Ed Tech Trends

Study: Teachers Find Benefits of Ed Tech Elusive

• By Sara Friedman
• 11/15/19

When it comes to instruction, teachers want to spend more time working directly with students who need intervention and providing one-on-one support. However, a recent survey finds 60 percent of teachers are worried that implementing technology tools could damage the student-teacher relationship.

The survey conducted by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt asks 1,102 teachers and 203 administrators across the United States how they feel about the current state of the teaching profession. Feedback from the educators is split into three sections: points of optimism and concern, current usage perspectives on education technology and student needs regarding social and emotional learning.

Thirty-four percent of teachers are very or somewhat optimistic about the state of the teaching profession, a 14 percent drop from 2018 survey results. Teachers and administrators are most concerned about meeting the increasing SEL needs of students.

"The significant decrease in optimism this year shows that the mounting pressures put on teachers have reached a tipping point. It's critical that we listen to and address their concerns to ensure educators are fulfilled and optimistic about the future, which will ultimately result in better outcomes for students," said Jack Lynch, CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Other findings in the report include:

• Seventy-five percent of teachers think the stressors from the educational environment make it difficult for them to be at their best in the classroom.
• Teachers are optimistic about the potential of technology to expand teacher capacity (83 percent). However, half of those teachers have a lack of time to plan on how to integrate digital resources into instruction and lack of student devices (40 percent) and inadequate student access to devices/internet outside the classroom (38 percent) are top concerns.
• Forty-three percent of teachers rank using videos from an instructional program or open source as the most integral to teaching and learning.
• Teachers want their schools to develop SEL initiatives that can provide students "self-discipline and self-motivation to succeed academically and otherwise" and help them to self-regulate emotions, thoughts and behaviors in different situations.

The full study is available on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website.