Results from TES Global’s second annual Teachers and Technology Survey found that the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) has rapidly expanded from last year.

In fact, 73 percent of the 1,000 educators surveyed said they use OERs more frequently than textbooks.

The findings positively reflect recent Department of Education efforts to make OERs more accessible to the nation’s schools and educators.

Last October, the Department of Education announced its #GoOpen campaign to inspire districts to try OERs out.

The Department started with 10 districts that pledged to replace at least one textbook with an OER.

Last month, it was announced that an additional 21 districts took the pledge as well; the campaign has cultivated the support of major corporations like Amazon, Edmodo and Microsoft.

The White House has also announced initiatives like the Open eBooks app, which includes over $250 million worth of books in its digital library.

The Open eBooks Initiative, like the #GoOpen campaign is intended to provide America’s classrooms with as many free, online resources as possible.

The TES Global survey revealed additional findings about tech use in the classroom, such as that 70 percent of educators use technology to communicate with parents and only 16 percent said a lack of Internet connectivity interfered with successful use of tech in the classroom.

Read the full survey results here. 

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

4/7/2016