Abstract

ORGANISTA SANDOVAL, Javier  and  SERRANO SANTOYO, Arturo. Access and Usage of Portable Devices of the Student Population from Elementary to High School: A Case Study in Ensenada, Mexico.. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.3, pp.27-43. ISSN 1409-4703.

This research is aimed to identify the usage of portable devices and Internet service of elementary, junior and senior high school students in Ensenada, Mexico. We also investigated the frequency of usage and constraints regarding the use of portable devices in the classroom. We constructed an indicator of socio- technological level (NST) based on seven variables associated with technological ownership and Internet services in homes to locate students with high and low NST. These variables were recovered from the demographic information published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico from the Population and Housing Census conducted in 2010. A survey was developed to retrieve general information of students, their technology ownership status, and context of usage, among others. The survey consisted of 1972 samples of students from selected schools. The NST indicator related to Internet availability in all academic levels was above 90%, while the NST at the elementary school level was barely 57%. The results show a coverage above 90% in terms of computer and mobile phone ownership. The highest percentage of ownership of tablets (46%) corresponds to elementary school students. Technology ownership of students with high and low NST showed significant differences (p <0.05) in terms of computers and tablets, but not for mobile phones. We emphasize that most of the students take their phones to school, but in the majority of cases, their use is prohibited in the classroom. Our findings also show that 2 out of every 5 students have three screens. The possessionof technology anticipates a generation of students with more technological resources, which can eventually use them to support theirstudies.

Keywords : educational technology; tecnological change; access to information; new technology; Mexico.

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