Eighty-two percent of teachers in a recent survey say they believe tech tools have enhanced teaching and learning, and most say they have access to the tools they want.
The survey from MidAmerica Nazarene University queried 1,000 teachers with a minimum of 5 years in the classroom to gauge the impact tech tools have had on instructional methods and student learning.
On average, teachers say 56 percent of their tools have become tech based, and 80 percent of teachers say they have access to most of the tech tools they want in their classrooms. Those tech tools include interactive whiteboards, student portals, laptops, tablets, learning software, and learning apps.
Private school teachers are 13 percent more likely to have access to tech tools, and teachers in the southwest appear to have the most access to technology.
Seventy-three percent of surveyed teachers agree that technology has changed dramatically in the last 5 years–not a big surprise based on technology’s fast-changing nature.
Now, only 42 percent of assignments are done by hand, and 73 percent of teachers say their students use laptops and tablets in class each day.
Sixty-six percent of schools provide tablets and laptops, 25 percent of students bring their own, and 9 percent of schools do not permit tablets or laptops. Most schools (93 percent) have rules for using smartphones and the internet, and common rules include turning off phones and putting them away during exams.
Eighty-six percent of teachers have WiFi in their classrooms and 62 percent of students use personal tech tools in classrooms. But this personal use doesn’t come without drawbacks–70 percent of teachers say student smartphone use causes tension and disruption in the classroom. In fact, 50 percent of teachers say they deal with disruptions each week, and 36 percent say they deal with disruptions each day.
Not all tech tools are viewed negatively, however. While teachers say smartphones have a negative impact on the classroom, they say WiFi, laptops, learning software, interactive whiteboards, and web portals have a positive effect on the classroom.
Teachers say technology makes students:
- More productive (66 percent), less productive (17 percent), and as productive as before (17 percent)
- More social (38 percent), less social (36 percent), and as social as before (26 percent)
- More physically active (17 percent), less physically active (61 percent), and as physically active as before (22 percent)
- More intellectually stimulated (60 percent), less intellectually stimulated (21 percent), and as intellectually stimulated as before (19 percent)
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