A new survey from Deloitte analyzed responses from nearly 3,000 teachers, parents and students across the country to reveal some interesting opinions about technology today.
According to The 2016 Digital Education Survey, 90 percent of all children are now using technology outside of the classroom, with two-thirds of children beginning technology use at age five.
As a result, the majority of teacher and parent respondents said they believe access to more and better digital content outside of the classroom will help students continue learning while at home and throughout the crucial summer months.
"88 percent of parents and 84 percent of teachers [are] interested in having more at-home digital content available to supplement what's being taught in school. These shifts are transforming the traditional divide between school and home life and creating a more personalized learning experience for all ages,” said Deloitte in a statement.
Teachers could also be interested in having more digital content because they believe soon enough it will be a necessity—75 percent of teacher respondents believe that digital learning content will replace printed textbooks within the next 10 years.
This belief is despite the fact that, according to the survey, only 42 percent of classroom use at least one digital device daily.
The survey also took a look at which devices students are using in today’s schools. The survey found that while laptops and tablets are the two devices most used by students, the two are popular with different age groups.
While tablet-use is popular with younger grades, use begins to decrease as students enter high school—the exact opposite of laptops. The survey found that 53 percent of K-2 students used tablets, while only 25 percent of students did in 9-12. Conversely, while only 15 percent of K-2 students used laptops, 37 percent of 9-12 students did the same.
And although experts expect wearable tech to increase dramatically in classrooms in the next five years, only 3 percent of teachers said they currently use wearable tech devices right now.
Whether or not teacher opinion about the eradication of textbooks within ten years proves to be true, both teachers and parents agree that teachers are the reason why edtech works.
”[T]eachers remain a key avenue to digital adoption. By a wide margin, parents trust teachers most, and teachers trust each other, for advice on both digital devices and learning materials,” Deloitte said.
Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor
10/5/2016