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Gaming, coding top students’ ed tech wish lists

technology-learning

National survey identifies educators’ instructional practices and students’ learning preferences

Access to high-speed internet is among middle and high school students’ top technology preferences, according to a CompTIA national survey [1] of students and educators

Fifty-six percent of surveyed students said they’d like access to high-speed internet, 57 percent said they would like laptops, and 53 percent said tablets are a must-have.

When broken down by gender, male students demonstrated a greater preference for high-speed internet and game-based learning simulations, while female students expressed a preference for tablets and mobile e-learning apps.

Fifty-two percent of students want to learn more about gaming in school, 49 percent want to learn more about computer troubleshooting, and 45 percent want to learn more programming/coding.

Just 9 percent of middle and high school students said there is little or no technology used in their schools.

(Next page: What instructional technologies will educators purchase?)

Students are beginning to connect classroom learning with real-world outcomes and careers, with 92 percent of student respondents saying it is true technology teaches them skills they will use in the workforce.

Seventy-two percent of students said technology can be an unfair advantage for schools or students with better resources (45 percent said this was “somewhat true” and 27 percent said it was “very true”), while 29 percent said the statement was “not really true.” But when analyzed by demographics, region, or grade, study authors found no significant differences that would make it easier to identify the factors influencing responding students’ opinions.

Outdated services (53 percent), lack of training (47 percent), no access to mobile devices (44 percent), and slow internet connections (26 percent) are among educator-identified challenges to using technology in schools.

Forty-four percent of surveyed educators said they currently use tablets, and 33 percent said they plan to purchase or upgrade their tablets.

Forty-two percent use game-based learning, and 22 percent said they plan to purchase or upgrade game-based learning tools or resources. Thirty-eight percent of educators use mobile apps for learning and 29 percent plan to purhcase or upgrade mobile apps. Thirty-seven percent use adaptive learning, and 28 percent indicated they will purchase or upgrade adaptive learning solutions.

The survey identified two areas in which the number of educators who plan to purchase or upgrade solutions is greater than the number who currently use the solution:
Twenty-three percent of educators currently use flipped learning, and 25 percent indicated they will purchase or upgrade flipped learning solutions
Seventeen percent of educators use massive open online courses (MOOCs), and 23 percent will purchase or upgrade MOOC resources

The study surveyed 400 K-12 educators and 1,000 middle and high school students in order to examine opportunities, technology priorities and challenges, and tools and investments needed to best support education.