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Education Dive
Survey:
Teachers remain lukewarm on ed tech's impact on classrooms
Shawna De La Rosa
April 26, 2019
Dive Brief:
Educators remain cautious of the hype around ed tech, with less than a
third reporting that they've changed their teaching styles or
philosophies based on ed tech innovations, Education Week reports.
Other findings from a new survey conducted by the Education Week
Research Center include that while another 29% do feel ed tech is
transformational, the statistics indicate technology has yet to make
huge differences in the typical classroom, with many tech solutions and
implementations running counter to narratives portrayed around the
multi-billion dollar ed tech industry.
Key factors missing in the implementation of ed tech that may be part
of the problem include training and support, a willingness to
experiment, and the tendency for tech to be used to adapt existing
curriculum rather than develop new approaches to learning.
Dive Insight:
Educators’ lukewarm response to ed tech highlights the need for
professional development on any new technology educators are expected
to use. Most technology is embedded with all sorts of functions that
most users never implement, for example.
That component can be especially critical — and useful — given that,
after completing those training sessions, teachers can access and
reference related resources for immediate application on the fly in the
classroom. Among PD that should be considered are lessons on how to
bring lesson plans up a notch with new tech, especially given the
expanded access to real-time data in many ed tech platforms and
services that can be used to personalize learning.
District must also create strategic implementation plans. If the
infrastructure, available bandwidth, ongoing purchasing strategies and
professional development are not planned out, ed tech purchases can
quickly turn into a waste of money.
On the other hand, ed tech purchases that are driven by the educators
themselves are much more likely to be used. If teachers request a
device or platform, chances are high they already have ideas about how
it can bring their teaching up a notch. To accommodate this trend,
districts can provide streamlined approval processes, with an eye
toward keeping things simple so as not to deter teachers from trying
while also ensuring potential tech products are vetted for factors like
usefulness and security.
Education Dive
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