Dive Brief:
- A new study from Front Row Education found more than 40% of K-8 teachers will spend 20 or more hours on professional development this summer, with their focus on technology tools, pedagogical practices, student engagement and content writing.
- Front Row reports 95% of teachers plan to introduce new technology in their classrooms next year, and about half of them plan to test the technologies this summer.
- Teachers report their students see technology tools as games that are fun and 89% of teachers find their students focus more or somewhat more while using technology than at any other time of the school day.
Dive Insight:
The summer takes teachers away from the classroom but for many it is a time for productivity. Many use these months to fulfill mandatory professional development requirements. Lack of PD, however, is consistently cited as a concern by teachers who want to learn more about new technologies to be able to implement them in their classrooms. In a survey of more than 150 K-12 administrators and teachers last summer, Education Dive found limited budgets and a lack of professional development to be top concerns for ed tech adoption. While teachers and administrators seem to recognize the power of new technologies, many districts continue to struggle with plans to get them into classrooms.
