Page 34 - THE Journal, March 2017

EDTECHInsider By David Nagel & Project Tomorrow
What Would You Do with Better Connectivity?
About a third of technology leaders in education are concerned about the connec- tivity in their schools. Only a fifth say their broadband meets their needs all of the time, with the plurality — 46 percent — saying it’s adequate for most purposes.
That’s a slightly improved picture from three years prior, when 41 percent had con- cerns about their internet connectivity.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of educators are positive on the importance of adequate broadband. An overwhelming 85 percent say it’s “essential” in order to realize positive results from digital learning initiatives. And a sizable majority — 61 percent — say they’ve needed to invest in increased capacity in order to address the needs of online testing.
So what would tech leaders in education do if they had access to better broadband?
In order, the top 4 priorities cited by a selection of 775 school technology leaders in the United States were:
1. Better utilization of online curriculum;
2. Increased access to multimedia content and games;
3. Increased opportunities for teacher profes- sional development; and
4. Accelerated adoption of cloud technolo- gies/solutions.
The data here were compiled in a survey conducted by Project Tomorrow involv- ing 38,613 teachers and librarians and 775 technology leaders and are published here for the first time.
We’ll feature more exclusive data from this and other Project Tomorrow surveys on this page in every issue of THE Journal. For more information about the Speak Up survey, visit tomorrow.org.
David Nagel is editor-in-chief of THE Journal.
1. If you had enhanced connectivity in your district, how would you use it?
Better utilization of online curriculum: 69%
Increased classroom access to videos, games and other
multimedia content: 65%
More opportunities for online professional learning for teachers: 44% Movement to cloud solutions: 42%
Source: Project Tomorrow, based on data collected from 775 school technology leaders across the country.
2. There is a relationship between increased broadband connectivity and instruction and assessment:
61%
61% of technology leaders say they invested in increased internet connectivity to meet the needs of online testing
85%
85% of technology leaders say
having adequate broadband capacity is essential to see positive results from any new digital learning initiative
3. How would you describe the state of your district’s current internet connectivity?
Increased capacity within the last 3 years but high level of intermittent problems still exist.
TECH LEADERS 2012
TECH LEADERS 2015
Meets all of our needs
16%
21%
Meets needs most of the time but with intermittent problems
41%
46%
Concerns about meeting increased demands
30%
21%
Does not meet our needs today
11%
10%
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| MARCH 2017