Dive Brief:

• Some 62% of districts have strategies in place for digital content and curriculum and are already using tech such as interactive whiteboards, document cameras, display equipment, and assessment tools, according to a new survey from the Center for Digital Education.
• The Digital School Districts Survey Awards data shows 38% of those strategies involve OER, 31% of districts plan to modernize in the next one or two years, and half have 1:1 tech initiatives underway.
• Another component of the survey was asking what district IT priorities were, with the top three responses being personalized learning, digital content and curriculum, and professional development related to integrating tech in the classroom.

Dive Insight:

The latest survey backs up findings from last fall, when Front Row Education surveyed 1,000 teachers and reported that 80% of K-8 educators anticipate using classroom technology “more frequently” during the 2015-16 school year. That survey also found that 75% of teachers said they had seen an increase in administrative support for tech in the classroom.

With President Barack Obama's $4 billion budget request for an additional boost in computer science literacy in U.S. elementary and secondary schools, more schools than ever are paying attention to how tech-literate their students are. At the same time, some educators and administrators remain concerned over just how well teachers themselves understand and use new technology.

One survey of educators conducted by textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt found that while the majority of teachers were enthusiastic about the potential of new technologies to improve instruction, 63% expressed concern that new teacher accountability structures could interfere with their ability to teach their students, and 58% were worried about being able to meet new assessment requirements.