet (a tablet-style mobile phone) than they are a traditional television set, laptop or PC.

Soon children will expect to stay connected at all times – everywhere and anywhere. This is likely to influence how willing they are to participate in trips out and family holidays.

CHILDWISE’s ‘Connected Kids’ analyses 20 years of annual survey data from children and young people across the UK. It shows the progression of technologies, ownership and usage, and predicts how they might change into the future.

“This is the first time we have analysed data from the last 20 years of the annual CHILDWISE Monitor surveys to predict the progression of technologies and their usage,” says CHILDWISE researcher Matthew Nevard.

“This groundbreaking report uses the wealth of historic data we have on children’s media usage to identify trends and theorise how children’s media engagement is likely to develop over the next few year,” adds Matthew.

CHILDWISE Trendlines future predictions

Tablet ownership will continue to increase, with the potential to reach similar levels to mobile ownership in the next few years.

Ownership of laptops and PCs is likely to fall.

Screen time will level out. As time spent using the internet and mobiles increases gradually, time spent watching television on a traditional set is declining. More on demand and binge viewing on tablets and laptops.

Decline in the proportion of children with TV sets in their bedroom, from around 80% of 7-16s in 2004 to 60% in 2014. Children and young people can now watch content in their own room on other devices, such as laptops and tablets. This trend is set to continue over the next few years.

Children will expect to be able to access the internet anywhere and everywhere - ability to access their online lives may even influence their willingness to participate in family holidays and trips out.

The use of portable devices makes it more difficult for parents to regulate what their children are accessing on the internet. Therefore, protecting children from inappropriate content online is set to be a continuing issue going forward.

For the first time children could spend more hours online than watching television. The wealth of content available online and popularity of YouTube is drawing young people to the internet over linear TV viewing.

Traditional social networks to decline steadily in popularity with photo and video sharing sites increasingly coming out as favourites among young people.

Mobiles to become a ‘hub’ device, used to coordinate a variety of other technological devices. It is likely that children and young people will use their mobiles to interact with the television, either indirectly through second-screen viewing or as a controller.

Apps such as YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat to continue to be popular. Facebook is still widely used but its popularity is declining in favour of newer experiences.

In the next two years

Children’s internet use is likely to overshadow the television. TV viewing on traditional sets continues to decline at a steady rate, whilst hours spent online will increase. Children expect to choose the content they engage with and on-demand services like Netflix will be the norm.

In the next five years

Likely convergence of technology currently in use. Some children may choose ‘phablets’ (tablet-like phones) instead of the current popular combination of phone and tablet/laptop. Televisions likely to be increasingly internet-connected, allowing streaming of content from portable devices to the big screen. Cloud technology means children will expect to access their files and information anywhere and on any device.

In the next 10 years

Children growing up will have little understanding of a world without the internet. Having appliances which cannot be controlled using a smartphone or some kind of online dashboard may be seen as outdated, or at least increasingly rare. Wearable technology likely to have progressed significantly by this point.

The CHILDWISE Monitor survey is a comprehensive annual research study with children and young people across the UK. The study looks at children’s media consumption and purchasing behaviour, and at aspects of their wider life.

tootoot, partnered with Barclays, has received funding to provide every school in the UK with the tootoot safeguarding platform and application for FREE!

Initially being rolled at in the North West, Regional schools commissioner, Paul Smith, is driving the roll out of a new safeguarding and prevention platform and app, tootoot, across all primary schools, secondary schools colleges and Universities in the UK, in an effort to combat all forms of bullying and safeguarding issues.

The initiative, which is also supported by actor Will Mellor, will provide students with an online platform to securely and anonymously report any incidents directly to their place of learning.

Paul Smith commented: “Having measures in place to prevent all forms of bullying, and a clear process for reporting incidents, is incredibly important for the safety of vulnerable students. Tootoot is an effective tool to help in these situations and, by giving 4,500 places of learning and over 1 million students access to this platform, we will have a much better idea of the scale of problems and we will hopefully see a significant reduction in the number of cases.”

Tootoot is available 24/7, 365 days a year and is six times more effective than face-to-face reporting. It is used to support the education system by raising awareness of safeguarding issues and improving the overall learning environment for young people across the whole of the UK. The platform and app, developed with the support of Barclay's, will also help to promote equality, support diversity and increase confidence in school pupils and college students across the regions.

Tootoot developer Michael Brennan, said: “Modern bullying comes in many different shapes and sizes. But whatever its form, it is a subject that is often very difficult to talk about if you become a victim. That’s why I developed tootoot, and by rolling it out to all schools it will give a huge number of young people the confidence to report what is happening to them.”

To date tootoot has already helped over 55,000 students have a voice to speak up in over 100 schools, in less than 6 month, across the globe.

Tootoot has also become an educational lead for places of learning, local authorities and MAT’s with The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and their Prevent Strategies. The CTSA 2015 states local authorities have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

tootoot for students

The first safeguarding platform and app, developed in partnership with Barclays used in primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities, which allows students to safely report any worries and incidents of bullying, cyber bullying, racism, extremism, radicalisation, sexism, mental health and homophobic issues directly to their place of learning.

tootoot for staff

Recording safeguarding incidents is of the utmost importance for educational institutions, which is why we’ve made it better. We developed tootoot with the help of safeguarding officers across the country, drawing upon hundreds of years of collective experience and expertise to ensure that the recording, handling and tracking of incidents is easier than ever before. That’s right, no more paperwork!

tootoot for senior leadership

With the click of a button, tootoot’s real-time dashboard collects, analyses and creates detailed, easy to read reports instantly, anytime. No more wasting time hunting through filing cabinets hours before an Ofsted inspection, regulatory body visit, or governors and SLT meeting.

tootoot for parents

All parents worry about their children whether they’re at primary school or university. Many of the safeguarding officers and team members that developed tootoot are parents themselves and the safety of young learners and students are our highest priority. The parent feature within tootoot, allows parents to report their own concerns anonymously, directly to their child’s place of learning.

If you would like to sign up your school free today then click here or visit www.tootoot.co.uk to sign up or find out more.

The latest figures from the CHILDWISE Monitor Pre-school Report show that 73% of children under five use tablet computers and phones – up from 27% in 2012.

By the age of two, most children are now using these devices, with access not far off universal by the age of four.

“Pre-schoolers appear to have rapidly adopted the tablet. It has quickly emerged as a most-wanted device for children, even among the very young – and parents have encouraged this,” says Childwise research manager Jenny Ehren.

Childwise is a leading, independent research specialist in children and young people. This latest report examines the media and purchasing behaviour of pre-school children and their parents.

Findings include…

The average session on a tablet or computer lasts around one and a half hours.

The average time pre-schoolers spend watching TV has increased again this year, with levels higher than ever before. Under-5s watch more than two and half hours per day.

On-demand services are surging in popularity with Youtube most popular.

Using apps has become a mainstream activity for pre-school children this year. More than half use an app of some kind.

More than a quarter of pre-schoolers have their own computer or tablet, according to the new data. One in two use a mobile phone. The number using apps has soared since 2012 with more than half now using them.

“Parents consider tablets and the games and apps on them, as a great way to keep small children entertained and provide a learning benefit. The length of an average session is testament of parent’s approval, with toddlers typically entertained for around one and half hours at a time,” says Jenny Ehren.

Greater access to on-demand services is undoubtedly a contributory factor in the length of these sessions, along with the creative world of games and applications. One in six pre-schoolers also use a tablet or computer to video call family and friends, using applications such as Skype and FaceTime.

The report shows how pre-school children and their parents are increasingly focusing their viewing attention towards on-demand services. Three out of five households now use these to some extent.

This generation of children is growing up with the internet’s new mode of serving and searching for content, and they can decide what they want to watch and when. By age 3-4, the majority are using these services to access their favourite TV shows.

Pre-schoolers account for around a third of all children under the age of 16 and are an important demographic, both in terms of numbers and because these are their earliest years, when patterns of behaviour and attitudes are first established.

Studies have previously shown the older the child, the greater the likelihood that they will own and use computers, smartphones and the internet. However, this new report breaks the traditional correlation previously seen between increasing age and device ownership.

By four most youngsters are self-sufficient on a tablet or computer and a significant minority are becoming independent players across the spectrum of mobile phones, TV and the internet.

The annual CHILDWISE Pre-School Report talks to more than 1000 parents of 0-4 year olds, asking about their children’s media use and parents’ spending habits.