How Educational Technology is Being Used in the Classroom Infographic

How Educational Technology is Being Used in the Classroom Infographic

Digedu surveyed over 600 K-12 teachers across the United States trying to understand how teachers use technology in their classrooms in hopes of identifying best practices and contributing to the community’s continued development.

Teachers report widely varying experiences when using technology. Nearly all said that both they and their students use technology in the classroom; similarly, they report that it has positive effects on qualitative metrics like student engagement and student participation. Moreover, almost two-thirds report a desire to use technology more frequently.

In contrast, educators are primarily using technology as a replacement for non-digital/analog formats, rather than to support activities made possible only through digital solutions. The survey respondents also report using technology for a limited amount of time in class. More pointedly, fewer than half of teachers surveyed report that technology use had positive effects on students’ standardized test performances, and one in four report no positive effects on student achievement in class.

The survey provides clues to why some digital learning experiences are flawed. Nearly half of teachers report not receiving adequate training on the technology they use, and over half report lacking technological and instructional support. Additionally, almost half of teachers report loss of class time due to technology issues.

In addition to a lack of support and training, logistical barriers to success exist. Almost two-thirds of educators report a lack of hardware at school, two in five report insufficient bandwidth, and over half report that students lack access to online resources at home. These are fundamental challenges that require solving even as technologists and educators continue to refine digital tools and how they use them.