Remote Learning Will Continue Growing over the Next Three Years
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 10/29/20
Over
the next three years, a majority of K-12 educators expect online
learning and digital curriculum to get ever more-important, while two
STEM standbys will go by the wayside.
Sixty-three
percent of respondents to a summer survey by interactive display
company Promethean
reported that they expect remote learning to experience the biggest
growth, followed by virtual learning (54 percent) and the use of
online content and resources (50 percent). But the use of robotics
and coding has shrunk in importance, from choices selected by 49
percent in 2019 to 14 percent in 2020.
As
the education technology company observed in a report on the results,
perhaps "the focus has shifted to getting back to basics when
delivering the in-classroom experience remotely."
Promethean
commissioned a
survey
of 1,200 U.S. teachers and school leaders on a number of topics
having to do with the state of technology in schools.
The
survey found that the digital divide "runs deep." As one
superintendent told researchers, "Equal access to the Internet
when students are at home should be a priority for the state
legislature."
The
biggest barriers that surfaced for remote instruction, according to
teachers specifically, was a lack of access to technology among
students and engaging them. At the same time, half of all respondents
(49 percent) said that the use of technology in the class was "a
great way to engage students." As one teacher noted, "The
biggest benefit of educational technology is that it mirrors how
students learn outside of school."
Two-thirds
of teacher respondents (69 percent) — both this year and last
year — said they're "constantly striving to innovate by using
technology as a tool for education." The remainder either feel
that they use tech "competently" in their own lives but
lack confidence to use it in school or "struggle" to use it
at the level required for education purposes.
Maybe
that's why when asked what schools needed to prioritize to make
remote instruction successful, four in 10 survey participants (43
percent) said teachers needed training on the technology. A third (34
percent) reported that their schools had no "formal outlined
strategy" for using tech.
"Technology
continues to play a critical part in helping educators streamline
learning and improve student outcomes," said Cheryl Miller, the
company's chief marketing officer, in a statement. "As K-12
districts face a school year like none other, our 2020 'State of
Technology' survey further demonstrates the need to make technology
available to all districts and students to bridge learning gaps and
help teachers create impactful learning experiences regardless of
wherever those classrooms are taking place."
More
complete results are available with registration on
the Promethean website.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.