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Teachers on tech in US classrooms: Study

March 8, 2013 By Anne Leave a Comment

A recent survey by the Pew Internet Project shows how pervasive technology has become in American classrooms. “Laptops and desktops are central, but … mobile technology use has also become commonplace in the learning process,” the Pew researchers write, adding that the 2,462 teachers surveyed feel “digital technologies have helped them in teaching their middle school and high school students in many ways.” Some of the “interactive online learning activities” cited by some of the teachers surveyed were “developing wikis, engaging in online discussions, and editing work using collaborative platforms such as GoogleDocs.”

Here are some key numbers:

  • 45% of the teachers reported that “they or their students use e-readers, and 43% use tablet computers in the classroom or to complete assignments.”
  • Interestingly, 73% of the teachers say “they and/or their students use their mobile phones in the classroom or to complete assignments.
  • 92% “say the internet has a ‘major impact’ on their ability to access content, resources, and materials for their teaching,” but 41% say that “major impact” means it requires more work for them to be an effective teacher, 69% say the “major impact” is on their ability to share ideas with other teachers, 67% say that impact is on their ability to interact with parents, and 57% say it the impact is on enabling their interaction with students.
  • 79% have their students access assignments online and 76% have students submit assignments online.
  • 62% of the teachers surveyed “feel their school does a ‘good job’ supporting teachers’ efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area.”
  • 85% of teachers “seek out their own opportunities to learn new ways to effectively incorporate these tools into their teaching.”

Digital tools narrowing or widening the digital divide?

But we do need to be thinking about a new-old problem, where schools and tech are concerned: a digital divide. “Teachers see disparities in access to digital tools having at least some impact on their students,” Pew found. “More than half (54%) say all or almost all of their students have sufficient access to digital tools at school, but only a fifth of these teachers (18%) say all or almost all of their students have access to the digital tools they need at home.” Interestingly, though, “asked whether today’s digital technologies are narrowing or widening the gap between the most and least academically successful students, 44% say technology is narrowing the gap and 56% say it is widening the gap.”

There are a lot more insights to be gleaned from the report, including generational differences between how teachers view the impact of digital media, the role of digital tools in teacher’ preparing for classes and professional networking, and teachers’ own use skill levels with the tools. The teachers surveyed – Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers – “outpace the general adult population in almost all measures of personal tech use, yet 42% feel their students know more than they do when it comes to using digital tools.” Sounds as if the advent of digital media is turning us all into lifelong learners!

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Filed Under: education technology, Research, School & Tech Tagged With: education technology, Pew Internet Project, research, school, students, teachers

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IMPORTANT RESOURCES

Our (DIGITAL) PARENTING BASICS: Safety + Social
NAMLE, the National Association for Media Literacy Education
CASEL.org & the 5 core social-emotional competencies of SEL
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Innovative Public Health Research
Childnet International
Committee for Children
Congressional Internet Caucus Academy
ConnectSafely.org
Control Shift: a pivotal book for Internet safety
Crimes Against Children Research Center
Crisis Textline
Cyber Civil Rights Initiative's Revenge Porn Crisis Line
Cyberwise.org
danah boyd's blog and book about networked youth
Disconnected, Carrie James's book on digital ethics
FOSI.org's Good Digital Parenting
The research of Global Kids Online
The Good Project at Harvard's School of Education
If you watch nothing else: "Parenting in a Digital Age" TED Talk by Prof. Sonia Livingstone
The International Bullying Prevention Association
Let Grow Foundation
Making Caring Common
Raising Digital Natives, author Devorah Heitner's site
Renee Hobbs at the Media Education Lab
MediaSmarts.ca
The New Media Literacies
Report of the Aspen Task Force on Learning & the Internet and our guide to Creating Trusted Learning Environments
The Ruler Approach to social-emotional learning (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence)
Sources of Strength
"Young & Online: Perspectives on life in a digital age" from young people in 26 countries (via UNICEF)
"Youth Safety on a Living Internet": 2010 report of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group (and my post about it)

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