Annual survey outlines broadband, instructional materials, student data privacy as top among school IT leaders’ concerns
Broadband and network capacity is school technology leaders’ top priority, according to the results of an annual IT leadership survey from CoSN.
The fourth annual K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report, released during CoSN’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., also revealed that school IT leaders are spending more time and devoting more resources to student data privacy and security. The survey collected responses from 526 ed-tech leaders, most in public school environments.
“There is innovative change happening in our schools. But with this digital transformation is a new frontier of challenges confronting IT administrators,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, in a press release. “The education community should know what is top of mind for school IT leaders so we can better support their leadership capacity and advance learning outcomes empowered through technology.”
Major IT findings emerged from the survey and are outlined in the report:
1. Broadband and network capacity is the top priority for IT leaders. It replacing assessment readiness (which for the first time failed to make the top three).
2. Privacy and security of student data is an increasing concern for IT leaders. About two-thirds said privacy and security are more important than they were last year.
3. Districts are turning to digital learning materials. Nearly 90 percent of respondents expect their instructional materials to be at least 50 percent digital within the next three years.
4. Ninety-nine percent expect to incorporate digital Open Educational Resources (OER) over the next three years, with 45 percent expecting their digital content to be at least 50 percent OER within that timeframe.
5. Nearly 80 percent of IT leaders use online productivity tools – the largest use of cloud-based solutions in education.
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