Teachers Talk Tech Survey Reveals Gap Between Technology For Teachers And Technology For Teaching
CDW-G's Third Annual Survey of Technology Use in K-12 Education Highlights Growth in Every Teacher Function; Reveals Administrative Use Favored Over Classroom Applications
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VERNON HILLS, Ill. - August 29, 2005 - CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation [NASDAQ: CDWC] and leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, today announced the results of its 2005 Teachers Talk Tech survey. The survey – conducted in March and April 2005 – revealed that the use of technology grew in every K-12 teacher role from 2004. Yet, while 86 percent of teachers rely on computers for administrative functions, 54 percent now integrate computers into their daily curriculum.
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More than three-quarters of teachers (76 percent) state that technology is an effective tool for the subjects that they personally teach. The survey also indicates that the majority of teachers are most comfortable with using computers for daily administrative functions such as e-mail, attendance and posting information about classes on school intranets. Seventy percent of middle- and high-school teachers use e-mail to communicate with parents, and more than half (52 percent) use school intranets to take classroom attendance.
The survey showed that teacher technology training has likewise focused on administrative applications, rather than instructional applications. More than 85 percent of teachers believe that they are well to adequately trained on Internet, word processing and e-mail software, but 27 percent have little to no training with integrating computers into lessons, and more than 26 percent have little to no training on instructional software. Overall, the time teachers spent in technology training did not increase over 2004, and 31 percent of teachers indicated that they had no technology training in either 2004 or 2005.
"Teachers are focused on using technology as an aid to respond to the increasing administrative requirements of K-12 education," said Chris Rother, CDW-G's vice president for education, state and local sales. "While the resulting productivity improvements are good news for educators and administrators, the focus on administrative applications may reduce efforts to leverage technology to improve classroom instruction and student learning."
Despite the general trend toward administrative use, CDW-G's 2005 Teachers Talk Tech survey indicates that more than 70 percent of teachers at all grade levels believe computers are a somewhat important or very important driver of student learning. However, more than 61 percent indicate that too few computers are available in their classrooms.
"Sixty percent of teachers believe that students' academic performance improves with the use of classroom computers, but just 38 percent say they have the right balance of computers to students in their classrooms," Rother said. "Closing the gap between administrative use and instructional use appears to be more a question of where computers are located, as opposed to just the number of computers available."
Elementary school teachers are more likely to use computers in instruction than middle- or high-school teachers by a margin of 12 percent. At the same time, elementary teachers are nearly 20 percent more likely to have access to computers in the classroom as opposed to a central laboratory or media center, according to the survey.
CDW-G's third annual survey of technology in primary and secondary education, the 2005 Teachers Talk Tech survey – conducted by Quality Education Data, a subsidiary of Scholastic, Inc. – sampled 1,000 randomly selected K-12 public school teachers throughout the nation in March and April 2005. Teachers were queried on a number of technology uses to determine how K-12 teachers utilize computer technology, and evaluate technology's role and efficacy in education. The survey gives K-12 teachers a voice regarding computer technology and contributes to knowledge about and support for the American educational process.
Other research highlights:
- Professional development is succeeding, with the number of teachers perceiving their skill with computers as Advanced/Expert nearly tripling from 6 percent in 2004 to 17.5 percent in 2005
- Less than 3 percent of teachers rate their skill with computers as Beginner
- Established, seasoned teachers indicate no innate resistance to classroom technology; in fact, the impact of technology on personal teaching style increases with teacher tenure
- Seventy-six percent of respondents believe that their state governments support the use of technology in schools
- Ninety-three percent of respondents feel that their school's administration supports the use of technology in schools
- Twenty-two percent of respondents use students as Information Technology (IT) technicians in their classroom – and of those respondents who do use students as IT technicians, 68.4 percent say this is part of a formal program
- More than half of teachers support 1:1 as the ideal ratio of students to computers, with nearly another third supporting a 1:5 ratio
Click here for more information about the survey results and a complete analysis.
About CDW-G
CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ: CDWC), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a trusted technology advisor and solutions provider to federal, state and local government agencies, as well as to educational institutions at all levels. CDW-G responds with a sense of urgency to customer technology needs, delivering best-in-class solutions from top-name brands such as APC, Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Sony, Symantec, Toshiba and ViewSonic. CDW-G focuses on building strong customer relationships with its knowledgeable account managers and technical specialists who provide extensive pre- and post-sales support.
For more information about CDW-G product offerings, procurement options, services and solutions, call 1.800.863.4239, or visit the CDW-G Web site at CDWG.com.
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