How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms

Purcell, K., Heaps, A., Buchanan, J., & Friedrich, L. (2013, February 23). How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/02/28/how-teachers-are-using-technology-at-home-and-in-their-classrooms/?beta=true&utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg-KopIg.1&utm_referrer=http://www.pewinternet.org/search/how+teachers+are+using+techno

 

How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms

By: Kristen Purcell, Alan Heaps, Judy Buchanan, and Linda Friedrich

In the report “How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms”, a group of four professionals conducted a survey of 2,462 Advanced Placement and Nation Writing Project teachers of middle school and high school students to find out how technology is affecting their teaching and how they are using in to the classroom. I found the result to be exactly what I expected. It was a very interesting read with a lot of great statistics. When I think of technology and how is has affect and changed how I taught in the classroom and now how it is such a huge part of my job as a librarian I can’t imagine a day without using technology. As much as it hurts to say it I feel like today’s children have to have technology to keep them engaged in learning. It is also the best way I see to challenge them and to prepare them for their future. I heard someone say once that when today’s children grow up the jobs they will have, have not even been created yet because the technology will change so much that there will be a need for different types of jobs.  In the report the authors state that 92% of the teachers surveyed said that the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to access content, resources, and materials for their teaching. I would also agree with that even on the Elementary level because our online database is growing each year because of the need for more online resources for students. Programs like Capstone and PebbleGo are used every day by students as a way to read eBooks or conduct research on a topic.  The report also talked about how 73% of the teachers say that cell phones are a common part of their teaching practice now. I know from personal experience that I have used my cell phone and the remind me app to communicate with parents and this past few months as a librarian I have used my cell phone in many ways to show case the fun events and happenings in the library.

In this report it also talked a lot about how the amount of technology use and access differs from school to home and from low income schools to affluent schools. I know that in my Title One district we do not have access to as much technology as we would like. It would be amazing to be able to provide students with a tablet to use on a daily basis or smart board to use in the classroom but we just don’t have to means to provide that at this time. I am currently teaching in a school that was built to hold 750 students and this year we have over 950 students so our budget has to go towards making room for the students. I agree with the report’s finding when they say that 56% of teachers in low income schools say that the lack of resources and technology is a “major challenge”. Not only is technology access limited at school for these students but home access is not much better. Some of our students do not even have a computer at home to help with homework or research and that creates a challenge as well.

Overall this was a very interesting report. There was not anything that really jumped out as shocking because most of it was what I would expect with such a technology driven world that we live in today. They discussed the difference between ages, genders, and income. I would recommend reading it and looking closely at the charts that are provided in the report. They provided a lot of data support their findings.

I am curious to see how other are using technology in the library, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

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