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Teachers Want More Tech in Their Classrooms

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A recent survey reveals that teachers are more tech savvy than ever before, and their classroom wish list is proof.

In a survey conducted by software developer Wondershare, teachers cited state-of-the-art tech devices as the top five things they would like to have in their classrooms. Those items are:
 

  • Tablets – 82 percent
  • Teaching software (e.g., quiz creators, PDF file convertors, online tutorials, etc.) – 73 percent
  • Laptops – 72 percent
  • Interactive whiteboards – 70 percent
  • e-Readers – 61 percent


Not only does technology feature prominently on teachers’ back-to-school wish lists this year, but it is also held in high regard as an indispensable tool in the classroom, with 98 percent of teachers claiming technology helps them engage more with their students; 96 percent stating it helps their students engage more in class; and 97 percent saying that technology helps them accomplish more in the classroom overall.

“It’s really amazing to see how technology has become such an important tool in education,” said Allen Qu, Wondershare’s vice president of marketing. “Of course, these results confirm what we already suspected since teachers, students and parents make up a large percentage of Wondershare’s customer base. It will be interesting to see how consumer technology as a whole will further proliferate in schools, homes, businesses and beyond as we become more dependent on it in our day-to-day lives.”

The survey also reveals there is a definite technology shift happening in the classroom. For example, 87 percent of teachers say they currently have desktop computers in the classroom and 75 percent say they have laptops, but 82 percent wish they had tablets. Wondershare says this shows that technology in schools is beginning to align with where technology in general is headed at home and in business and that teachers are trying to get their hands on the tools both they and their students are already using at home and would prefer to use at school.

In addition to shining a light on what teachers would like to see in their classrooms, the survey also highlighted teachers’ most hated tech. Respondents selected a number of devices they wished their students would simply leave at home. Portable gaming devices (63 percent), MP3 players (53 percent) and smartphones (42 percent) ranked as the top three gadgets.


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