According to a study released last week by the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), educators are optimistic about the impact of technology on student achievement. However, the findings from the study show that technology is “woefully inadequate” in most classrooms.
1,934 public school educators participated in the survey, 90.4 percent of whom were classroom teachers (The margin of error on results was ±3 percent.) Educators participating in the survey consisted only of instructional personnel. The survey sample was randomly selected from members of the NEA and members of the AFT.
The key findings from the report:
Access to Technology and Support
Findings for technology access and support indicate that although schools had accumulated technology hardware for students’ use, it was not adequate in most schools to meet the demands of classroom instruction. Further, many teachers still believed that their access to instructional software and technical support was not adequate.
The number of computers in public school classrooms was not adequate to use computers effectively for classroom instruction, and the classroom was not the main location in school where most students used computers. More than half of public school educators had no more than two computers available for students’ use in their classroom or primary work area, and that level of access was inadequate for educators to use computers effectively in classroom instruction. Educators in elementary schools had more computers inside the classrooms for students’ use, whereas secondary schools had more computers in the technology labs. Secondary schools had more laptops available for short-term use in the classroom when necessary.
Most of the educators believed that their own access to technology at school was adequate to do their job, but they reported receiving little support for technology access outside of school. Whereas rural/small town educators were least likely to receive support for personal technology, urban educators were most likely to be provided with a laptop computer for work purposes inside and outside of school, and they were as likely as suburban educators to receive assistance to purchase a computer for home. Educators in secondary schools were less likely than those in elementary schools to believe that their own access to technology was sufficient to do their jobs effectively.
Access to the Internet and instructional software at school was adequate for most educators, but technical assistance and support in using the equipment and software were often inadequate. The software and condition of the equipment in urban schools was likely to be less adequate, compared with suburban and rural/small town schools, and technical support for using the equipment and software was less adequate in urban schools. Elementary educators were less likely to be satisfied with the software for their students, and they were less likely to have access to high-speed Internet connections for their students.
Results show that the training educators receive on using technology has been more effective for administrative tasks than for instruction and that training has been more accessible to educators in certain demographic groups.
School districts required professional development in technology for the majority of educators, but most educators believed that their training had been more effective for noninstructional tasks. Educators with the most job experience were more likely to participate in technology training and more likely to believe that their training was adequate, but less experienced educators were more satisfied with their knowledge of technology and its impact on their own jobs. Urban school educators were the least likely to receive adequate training to use technology, particularly in using administrative and instructional software and in designing individual lessons for students. Educators in middle schools were more satisfied with their technology training than educators at any other school level.
Use of Technology
Both educators’ and students’ use of technology for instruction has been limited in scope and
Despite educators’ limited access to technology training, computers and the Internet were the leading technologies used in public schools, rendering certain other types of technology nearly obsolete. Educators in elementary schools were the most likely to have used other types of technologies at school recently (e.g., videos, compact discs, and cable and satellite television), and educators in urban schools were the least likely.
Most educators used technology regularly at school for administrative tasks, but substantially fewer used it for instruction-related tasks. Educators with less experience were more likely than educators with more experience to use technology for instructional purposes. Urban school educators used computers much less frequently than did other educators for both administrative and instructional tasks.
About half of the educators required their students to use technology at school for individual research and problem solving, but only a few educators reported that they required their students to use computers regularly. Only one-third of educators reported that they required their students to use computers at least a few times a week.
Perceptions of Technology
Most educators have positive perceptions about the value of technology for teaching and learning.
Most educators surveyed were highly optimistic about the impact of technology on their jobs and on their students, and they considered technology essential to teaching and learning. Most believed that technology had improved students’ motivation for learning. Educators in suburban schools were the least positive about the impact of technology on teaching and learning. Educators in secondary schools were less likely than elementary educators to be satisfied with their students’ reliance on technology.
Educators asserted that their unions or education associations should be more involved in advocacy for technology, particularly regarding increased funding and more equitable distribution of technology in schools. Educators displayed notable differences in their perspectives on their union’s or education association’s involvement based on their level of experience and certain school characteristics. Urban educators believed their union or education association should help advocate for more equitable technology across schools. Less experienced educators overwhelmingly believed that their Associations should advocate for more technology funding. Mid-career educators were not as optimistic about the effectiveness of their Associations’ advocacy in this area. Finally, secondary school educators were the least likely to want their Associations to advocate for technology.
The complete report, including demographics, discussions, and data can be downloaded in PDF format from the NEA website.