Report: Students Lack Wireless Access to Digital Learning Resources at School
Students have better wireless access to the Internet at home than at school,
according to a report conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Pearson.
The Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey 2014 collected responses from 2,252
K-12 students between February 13 and March 12, 2014. It found that while 93
percent of students have wireless access to the Internet at home, only 62
percent have Wi-Fi at school, limiting their access to digital learning
resources for personalized instruction.
Other findings from the survey:
- The majority of students said they would like to use mobile devices in the
classroom more often than they do now (71 percent of elementary, 67 percent
of middle and 56 percent of high school students);
- 51 percent of students surveyed indicated they think it's important for their schools to provide
them with a laptop on a 1-to-1 basis, and 43 percent
said they would like a tablet on
a 1-to-1 basis;
- 1 in 6 students attend a school where laptops or tablets are provided
on a 1-to-1 basis;
- 61 percent of middle and 71 percent of high school students said they
need to be connected to the Internet at school at least twice a week to do
their school work, and 26 percent of middle and 34 percent of high school
students said they need to be connected daily;
- Tablet usage is increasing, with 66 percent of elementary, 58 percent of
middle school and 42 percent of high school students using tablets, compared
to 52 percent, 43 percent and 33 percent last year, respectively; and
- Smartphone usage is also increasing, with 44 percent of elementary, 58
percent of middle school and 75 percent of high school students using
smartphones regularly, compared to 35 percent, 47 percent and 60 percent
last year, respectively.
The report examines student attitudes towards mobile devices, student mobile
device ownership, student mobile device usage for school work and at school,
Internet usage at school and future usage of mobile devices.Survey respondents
included 501 elementary school, 750 middle school and 1,001 high school
students.
The full report is available as a free PDF download from Pearson's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].