Ed Tech Trends

Survey: Most Young Kids Are Learning STEM at School

• By David Nagel
• 11/09/21

A large majority of students age 10 and younger are being taught STEM at school, and parents can't seem to get enough of it. A survey of 1,000 parents of students aged 10 and younger found that 78% reported that their kids are learning STEM-based curricula at least weekly. And 73% of parents want schools to adopt more STEM learning.

The findings were part of a fall 2021 parent survey administered by ed tech company codeSpark, which offers a game-based educational tool focused on STEM for grades K–5. The tool, codeSpark Academy, is free for public schools in North America.

Almost two-thirds of parents participating in the survey (64%) also said they believe there's a direct correlation between STEM learning in the classroom and later career success.

The survey also asked parents about student gaming habits and screen time. According to the survey, 70% of children 10 and under spend "at least" three to five hours per week "on apps and online games." And nearly half in that age range are comfortable using apps and online games by themselves.

As far as screen time goes, 76% of screen time occurs in the home. And 65% of parents said the pandemic "significantly" impacted the amount of time their kids spend in front of a screen.

Some other findings from the survey included:

• 75% of kids use an educational platform at home, versus 70% at school;
• 40% of parents said that using ed tech platforms at home "helps advance success in the classroom for their children";
• 50% of parents surveyed said they want to invest in ed tech at home; and
• Of all game categories, students 10 and under interact most with "ed tech-based games" (with a 30% plurality).

The findings were not released in a report accessible to the public. Further information about codeSpark can be found at codespark.com.

Related article: "Many Parents Say Tech Barriers Hindered Academic Success in the Last Year."