EduDemic: Study Shows What Teachers and Parents Really Think About Education Technology

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 10:30 am, Posted by Katie Lepi

Study Shows What Teachers and Parents Really Think About Education Technology

 

 

We already know that there’s a lot of buzz about technology in education – that’s why we’re all here, right? But how do people feel about integrating technology into learning? Do teachers, parents, and students have differing opinions about it? Check out what this poll from the LEAD Commission shows: Nearly all good news for technology in education.

A few highlights:

• The majority of respondents support greater use of technology in education.
• The majority of respondents believe that integration of technology is important and will give students an advantage.
• The majority of respondents would choose to spend money on internet -connected devices rather than textbooks.
• The majority of teachers feel as though they need better training in integrating technology in their classrooms.

Want to learn more? Read on for an in-depth summary and link to the complete poll findings.

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The Leading Education by Advancing Digital (LEAD) Commission, a non-governmental organization exploring the opportunity to use technology to improve education in the United States, released poll results today that found that the majority of parents and teachers of K-12 students support greater use of technology in education.

In addition, the poll found that these audiences increasingly believe that school systems should be doing more to improve access to technology in education.

Key Findings:

• 96 percent of teachers and 92 percent of parents believe that schools’ integration of technology in teaching and learning is important to the education of American students today
• 54 percent of teachers and 64 percent of parents believe that the role of technology in educating students will become much more important during the next 10 years
• 61 percent of teachers and 63 percent of parents responded that the country is somewhat or far behind the curve when it comes to American public schools’ use of technology in education
• 82 percent of teachers and 71 percent of parents believe a greater use of technology would be helpful in connecting learning inside and outside of the classroom
• 89 percent of teachers and 76 percent of parents would choose to spend $200 per student for an Internet-connected device over $200 per student for new science textbooks
• 82 percent of teachers believe that they are not receiving the necessary training to use technology to its fullest potential in the classroom
• 95 percent of teachers and 90 percent of parents believe that home access to high-speed Internet gives students a big or moderate advantage when it comes to classroom performance

“The poll results shine a light on the importance of providing more access to technology in our classrooms,” said Jim Steyer, LEAD Commissioner and Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. “A greater belief among parents and teachers that technology has the power to transform the K-12 education experience can truly accelerate the digital learning movement.”

Led by Geoff Garin of Hart Research Associates, the nationwide poll was conducted via telephone with 883 parents of K-12 students from Aug. 7-13 using random sampling techniques. The parents’ poll also included an oversample of 200 low-income parents, with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 at the 95 percent confidence interval. In addition, 812 public school K-12 teachers nationwide were polled via an online survey from Aug. 9-15, including a margin of error of +/- 3.4 at the 95 percent confidence interval. To view the complete poll findings, please click here: http://bit.ly/NUhM5b.

“Once considered strategic, it is now essential to integrate new technological innovations to help educate our children and to help close the achievement gap,” said LEAD Commissioner and Co-Founder of TPG Capital Jim Coulter. “The LEAD Commission is taking an active role at informing parents, teachers, administrators and elected officials on the fast-growing eco-system available to help teach our children and to prepare them for the demands of the 21st Century.”

The poll release serves as a prelude to the LEAD Symposium on Technology in Education, a day-long gathering of education, technology and policy leaders to discuss the current barriers and opportunities involved in the adoption of technology in K-12 education. The event, which will take place on Sept. 11 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, will conclude with a discussion with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.