78% of Elementary Teachers Spend Their Own Money on Tech for Teaching at Home

A survey of K–5 educators conducted this spring found that 78% of teachers had to spend their own money to supplement technology needed for teaching at home during the pandemic. The same survey found that 80% of elementary teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies.

The findings were part of a broader private survey executed by Merrill Research on behalf of Epson, which gave THE Journal permission to share results. The online survey was conducted in March. Respondents were divided nearly equally between educators working in-person, remotely and in hybrid environments.

The report also found that, during the pandemic, 76% of educators brought technology home with them from their classroom or school to help with remote instruction, including projectors (25%), printers (39%) and document cameras (36%).

The results of Epson's survey have not been made available to the public until now. We will follow up with further details.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


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