Technology Survey Report

I conducted a survey to inquire about the use of technology in the classroom. Of the responses I received, 1 is from preschool, 1 is from elementary school, 5 are from high school with one teaching Special Ed, 1 currently getting his/her teaching credential in Special Education and the Instructor of this course. Most of the respondents teach in public schools, 2 of them teach in charter public schools and 1 in an independent school. The majority of the surveyed have at least 10 years of experience, 6 have been teaching between 10 and 18 years.

There has been some discussion around the country to debate whether children would be better educated and prepared for the future if technology took a central role in educating them and some schools have made the headlines by piloting programs in which every student has a device in school and the curriculum revolves around technology. Although this experiment is limited to some schools due its costs and also because data is missing on its effectiveness, generally, school reforms, districts and administrators are pushing for curriculum and programs to incorporate technology more extensively. The main reason for the survey was to find out to what extent teachers taking this online course use technology in their instruction and in their communications with students and get an idea about how they use technological tools in their classroom. When conducting a survey on how teachers use technology, it is important to first assess how much access to technology educators have. From the responses collected (multiple answers were allowed), it appears that all educators have at least one computer per classroom. If they want to involve students with technology 20 % of teachers dispose of just one computer for instruction and do not have access to additional computers while 80% can take their students to the library or computer lab, 20% can check computers and tablets in the library and 20% teach students who are allowed to bring their own device to school.

How many computers are available for your classroom instruction?

No computer in classroom One computer Computers in library/computer lab Check in laptops/tablets in library Students have own device

Graph 1 As for wireless access, most of the schools where educators work seem equipped as showed in the following graph.

Is there free wi-fi on your campus?

Free wi-fi on campus No free wi-fi on campus N/A

Graph 2

If technology is available to educators, it is worthwhile to inquire if they use technological devices for instruction. When asked how they deliver instruction in their classroom (multiple answers were allowed), a majority answered that they mostly use the blackboard (55.6%), 11% use a traditional projector, while 33.3% use a LCD projector and 11.1% use a smart board. As was apparent in the previous question, all teachers have access to a computer in the classroom, yet the majority relies on the blackboard to conduct their teaching. Only 45.4 % seem to have adopted the latest technological tools. Since many public schools in California lack sufficient funds to provide the latest technology in each classroom, it may be fair to wonder whether teachers are provided with technological tools such as LCD projectors and smartboards. Another hypothesis could be that although they are available, teachers do not take advantage of them and prefer to teach the old way that is with the blackboard and are reluctant to introduce more technology in their instruction. A follow-up question to inquire about the availability of such devices would have been pertinent. How do you deliver instruction?
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 I use the backboard for instruction I use a traditional projector I use a LCD projector I use a Smartboard Series1

Graph 3 The next point of inquiry concerns how educators use technology for their instruction, whether they modify their instruction from teacher-centered to student-centered. When asked how they utilize technological tools (multiple answers were allowed), 9.1% stated that they do not use a computer for instruction, 63.6% employ technology devices in a teachercentered way while 45.5 % assigned independent work and 18.2% have students work collaboratively. These numbers seem to indicate that although teachers remain disseminators of information and use technology to instruct and model, they may also rely

on technology to enhance learning, for exploration and creative activities and to develop higher-order thinking skills. How do you use technological tools (computers, smartboard, video cameras, audio programs, instructional software etc..) in your classroom?

Technology not used for instruction Technology in teachercentered instruction Independent student work with technology Collarative work on projects

Graph 4 Recently, many publishing companies have been moving forward with the digitalization of textbooks offering their customers an e-text version. This allows students to have access to a website where they can find a digital textbook with tutorials, drill and practice activities, exercises to review before a test, videos and additional material. It is assumed that in a few years, students will not have to carry textbooks since they will have everything they need on their personal device. The next questions purpose is to gage the extent to which the schools where this surveyed group teaches have adopted digitalized instructional material. Amongst those who use a textbook (54.5% do not), 27.3% replied that the textbook they employ has an e-text version, while 18.2% stated that they used a traditional textbook. As these numbers suggest, the adoption of digitalized instructional material, albeit at an early stage, is still worth noting.

Does your textbook have a e-text version? Yes No

Graph 5

After observing how educators employ technology in the classroom, lets move now to observe if they assign homework involving technology. As the following chart shows, the numbers are equally divided between those who do not ask they students to use technological tools after school and those who do. How often do you assign homework involving technology?
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Series1

Graph 6 With school reforms pushing for more and more technology in instruction, it is important to observe if schools are accommodating students from lower socio-economic background and providing those who do not have a computer and/or Internet access at home to comply with homework and projects that require such access. From the responses given (graph 7), it appears that opportunity exist at a majority of schools where the surveyed educators teach.

Library has accomodating hours for students with no home access to compter/Internet Library has no accomodating hours for students with no home access to computer/Internet N/A

Graph 7

The final point of inquiry is in regard to how teachers communicate with their students about homework, late assignments, make-up work and absences and whether they use the Internet to do so. As graph 8 shows (multiple answers allowed), only 20 % have a website and 20% teach at schools that dispose of a homework website. How do you communicate homework with your students?
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Homework on blackboard Homework posted on School has homework teacher's website website Series1

Graph 8

The next chart shows (multiple answers allowed) that the respondents are mostly comfortable using e-mails to communicate with their pupils. Only a third stated that do not use such a mean of communication. Do you communicate with your students via e-mail?

No communication by email Email not preferred but allowed Communication by email common

Graph 9

As for the use of Google.docs, only 18.2% use it to give feedback to their students while the majority does not (81.1%). This disparity can certainly be explained by the fact that Google.doc is more pertinent for some subject areas.

I use Googledocs I do not use Google docs

Graph 10

In conclusion, interesting observations were provided by this survey. It seems from the responses that a majority of teachers have access to technology tools as well as their students but that this group is somewhat divided equally between those who integrate such tools and those who do not. This divide could be explained by the financial state of the institution where they teach, whether they are provided with professional development in regard to adopting more technology in their curriculum. More follow-up questions would be needed to shed light on these questions.