If there’s one thing different generations can agree on, it’s that technology isn’t like Justin Bieber: Nearly everyone loves their smart phone—but you have to be a child of the late 90s to really love Bieber. Highlighting this bit of cultural knowledge is a new report that reveals it’s not just students who love using 21st-century technology; it’s many of the adults in education, too—and the adults are translating this love into classroom practice.
According to the ninth annual “Speak Up” survey, facilitated by the nonprofit group Project Tomorrow and supported by numerous companies, education associations, and think tanks, while only 46 percent of all Americans report using a smart phone, more than 70 percent of school principals and district administrators use these always-connected devices, making them early adopters of technology their students crave.
And it’s this early adoption—and the realization of the benefits of technology for anytime, anywhere access to information and communication—that’s spurring support for student use of smart phones, tablets, and online learning in and out of the classroom, the 2011-12 Speak Up data suggest.
“For many of us, we cannot truly appreciate the value of a new technology tool until we have realized a direct benefit from its use in our personal work life,” explained Julie Evans, president and CEO of Project Tomorrow. “That’s the same for educators. We found that teachers, principals, and administrators who are mobile users more highly value the benefits of using mobile devices within learning than their peers.”
According to the report, teachers and administrators use technology in myriad ways, such as participating in webinars; creating multimedia presentations; participating in online professional learning communities; creating and uploading videos, music, and photos; reading and/or posting to blogs and wikis; updating a social networking site; and using Twitter to communicate or follow others.
What’s even more startling is the increase in the use of these technologies among educators. For example, in 2007, only one in five teachers was involved with an online professional learning community (PLC), but four years later more than a third of teachers are collaborating with peers through an online PLC. Also, in 2007, only 36 percent of teachers said they regularly downloaded music for classroom use; that figure stands at 65 percent today.
By analyzing how teachers, librarians, and administrators are using technology for their professional career, the report aims to reveal how those experiences are driving new plans and policies for technology use in school.
To better understand how the increased familiarity of educators to new technologies is changing the classroom experience, the report focused on the views of three subsets of teachers, principals, and district administrators: “mobilists,” who are using a smart phone or tablet; “online learners,” who have taken an online course for their own professional development; and “digital content producers,” who are regularly using digital content for their work tasks.
Mobilists
According to the report, more than 40 percent of administrators who are mobile users are currently evaluating a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) approach, compared to just 19 percent of all administrators.
Also, nearly 30 percent of the mobilist administrators provide school-owned devices (like laptops, tablets, and iPod Touch players) for student use, compared to just 13 percent of all administrators.
Mobilist teachers say the greatest benefits for incorporating mobile devices within instruction would be to increase student engagement (83 percent), provide access to online textbooks (73 percent), and extend learning beyond the end of the school day (63 percent).
Additionally, two-thirds (66 percent) of the mobilist teachers say that a mobile device would provide a way for instruction to be personalized for each student.
Online learners
Educators who have used online learning to support their own professional development are much more inclined to support student online learning.
For example, compared with teachers in general, online learners are 22 percent more likely to recommend online classes for students.
“Educators who have taken online courses note the benefits to themselves—and their students—include the ability to review materials as often as needed and to customize the learning process, so that those who have mastered a lesson can move on while students who need some extra support can slow down and review before moving on,” said Evans. “Online classes and resources are going to be key to the personalized learning so many parents and educators are demanding.”
The report also notes that with a keen eye on school budgets, principals are interested in the potential of online classes to lessen the cost of textbooks.
Two-thirds of district administrators who are online learners said they would support a requirement for students to take an online class in order to graduate from high school. Among the district administrators who had taken an online class, however, three out of four agreed with the idea for district to implement this new policy requirement.
Digital content producers
Half of administrators said they see digital content as a way to reduce dependence on textbook publishers, and 44 percent said digital content could help them decrease costs.
They also believe that digital content within instruction:
- Increases student engagement (74 percent);
- Helps to extend learning beyond the school day (64 percent);
- Improves teacher skills with technology (52 percent);
- Increases the relevancy of the instructional materials (51 percent); and
- Provides a way for instruction to be personalized for each student (50 percent).
In the same vein, teachers who regularly use digital content in their own tasks are more likely to use digital content within their lessons.
These teachers more highly value digital media creation tools, online textbooks, and tablet computers as learning tools than their peers in general, says the report.
The same goes for librarians who are digital content producers. They are more likely to recommend:
- Animations (36 percent);
- Podcasts and videos (72 percent);
- Online databases (71 percent); and
- Real-time data (61 percent).
These librarians also are more discerning and more in tune with the needs of the teachers and students they serve when asked about evaluating the quality of digital content for instructional use, the report reveals.
“Today’s library media specialists are not just supporting their teachers’ use of technology,” states the report, “but they are also increasing the teachers’ capacity for using these tools, especially in terms of digital media and content.”
It continues: “We now realize that we already share a common set of beliefs. No one wants the ‘one size fits all’ approach to learning, not for themselves or their students. At the same time, everyone from the third grade student to the third grade teachers to the curriculum specialist for elementary education has experienced the power of technology to personalize an interaction or learning opportunity. And most importantly, we found that experience to be engaging and empowering.”
The report, “Personalizing the Classroom Experience—Teachers, Librarians and Administrators Connect the Dots with Digital Learning,” is available here.
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