Executive Summary

Gains and Gaps Online:
An NEA Survey of Educational Technologies in U.S. Schools

Education technology is a critical component of twenty-first century teaching and learning, and the National Education Association (NEA) is monitoring it closely. This report presents data derived from studies of technology issues conducted among members of the NEA, including classroom teachers, education support professionals (ESPs), administrators, and instructional specialists. (1) Like other studies, this one finds continuing progress in accessibility and usage of technology in public schools. However, by including the experiences of individual educators instead of studying schoolwide snapshots, as do other national studies, these data reveal a unique, more focused picture of both gains and gaps in the technologies inside public school classrooms across America. (2)

The study findings reveal that almost all educators now have access to a computer in and out of school and that they are making valiant attempts to use education technology as an instructional tool. Educators who responded to the surveys acknowledged seeing improvements in their job performance through their use of computers. Yet, closer examinations reveal that their access to education technology has been plagued with numerous problems, such as too few computers and Internet connections inside classrooms for students’ use, old or obsolete equipment, lack of technical support, and lack of staff training on integrating technology into instruction.

Also, the findings reveal that educators’ perceptions of technology have changed over time in both positive and negative ways. Of particular note are the disparities in educators’ access to, training in, and use of technology based on their demographic characteristics, such as career stage and school level, the region in which they work, and the income of their students’ families.

Major Findings

The results of the studies show improvements in certain areas of education technology but continuing challenges in others:

• Most public school educators had access to a computer in their school building and classroom, but students’ access inside the classroom remained inadequate. The majority of educators could access just one or two computers in their classrooms or primary work areas, (3)  and only a few had more than five computers for their students’ use.

• Educators were involved in their schools’ decisions about technology purchases but remained convinced that upgrades and technical support were inadequate. Most educators reported that they considered software available to teachers and students adequate, but nearly half said that old or obsolete equipment was still an obstacle. Nearly half also indicated that the lack of technical support (i.e., troubleshooting and upgrades) they received for maintaining the existing equipment was an obstacle. There was only a slight improvement in providing technical support for existing equipment during the period under study.

• Public school educators became more familiar with using education technology, but their training has not adequately prepared them to use technology for instruction. There was substantial progress in using technology for word processing of class materials and for e-mail, particularly in communicating with parents. Educators also improved in using the Internet to obtain new information. However, educators were less confident about their training on integrating technology into their instruction, and most considered the lack of time to learn about new technology as an obstacle to their job effectiveness.

• Training on using technology was not adequate to prepare most instructional staff (i.e., classroom teachers and paraeducators) to use technology for instruction. Educators increased their use of technology for sharing information with colleagues, but few educators found opportunities to engage their students in distance learning or to integrate technology into other instructional activities. Of the few who attempted to integrate technology into instruction, some used it to vary instructional delivery; these educators were more likely to be working in secondary or low-poverty schools. Others used technology to reinforce student skills through drill and practice; these educators were more likely to be working in elementary or high-poverty schools.

• Substantial gaps in technology access remained for particular demographic and geographic groups. The numbers of computers available in high-poverty and low-poverty classrooms were nearly equal, but computers in high-poverty schools were older and more obsolete and had less adequate software. Educators were less likely to have Internet access if they worked in high-poverty schools or in elementary schools, if they were newer in the profession, or if they resided in the eastern part of the country.

• Some educator attitudes on technology issues remained the same over time, but others changed significantly or became more complex. Among the comparatively stable attitudes were the strong associations teachers made between technology and use of e-mail and the Internet, as well as the belief that technology would help them work with greater numbers of students. In contrast, an attitude that evolved dramatically during this period was the value that teachers placed on technology as a tool for direct, individualized instruction. Initially, educators who valued technology most used it for word processing of class materials and in more routinized forms of learning, such as student drills. Later, educators who valued technology most used it to tailor instruction to individual student needs. These latter educators also felt that technology had helped their students attain achievement goals and standards. That association—between technology and student achievement—was not apparent in educators’ initial reports.

Recommendations

The recommendations proposed here are grounded in these findings, and they expand on recommendations proposed by the NEA more than a decade ago under the auspices of the Special Committee on Telecommunications (NEA 1992). These recommendations call for action and policy changes on technology at all levels of the public education system:

• Computers should be made available in classrooms at a ratio that allows students to gain regular, unencumbered access throughout the school day. Educational policy makers and school administrators should continue exploring avenues to bring more computers into public school classrooms, and they should seek to better understand how the investment in more classroom computers could strengthen teaching and learning.

• A more integrated and broad-scale approach to providing equipment upgrades and technical support should be devised through staff training and district planning. State and district technology plans should ensure adequate and ongoing technical support for school computers and other technology either by training school personnel or by securing the services of outside contractors. Moreover, efforts to tap public and private funding sources should be encouraged to allow schools to purchase, maintain, and upgrade technology.

• The inclusion of public school staff in decision-making about school technology should not merely involve decisions about technology purchases but should now also include decisions about training and professional development opportunities. Local affiliates and members should become active participants in this decision making through collective bargaining to ensure that educators receive the high-quality training needed to integrate technology into their instruction. Particular attention should be given to educators in high-poverty schools and to those in the western regions of the country (i.e., Midwest, West, and Pacific), because these groups have received less training than their counterparts in the eastern regions.

• Schools of education and state departments of education should adopt the National Educational Technology (NET) standards of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), or similar ones, to ensure that all preservice and in-service teachers are adequately prepared to use technology as an integral part of their instruction. Also, educators need to recognize that professional development in technology is an ongoing process, one to which they must commit themselves, and they should further understand that the integration of technology into instruction will require fundamental changes in the way teachers and paraeducators do their jobs.

• Closing disparities between demographic groups should be a primary focus for increasing access to technology in schools. Access to the Internet and other technologies should be made available to educators in their early careers and to educators working in elementary schools to ensure that both new teachers and young students have opportunities to build on skills they may have already acquired outside of school. Moreover, affiliates in the eastern regions of the country need to be made aware of their lagging access to computers and the Internet, and the NEA should provide regional support by pooling resources to help ensure that access to technology becomes equalized throughout the country.

• The capacity of computers with Internet access in high-poverty schools should be upgraded and maintained in a manner similar to that of low-poverty schools to close the gap with low-poverty schools. The NEA and state affiliates should take full advantage of partnerships forged with other organizations, public agencies, and state governments to ensure that the digital divide continues to close at a steady pace and that other inequities are not created by the type of digital access found in high-poverty schools.

• The NEA strongly urges further research and development on effective technology programs to help inform the debate on the "value" of technology in education. Federal funding agencies, state education agencies, school districts, and NEA state affiliates need to inspire more research on broad-scale school technology programs — ones that are integrated into instruction and that lead to improved student outcomes. The NEA recommends placing further emphasis on research that explores "best practices" to help document direct links between school technology and student achievement. Research and documentation will pave the way for better planning and implementation of technology in the schools.

(1) The term ESP, as the NEA uses it, comprises workers in the following nine job groups: Custodial, Security, Food, Health/Student, Paraeducator, Clerical, Technical, Trades, and Transportation.

(2) This study included NEA members only, but for convenience, and because the NEA represents most public school educators, NEA members are referred to as public school educators.

(3) In this document, the phrase "in the classroom or primary work area" is typically shortened to "in the classroom" for convenience. Note that a primary work area does include libraries and media areas but does not include school computer labs, which many classes typically share as a secondary work area.