Study: Students Want Teachers To Use Technology ASAP

A cross post from edudemic.com

One of my favorite comments ever was from a teacher who was talking about her journey bringing technology into her classroom and developing activities around the tools she had found.
She was enjoying herself, the students loved the activities and were learning the material – so what could be going wrong?
She was basically berated by another teacher because their shared students were complaining that they liked the technology-based classroom learning better, and that the other teacher’s stuff was boring.
So while it stinks to have your colleagues annoyed with you for being more innovative than they are (does the term ‘Too Cool For School” come to anyone else’s mind?), there’s an important lesson somewhere in there: students like technology. Which many of us already knew. But how much do students really like technology, and how much more does it help them learn than a traditional lecture based class?
A lot.
An annual study conducted by the research arm of Educause (ECAR – Educause Center for Applied Research), a nonprofit that advocates for technology in higher education, found that more students than ever gave the thumbs up to their professors’ use of technology in the classroom.

A Few Numbers

68% of students reported that their teachers were effectively using technology, up from 47% in 2010.
75% of students said that technology helped them achieve their academic goals, but only 66% felt prepared to use that needed technology when they entered college.
70% of students report that they learn best in a blended learning environment.
50+% of students responded that they are more actively engaged in classes that use technology, but they wish their instructors used more open educational resources, simulations, and games.
Between 2008 and 2012, there was a 107% increase in the number of students who took a class completely online.

The Takeaways

So what happens when studies like this show good things? Teachers are using technology, and students like it, right? The satisfaction of students with current technology trends will probably just spur demand for more technology and more adaptations of using this technology in the classroom.
So teachers, take note: keep learning along with your students – they’re more engaged and they like it, which is pretty much all we can ask for!