Digital Content Trends in Classrooms Revealed in New Report

"State of Digital Content in America’s Classrooms, 2007-2008"
Reveals Current Use of Technology in American K-12 Schools

Denver, Colorado -- American classroom teachers currently use digital content for a small percentage of their classroom time, but teachers would prefer to use technology more often, reports a new study from Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED), an education market research and database firm, a subsidiary of Scholastic. QED researched technology trends to collect the most current data on digital content in American schools.

State of Digital Content in America’s Classrooms, 2007-2008, asked educators about the types of digital media that they have access to in their schools and that they use in their every day instruction. The study also asked teachers to identify barriers to technology use in their classrooms and to report the most common technology-based activities in which their students participate.

U.S. teachers use digital content for just a small share of classroom time, according to the survey. Just 9 percent of teachers report spending more than half their instructional time using digital technology, including computers, LCD projectors, and interactive whiteboards, while 16 percent do not use such technology in class, the report says.

Elementary school teachers most often said they used educational games, word processing, and drill exercises on computers. Middle and high school teachers most often reported using computers for Internet-based research, word-processing software, and multimedia presentations. Eighty-five percent of teachers said a barrier to their use of digital content was having insufficient computers in the classroom.

Key findings include:

• 86% of teachers have desktop computers available in their classrooms; 67% of teachers have access to laptops for their students if they need them; and only 5% of teachers have no access to computers of any kind.

• 9% of teachers spend more than 50% of instructional time using technology, while 16% of report no use of technology during classroom time.

• 85% of teachers report not having enough computers in their classroom as a barrier to using digital content, either always (23%) or sometimes (63%).

• Nearly 95% of teachers use technology to search for free content for use in their classrooms; 36% report that they do so at least three to four times a week.

• 17% of teachers participate in online social networking. Nineteen percent of teachers participate in an online professional community.

• Students of all ages are creating multimedia presentations in school: 58% of high school students, 49% of middle school students, and 22% of elementary school students.

“The findings from the new State of Digital Content report underscore the importance of schools across America making a commitment to providing access to up-to-date, relevant technology for both students and teachers,” said Andy Lacy, President of QED. “Teachers are telling us that they recognize the importance of technology as both a motivator and an instructional tool and as an essential part of a 21st century classroom.”

A New Online Clearinghouse Offers Help for K-12 History Teachers

A new online clearinghouse for history education has been established to provide curriculum, research, and professional-development resources for K-12 teachers.

The National History Education Clearinghouse, launched this month by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the Stanford University History Education Group, is underwritten by a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The free Web site, www.teachinghistory.org, includes links to journal articles, Web-based documents and other historical collections, and examples of best teaching practices.