Here’s why we absolutely need education technology

[Commentary] Educational technology, or ed-tech, remains critical to K-12 education, especially when it comes to student success and engagement. A survey of public school teachers and administrators sheds light on why and how ed-tech implementation isn’t reaching its full potential.

Ninety-five percent of teachers said ed-tech enables personalized learning, and numerous studies show that not only is personalization the best way to approach teaching and learning, but it’s what students ask for time and time again. Despite educator support for ed-tech, there still exists a disconnect between ideal ed-tech classroom use and its reality. Of those implementing one-to-one or bring-your-own-device or BYOD programs, 37 percent use information or reference tools weekly, 20 percent use digital curricula weekly, 18 percent use teacher tools weekly, and 15 percent use subject-specific content tools weekly. These low numbers aside, 92 percent of teachers said they want to use more ed-tech than they currently do, but cited three major and all-too-familiar obstacles: money, access, and time. Seventy-five percent of administrators and 66 percent of teachers said lack of funding is one of their biggest obstacles to more ed-tech integration. Poor and insufficient technology infrastructure was cited by 45 percent of administrators and 53 percent of teachers, and 45 percent of teachers and 38 percent of administrators said they don’t have time to implement ed-tech tools properly.