New Report on the Use of Mobile Platforms: An Important Avenue for STEM Learning

Richard Hudson of Twin Cities Public Television reports out on how 2014 AISL PI Meeting participants are using technology to support informal STEM learning.

The use of digital media, particularly smartphones, continues its explosive growth, becoming an ever more important opportunity for STEM learning. A new report from comScore, a digital analytics firm, describes the rapid growth of mobile technology in the U.S..

At the recent NSF AISL PI meeting, several participants shared a number of cutting edge digital activities. These will be shared in a future post on InformalScience.org; you can also join the resulting Group on Media & Interactive/Online/Mobile Technologies for Informal STEM Learning for more updates and discussion.

The comScore headlines:

• Total U.S. digital media time spent has jumped 24 percent in the past year, driven by a surge in mobile app usage, which increased 52 percent. While mobile usage has been growing fast, it has not come at the expense of desktop computer usage, which still managed to grow by 1 percent.
• The strong growth in mobile app usage has propelled it to take over the majority of digital media time spent at 52 percent. Total mobile activity including mobile browser usage recently eclipsed 60 percent, as desktop now accounts for the remaining 40 percent.
• Apps drive the vast majority of media consumption activity on mobile devices, accounting for approximately 7 out of every 8 minutes. Smartphones have a slightly higher percentage of app activity as compared to browser at 88 percent vs. 82 percent on tablets.

You can download the full report here.

Top Image: Sue Ellen McCann, CAISE Co-PI and Producer at KQED Public Media, describes the upward trend of use of mobile devices at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting.