Dive Brief:
- A survey of 20,000 students and teachers by Quizlet asked participants what they think about technology in and out of the classroom, finding interesting differences between students and teachers, and among groups based on age.
- According to the data, 80% of teachers think technology applications make learning more fun while just 51% of students think the same, and 38% of teachers think apps help them teach while 66% of students say they help them learn.
- Between Gen Z students (born in 2001 or later) and Millennials, the younger students are 28% more likely to say tech helps them learn faster than traditional classroom materials and 24% more likely to say it makes learning fun — yet they're 6% less likely to say apps at home help them learn and 5% less likely to say the apps are a good use of homework or study time.
Dive Insight:
Just as some school districts proceed with ed tech initiatives without fully including the teachers who are asked to make them a success, administrators often fail to consider the actual preferences of students. Surveys are an easy way to collect information from large groups of students about how they see technology in the classroom. In many cases, the survey is a better measure of how their teachers are integrating technology and how good the individual apps they’re using are.
Another recent study, this one by Front Row Education, found 75% of teachers use ed tech in their classrooms and 50% have 1:1 programs. The 1:1 device participation is up 10% from last year and already teachers are saying they expect their technology use to increase throughout this school year. With so much technology in classrooms, it is important to focus on how it is being used.
