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Cory Maloy
Education Dive
Report: Teachers' pre-pandemic digital material use remained limited
Experts say states and districts should provide more guidance on
integrating supplemental digital resources into instruction, especially
in virtual classrooms.
Linda Jacobson
April 16, 2020
Before the coronavirus outbreak, the majority of teachers were using
digital instructional materials only on a supplemental basis. And of
the resources they reported using most in their classrooms, only 30%
were digital, according to new data from the American Instructional
Resources Survey, which was administered to the RAND Corp.’s American
Teacher Panel.
When planning lessons, more than half of teachers said they consult
Teachers Pay Teachers, a popular site for online resources some experts
have said are not always well-aligned with academic standards. Just
over 40% said they conduct Google searches, about a quarter use
Pinterest, and less than a fifth consult the Common Core standards or
their state education agency websites.
In the classroom, YouTube, Kahoot!, ReadWorks and Khan Academy were
among the sites and tools teachers reported using most frequently.
The results, released Thursday, provide a glimpse into how teachers
were planning instruction before they had to shift all of their
teaching to an online platform.
Teachers reported using comprehensive curriculum materials, such as
textbooks and non-digital materials, for the "bulk of their
instructional time,” wrote the authors of the survey report. Fewer than
20% of teachers said they used any digital materials for more than half
of their teaching.
"These findings suggest to us that teachers who are now providing
online instruction for students could be using digital materials that
are not really intended to support students over time," Katie Tosh, a
RAND policy analyst and an author of the report, and Julia Kaufman, who
leads the AIRS project at RAND, wrote in a joint email. "Instead, these
materials could be providing a lot of one-shot practice opportunities
that may not connect to other materials or to the curricula students
were using before schools closed."
Kaufman added if teachers lack expertise in using digital materials and
platforms, much of the burden now shifts to students and parents at
home. "Never before have so many students and families engaged in
online learning, and they likely need far more technical support than
schools typically provide," they wrote, adding districts could form
technology teams to support families.
For support and enrichment
Of the almost 6,000 teachers responding to the survey, those who
reported already using standards-aligned, comprehensive curriculum
materials were more likely than those without such programs to use
supplemental digital materials.
Teachers in the highest-poverty schools were also more likely to use
digital materials, perhaps “to support students who need additional
scaffolding to master standards-aligned materials or even for
enrichment,” the researchers wrote. “Prior research suggests that
teachers seek supplementary materials when their main materials are
perceived as ‘too hard’ or ‘too easy.’”
Teachers in high-poverty schools were also more likely to say the cost
of materials, as well as students’ lack of access to devices or
reliable internet at home, were barriers to greater use. Forty-three
percent of respondents said lack of access at home was a minor barrier,
and 23% listed it as a major barrier.
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