According to a new survey, technology in K-8 classrooms is increasing. The survey was conducted by Front Row Education, Inc., a company that specializing in adaptive, gamified and data driven education programs.

“Of nearly 1,000 teachers surveyed, four out of five say they will increase their use of technology during the 2015-2016 school year,” according to the results.

“The largest driver of this increase is access to devices, with more than three-fourths of teachers surveyed noting that the availability of technology resources at their school is either good (40%) or great (37%).”

Educators are beginning to notice the positive effects of technology in the classroom and as a result they have made changes and adapted to the new EdTech approach.

“When choosing which software to use, the most important factor teachers cited was the advancement of student learning, followed by the availability of valuable information on a student's progress. Aligning to the Common Core and ease of use came in third and fourth, respectively,” according to the survey.

The report states that teachers were also impressed with technology associated with determining a student’s skill-level. Determining the skill-level helps cut down time spent focusing on all areas rather than individualizing the approach to help students work on areas they may be behind on.

“In a class of 30 students, it’s nearly impossible for a teacher to know the exact level of each student without the use of technology,” said co-founder and CEO of Front Row, Sidharth Kakkar.

“The time we’ve spent in the classroom observing obstacles teachers face made this clear. One of Front Row’s key goals, therefore, is to make the initial and ongoing assessments easy for teachers. These survey results validate the way we’ve developed our programs, which is to design our products to help teachers quickly and efficiently understand where their students need help.”

Education technology has been changing the course of education for years now and from the results in this survey, educators who see the value it provides are welcoming it.

Additional findings include:

• High Administrative Support: 75 percent of teachers surveyed noted an increase in administration support for technology in the classroom; less than 1.5 percent said that it has declined.
• Daily Use: Four out of five teachers surveyed use technology in their classroom every day; nearly nine out of 10 use it 4 days a week or more.
• Age is just a number: No difference was found in the use of technology by the age of the teachers surveyed, or by number of years an individual has been teaching. Those in the classroom are embracing technology across all age ranges.

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Article by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor