Tag:

Speak up

How the Speak Up Leader Survey Addresses Digital Equity in Your District

by Dr. Julie A. Evans May 31, 2024

written by Dr. Julie A. Evans

With advancements in GenAI and new promises of transformation, effectively integrating educational technology in classrooms and ensuring equitable learning experiences for all students are more crucial than ever. The National Education Technology Plan outlines ambitious goals for digital equity. Achieving them requires actionable insights and informed strategies. Enter the Speak Up Leader Survey, a powerful tool that connects the dots by providing a digital equity readiness report to inform their next steps in closing the three digital divides.

Addressing Digital Inequity in Schools

The SpeakUp Leader Survey helps address the digital divide.

If you are a regular consumer of TechNotes, you will recall last month’s post “The 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP): Closing The Digital Divide.” TCEA’s Government Relations Director Matt Russell outlined all the ways that TCEA members can benefit from the organization’s offerings aligned to the plan’s call to action.

As a quick refresher, the recently released National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) puts a laser focus on equity concerns in education. It emphasizes how technology could be better used in the classroom to support learning for all students through the lens of three digital divides: access, design, and usage. As a member of the NETP development team, Project Tomorrow is very proud of this focus and the plan’s recommendations for addressing digital inequity. But you may be asking yourself:

Are we ready to address the equity challenges?
Are we prepared to implement the recommendations in the NETP?
Where do we need to begin?

Get Your Readiness Report Card

Project Tomorrow, in partnership with TCEA, can help you answer those questions with our new Speak Up Leader Survey. Encourage your district administrators and school building leaders to complete the 15-minute survey. In turn, we will send you a report card on your overall readiness to tackle digital equity in your district. Getting started is as easy as registering your district! Project Tomorrow will send you a customized link for distribution. We’ve even put together this promotional toolkit for TCEA members with messaging to take to your cabinet for approval requests and to help promote participation once approved.

You are invited to preview the survey. Note that Speak Up participation is free to all schools and districts. All data collected is confidential and no single individual can be identified from any submitted entry. Don’t delay. The survey closes on June 21 for TCEA members.

Speak Up Leader Survey Details at a Glance:

What: Measures readiness to tackle digital equity across the three digital divides outlined in new NETP
Who: District and school administrators, K-12 technology leaders
Why: Receive a Digital Equity Readiness report card and resources to help close the digital divides
When: Open now through June 21, 2024, for TCEA members!

Thank you, TCEA, for your partnership and for supporting Speak Up.

May 31, 2024 0 comments

2024 SpeakUp! Survey for K-12 Leaders

by Matt Russell February 26, 2024

written by Matt Russell

As we navigate through the intricate landscape of K-12 education, a recurring question emerges. One that resonates deeply with educators, administrators, and stakeholders alike: “What K-12 education concerns keep you awake at night?” This probing inquiry has been a cornerstone of the SpeakUp! research project for years, revealing pivotal insights into the evolving challenges and priorities within the education sector. From school safety to student learning loss, teacher retention, effective parent communication, and the ever-looming threat of cyber incidents, the concerns vary. Yet, a persistent issue stands out—digital equity.

The NETP Addresses Digital Equity

In an era where the call for equal opportunities grows louder, the recently unveiled National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) casts a spotlight on digital equity in education. The plan, developed with contributions from Project Tomorrow, advocates for leveraging technology in classrooms to foster inclusive learning environments that cater to all students. This emphasis on addressing digital inequity is a testament to our collective aspiration for a fairer education system.

But the question looms: Is your district equipped to confront these equity challenges and heed the NETP’s recommendations?

SpeakUp! Leaders Survey Address Digital Equity Issues

Participate in the 2023-2024 SpeakUp! Surveys open through May 31, 2024!

TCEA, as a Champion Outreach Partner of SpeakUp!, presents an invaluable tool to gauge your readiness—the SpeakUp! Leader Survey. This concise, 12-minute survey offers district administrators and school leaders a unique opportunity to assess their preparedness to tackle digital equity issues. Upon completion, participants will receive a Digital Equity Readiness report card, at no cost, providing a comprehensive evaluation of their district’s capabilities.

FREE Webinar Series on NETP and SpeakUp! Data

To delve deeper into the intricacies of the NETP and how the SpeakUp! data can serve as a catalyst for addressing equity concerns in your district, TCEA invites you to join a forthcoming webinar series. This enlightening series, “Leveraging the NETP and SpeakUp! Data to Address Equity Issues in Your District,” offers three sessions to fit your schedule:

Friday, March 1, at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. Central
Thursday, March 7, at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. Central
Monday, March 11, at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. Central

Gain insightful knowledge on the synergy between the NETP and SpeakUp! Surveys, including the innovative Leaders Survey. And discover how these resources align with the NETP’s vision. Furthermore, the session will elucidate the benefits of the Digital Equity Readiness report card, empowering your leadership team to make informed decisions and take meaningful action toward achieving digital equity in your district.

Register for the Webinar Series

Join us in this transformative journey to bridging the digital divide and fostering an equitable learning environment for every student. Register today and take the first step toward realizing the full potential of educational technology in your district.

Register Now!

February 26, 2024 0 comments

Advocacy Educational Trends Leadership

Listening to the Voice of Texas Teachers

by Dr. Julie A. Evans May 5, 2021

written by Dr. Julie A. Evans

For almost two decades Project Tomorrow/Speak Up has annually surveyed K-12 students, parents, teachers, and administrators across the country. These online surveys have played a crucial role in capturing the authentic voice of education stakeholders and providing schools and districts with essential information about the needs and aspirations of their key stakeholders. Our yearly Speak Up reports, based on the survey data, regularly inform policies, programs and funding at the district, state, and national level.

We are grateful for the partnership we have this year with TCEA and for their past support. TCEA has made it possible for Project Tomorrow to reach out to all the dedicated and committed teachers, students, parents, and administrators in Texas and ensure that their voices are heard loud and clear.

This past year has been a challenging one for everyone. Closed schools led to remote and hybrid learning and then to reopening. Students, parents, and administrators all struggled to manage in this changed environment. And for our classroom teachers this has been a year like no other testing their skills and endurance. Thank you to all the Texas teachers who demonstrated their spirit and endurance, working tirelessly to meet the needs of their students.

Listening to the real-life experiences of our classroom teachers is more important than ever. Our teachers were eyewitnesses to the unprecedented events unfolding in their schools and classrooms. Gathering their feedback and insights is critical now and can pave the way for improving the educational experiences of all students.

During Teacher Appreciation Week we are expanding our efforts to reach teachers – and TCEA is playing an important part in this effort. We urge TCEA members to join us in this call to action for teachers to “Speak Up”.

Texas Teachers, You Matter

During Teacher Appreciation Week, teachers can directly share their views through a special Speak Up survey for teachers. Here are ways that Texas teachers can be part of Speak Up’s efforts during Teacher Appreciation Week.

SHARE: Share the email and link below with teachers in your district, state, and TCEA membership. Click here to view Sample Email.
PROMOTE: All teachers who complete the survey will be eligible to receive prizes and awards for their classrooms. Learn more now!
EARN: You can earn recognition through our District Recognition Badge Program.
BENEFIT: You will receive your survey information, essential information in making key decisions, particularly as it relates to the new stimulus funding.

The Project Tomorrow has additional information. The good news for all teachers taking the survey – you will be eligible to win prizes and classroom grants.

Listening to Texas Teachers Matters

Teachers are still taking the survey, but we could not resist peaking at some of the preliminary data. The early findings are proof of why every K-12 district administrator should be seeking input from their teachers right now.

To use technology more effectively Texas teachers told us they needed:

Classroom set of digital learning devices for every student (64%)
Planning time with colleagues (60%)
Professional learning about effective use of digital tools (56%)
Reliable, high-bandwidth Internet in the classroom (49%)
Confidence that students have out-of-school Internet access (54%)

These preliminary findings – and much more – are part of the recently released infographic. View all of our new infographics released during Teacher Appreciation Week here.

Every school district in Texas needs authentic data like this right now to make the best decisions for their community and for spending new federal dollars that are being disbursed.

Texas Data Matters

Over the years, state education leaders and district administrators have used Speak Up data to validate new initiatives and support new investments. On a national level, Speak Up data highlights digital learning trends in K-12 education and promotes new discussions about ways to support innovation in schools. More important than ever, this year’s national Speak Up report provides a glimpse into how the sudden shift to digital learning may lead to sustained educational transformation. Read more about what the Speak Up data is telling us here.

Call Out

Together we can listen – and act upon teacher voice – and make a difference in the learning experiences of all Texas students. The Speak Up survey is open until August 15 – urge all Texas teachers to take part in this important effort. Help us get the word out and make sure that the voices of all teachers in Texas are heard! Participate now!

Make Your Voice Known

You have a voice so use it. Take the survey now!

May 5, 2021 0 comments

CTO/CIO Educational Trends

Insights Learned From Your Speak Up Data

by Jennifer Bergland October 23, 2019

written by Jennifer Bergland

I am going to be very up front with my intention in writing this blog. My goal is to persuade school district technology directors or other administrators to seriously consider having their school or district participate in the annual Speak Up Survey.

Speak Up is a research tool districts use to learn what students, educators, parents, and the community have to say about educational issues. Yes, there are quite a few questions on the survey that deal with technology, but there are many other types of questions that will provide you with some much-needed insight into the attitudes of your stakeholders.

For example, in last year’s survey, they asked several questions about social and emotional learning. They also asked students how they prefer to learn subjects like math or science. Oh, and did I tell you that the survey is completely free and that they make it really easy for your district to participate?

A Texas-Sized School District

In order to help you see how a school district administrator could use this data, I’m going to take the state of Texas’ data and pretend I am the technology director of the “Texas School District,” covering the entire state. Let’s see what the data tells me about my district or what questions come to mind when I review the data.

Community

First, I’m very interested in the use of technology in my community. 78% of the members of my community use the internet to conduct research and 76% use mobile apps. 75% of my community use technology to watch an online video to learn how to do something. This tells me that a large portion of my community has internet access and is using it for research and to learn new things. However, it appears there is still some type of digital divide in my community. Is it an access or a skill problem, or both? I’m also surprised that only 26% of my community say they use Twitter. Since I spend a large amount of time on Twitter, I had assumed others did, too. This lets me know that I need to use a wider variety of social media to communicate with the members of my community.

Students

There are a series of questions in the survey that are posed to middle and high school students to see how often they seek ways to learn something because of their interests. This helps me see how students are using technology when they are looking for specific information or want to learn a skill. Only 9% of both middle and high school students post a question on a discussion board or a forum. Do we need to be more intentional in using this type of application? Do they just not know how, or have they found better ways to seek answers to their questions?

There are a greater number of students who are researching the internet for information: 32% of middle schoolers and 42% of high school students. Students are also using YouTube and other video services to learn how to do something. 42% of my middle school students and 57% of my high school students often use videos to teach them a skill. I need to talk to the instructional staff to see if we are taking advantage of this type of technology. Should we be posting short videos that teach one of the standards our students are struggling with? If so, what skills do my teachers need to know in order to do this and what technology do they need?

Teachers

Speaking of teachers, I really want to know what they are doing with technology. The data tells me that 45% of them are customizing digital content they find online to meet their students’ needs. This sounds an awful like Open Educational Resources (OER). Hmm, maybe we need to have more conversations about OER.

SpeakUp I also discovered that 43% of my teachers are facilitating student collaboration projects using online tools. This is such a great skill. How can I leverage these teachers to help other teachers do this as well? Also, I’m pleasantly surprised that 44% of my teachers are using an online curriculum. However, I want to know more. What is the frequency? Are they occasionally doing this or is this something they use every day? I also want to know what they are using. Are they using the district’s Learning Management System, or is it an online textbook?

I am a little disappointed that only 9% of my teachers are creating their own online professional learning networks. I had pretty high hopes that platforms like Twitter could help connect educators, especially those who may be the only one that teach their subject at their school. Maybe I need to do my own survey to see if, in fact, that is the case. Maybe the 9% are the teachers who do not have a colleague at their school that teaches their subject. Sounds like I need to do some more digging.

Finally, there is one question I am very interested in. It asks the teachers what they need to more efficiently and effectively speakup integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction. 51% said they wished they had a classroom set of digital devices. 49% said they needed to know that their students had adequate broadband access outside of school and 46% indicated they were concerned that they didn’t have consistent, reliable internet access within school. Maybe I need to have my staff do some focus groups related to internet access and speed. Looking at my network resources, they should have adequate bandwidth, but maybe something is happening on campus that I am not aware of. While my team is on campus, I probably should also have them ask teachers about the availability of technical support since 47% of the teachers indicated it was lacking. And lastly, my teachers still need time to plan with their colleagues (60%) and additional professional development (50%). I need more staff to be able to meet this need!

Whew, I learned this much in less than an hour by looking at this data. This will come in handy when I go to the superintendent and tell her I need more funding to do the things she wants me to do. It will also help me know where I need to place my time and energy.

Your Turn

Seriously, I gained this information in less than an hour. Just think what you and your team could glean from your district’s data.

If nothing else, I hope you will sign up to watch one of their webinars so that you can learn more about the survey and how it can assist you in your work. On October 23, you can watch the livestream of Julie Evans, the CEO of Project Tomorrow, provide a congressional briefing on the latest data. Julie does an excellent job of weaving a story with the data. She is always extremely interesting. In addition, check out this site for other webinars the Speak Up team is hosting.

Register Now

The Speak Up survey is open until June 30, 2020. What are you waiting for? Register today!

Photos of student and teachers by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Photo of hands and laptop by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

October 23, 2019 0 comments

Coding/Computer Science

Coding for Creativity? The Latest Report Says “Yes”

by Lori Gracey May 31, 2019

written by Lori Gracey

To be honest, when I think about coding activities for grades K-8, I don’t normally think about using the skill of creativity to complete them. And yet, that’s what the latest report from Project Tomorrow/Speak Up says. Here are some of the key findings from this report released in May 2019.

Finding #1: Creativity Is an Important Skill

Three-quarters of parents of school-aged children (74%) identified creativity as an important skill for their child to develop in school to be successful in the future. And I think that all educators would agree with this as well. In looking at a future filled with artificial intelligence and robots, creativity is one of the main things that will help humans to distinguish themselves from “the machines.”

“Students from all types of communities and family backgrounds want to learn coding as the means to developing their creativity skills and improving their preparation for future success.”

Finding #2: Coding Helps Develop Creativity

Parents and school district leaders see coding as a good way for students to develop creativity skills. Students agree as well; 58% of students in grades 6-8 say the most important reason to incorporate coding within the school day is to help them develop creativity skills.

Finding #3: All Students Want to Learn to Code

Student interest in learning coding transcends gender, grade level, community type, and home poverty, and that interest is growing. Middle school student interest in learning coding increased by 23% in just three years. So let’s not kid ourselves that coding is only for gifted students or mathematically talented students or boys or girls or wealthy students. Coding is for everyone and should be taught to all students K-8.

Finding #4: Teachers Need Help Teaching Coding

Teachers need easy-to-use tools and classroom support resources to effectively integrate coding as a new form of creative expression across their curriculum. While there are many resources for teaching coding, teaching it from a creativity mindset is not as prevalent. The best way to promote creativity while students are learning coding is to allow them choice, both in what tools they use and in what products they create. Of course, this is managed choice with the teacher helping to ensure that good decisions are being made.

Steve Isaacs, a teacher at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, NJ endorses student choice to not only help his students develop their creativity muscles in an organic way, but also as a way to teach them about how to learn. Mr. Isaacs uses coding around game development as a medium for his students to develop these skills. Most importantly however, he provides ample opportunities within these coding experiences for his students to self-direct their learning.

“When they start creating, I want my students to have choices as to what tools they use and to take learning into their own hands. Even when I guide them through something, they need to take ownership to make the game their own. This is really about teaching kids about how to learn, not just about how to make something based upon my instructions.”

Critical Questions to Ask

How are your students strengthening their creativity skills? How are they being exposed to coding and allowed to choose their own projects to be created? How are you ensuring that all students have the opportunity to learn to code?

May 31, 2019 1 comment

CTO/CIO Leadership

Ways to Promote the Speak Up Survey

by Jennifer Bergland November 21, 2017

written by Jennifer Bergland

Klein Independent School District led the country on the number of Speak Up surveys for years. What value do they see in participating in Project Tomorrow’s survey? In a Speak Up publication, Dr. Bret Champion, superintendent of Klein ISD, answered that question by saying, “The data we gather from Speak Up informs next steps for digital learning in Klein ISD, as we work with all stakeholders to re-imagine learning and make our shared Promise2Purpose vision a reality for EVERY student.”

Last month, I wrote a post giving a broad overview of Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Survey. As a refresher, the Speak Up survey is a national research project that is a free service to schools and districts to assist their efforts in technology and district planning. The survey will help districts gather the thoughts of students, parents, teachers, principals, librarians, technology leaders, district administrators, and community members on a range of issues such as:

Learning and teaching with mobile devices, digital content, gaming, videos, and virtual and augmented reality
Internet access at home and in school
Importance of math and the best ways to learn math
Digital citizenship
And much more!

As a former technology director, I totally agree with Dr. Champion’s assessment of the Speak Up survey which is why I’m hoping more districts will join Klein. That’s why I reached out to some districts who have been utilizing the data from the Speak Up survey for several years to find out their tips and tricks for the deployment of the survey. Below is what I learned.

How to Increase Staff Participation in the Survey

Provide tweets and other social media messages/images that campuses can use to promote the survey.
Hang posters announcing the survey at the entrance of each school.
Send survey instructions to each teacher to share with students through Google Classroom or other Learning Management Systems.
Provide an award for the campus with the most responses.
Provide presentations for each campus regarding survey results for use with their technology planning meetings.

Increasing Speak Up Participation by Parents/Community

Tweet out messages about Speak Up.
Send emails through the district’s message system at the district and campus level.
Post information about the survey on the district Facebook page.
Provide information with the Speak Up logo on all campus and district websites.
Put promotional messages on each school marquee.

Why Participate?

The data from the Speak Up survey is extremely useful for technology planning both at the district and campus levels.
Questions have been vetted for quality and relevance.
It is free and enables us to collect information through one survey instead of having to create our own.
All the promotional materials are provided.

TCEA is so convinced this survey will assist districts in their technology planning that we are giving away two free TCEA Convention registrations to Texas school districts who submit their surveys during Speak Up America week (December 4-8), or Speak Up Appreciation Week (January 8-12).

Hopefully, some of the ideas offered by school districts can assist your school and/or district in promoting the survey, and a chance to win a free TCEA convention registration will provide an added incentive to participate. If you have any additional tips and tricks to share, please include them in the comment section below.

Credits: Microphone photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash, Teen with laptop: Photo by Mikayla Mallek on Unsplash. Also a big shout out to Dianne Tidwell, the Director of Instructional Technology at Tomball ISD, for providing me with some great tips on how Tomball gets such amazing participation in the survey.

November 21, 2017 0 comments

CTO/CIO Leadership

SpeakUp Survey Opens October 16

by Jennifer Bergland October 9, 2017

written by Jennifer Bergland

If you knew that 55 percent of your district’s parents thought their children would thrive in a blended learning classroom, would it impact your strategic planning for your school or district? Would it help your planning if you knew the five essential elements your teachers felt they needed to effectively and efficiently integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction? Would it surprise you if you found that 53 percent of your middle and high school students felt they needed the Internet at home to do their homework, but only 13 percent of your teachers were assigning homework that needed the Internet? All of this information and so much more can easily be obtained by your district’s participation in the SpeakUp Survey. And by the way, these statistics are from the surveys completed by Texans in 2016.

Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit group whose mission is to “ensure that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders, and engaged citizens of the world.” The SpeakUp Research Project for Digital Learning is a national research project and a free service to schools and districts to gather survey data from students, teachers, librarians, campus and district administrators, parents, and community members. It is designed to help education leaders as they create and implement their vision of the next generation learning model. And it is completely free to school districts.

You are probably thinking this sounds like way too much work, that you simply don’t have time to distribute all of these surveys and make sure they are completed. The good news is that they have made this process super easy. They have everything you need.

SpeakUP Support Materials

Some of the items you can find on their website to help you organize and promote the survey are listed below.

Welcome Packet – gives you enough information to get started
Flyers – to help promote the survey
Information Material – to help answer all your questions (timeline, testimonials, introduction letters to give to principals, etc.)
Social Media – suggested messages for the different social media outlets
Sample Emails – help you get the word out
Instructions – for each group you are targeting
Lesson Plans – in case you want your teachers to build this activity into a learning experience
Press Release – to communicate to your community that you want their input

You have complete flexibility with the implementation of the survey. If this is your first time, you could start small by targeting one school or one grade level. You could decide to only survey students and staff this year and add parents and community members the following year. Just remember, the more data collected, the more information you will have for your strategic planning. This brings us to the best part. After the data is collected, Project Tomorrow analyzes it and provides you with your own data in an extremely easy format to read and manipulate. They even have a PowerPoint template that you can use to easily import your district’s data.

Important Details

Register your district so all further communications from Project Tomorrow will get to the right person.
Promote the survey using all of their free materials.
Determine the time frame to conduct the survey. Project Tomorrow opens the survey on October 16 and closes it on January 19.

Information is power. Knowing what key stakeholders value and their opinions on certain issues can assist school district administrators when implementing new programs and adjusting current ones. This is especially important when the district is transitioning from a print-based instructional model to one that relies on the use of digital materials and technologies. The SpeakUp Survey provides your district an excellent opportunity to help gather the data you need to monitor and adjust during this transition. Gaining this information has never been so easy! What are you waiting for? Register now!

October 9, 2017 0 comments

CTO/CIO Educational Trends Leadership

Digital Learning Trends

by Lori Gracey May 22, 2017

written by Lori Gracey

The Speak Up 2016 survey results are starting to come in, and they’re showing some interesting trends in digital learning. Below are the seven concepts that are bubbling up to the top right now.

Trend #1

No surprise here. Superintendents are reporting that funding, bridging the achievement gap, and staff morale are their top concerns. These are the same concerns that have topped their list for the past six years. However, the level of concern on these topics has increased this year.

With the attacks from the media recently on the teaching profession, it’s certainly understandable why staff morale is low. And with reduced funding at both the state and national levels, there is even more reason for teachers to be unhappy right now. The achievement gap, despite the best efforts of our educators, seems to be growing as the digital divide across our country grows.

Trend #2

There is some good news, however. Campus leaders are reporting that data-informed instruction, social media communications, and online assessments are making a difference with today’s students. Other technology enhancements that seem to have a positive ROI include videos, simulations and animations within instruction; cloud-based applications and tools; student access to mobile devices in school; and online professional development for teachers. These might be good trends to investigate for your district this next school year. (If you need help planning for and implementing any of these, TCEA can help. Just email Dr. Bruce Ellis to get started.)

Trend #3

Online videos and online games top the list of digital content being used in the classroom now, with online curriculum and online textbooks following closely behind. The key takeaway from this result is that school districts (and their technology staff) must be planning for and providing greater bandwidth and more WiFi access as the need for online learning continues to grow. This is a trend that will only continue to grow over time.

Trend #4

Student use of devices shows some interesting changes. 58 percent of high school students and 25 percent of middle school students are now bringing their own devices to school for classwork. But how they choose to use those devices on their own is different from how their teachers are directing them to use them. When teachers direct, students use them to:

Do Internet research (81%)
Play educational games (60%)
Take online tests (50%)
Read online articles (37%)
Use online textbooks (32%)
Watch teacher-created videos (29%)

But when self-directed, those same devices are used by the students to:

Check grades (74%)
Look up class information (54%)
Email teachers (41%)
Receive reminders (39%)
Take notes (39%)
Take photos of assignments (29%)

This seems to indicate that the learners are using the technology for more productivity uses on their own, which may mean that they have internalized and adopted them more completely than their teachers. This would be a good discussion topic for future educator inservices.

Trend #5

This is a continuation of the previous trend, which shows that the four main groups surveyed (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) all remain on different pages when technology use for learning is discussed. According to the report, “Few teachers say they regularly assign Internet-dependent homework, more principals think Internet-dependent homework is being assigned, but students say they regularly use the Internet to help with homework.”

Trend #6

The report shows that social media is playing a larger role in learning for all surveyed.

In 2011, 50 percent of students in grades 6-12 said they could not access social media tools at school. In 2016, only 38 percent of students had the same complaint.
Nearly half (45 percent) of teachers said that they pinned a lesson on Pinterest in the past year and 19 percent use Twitter to follow education experts or fellow educators.
Eight of ten school principals say they are using social media to communicate with parents and students – 61 percent said it has a positive impact.

There continues to be a divide between social media used by students (Instagram and Snapchat) and that used by adults (Facebook). But 44 percent of students do say that social media is a must-have for their learning.

Trend #7

Parents more than ever prefer receiving a personal email from their child’s school. Face-to-face meetings and text messages were a distant second, as you can see from the chart below.

From a report by Project Tomorrow

The results of this extensive survey with its longitudinal data should be shared and discussed at district leadership meetings and professional development sessions in every district. What are your students telling you?

May 22, 2017 0 comments

Educational Trends

It’s Time to Speak Up!

by Jennifer Bergland November 1, 2015

written by Jennifer Bergland

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, smartphones, tablets, mobile apps, online classes, and games – Do these digital tools or others like them really have a place within our classrooms today?

Are students more engaged in learning when instruction includes these tools?

Can technology increase teacher productivity or student achievement?

Do technology tools support the development of critical thinking, communications, teamwork, and global awareness?

What do parents think about the use of technology for learning?

These are great questions that districts need to consider when thinking about how technology should be used to support a student’s instructional goals. Fortunately, districts don’t have to reinvent the wheel and create and manage a survey that will gather this valuable information. Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Survey will provide districts with the answers to all of these questions and more. It is designed to gather data from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members. Participating districts will receive localized reports with all of their data findings to use for planning, budgets, and purchasing decisions. The best part is that it is easy to administer and it’s free!

This data would be very useful in the evaluation of a district’s performance in providing a strong digital learning environment, which is required in House Bill 5 (passed in 2013). All the information your district needs to participate in the Speak Up Survey can be found on their website. The survey is currently open and will remain open until December 18. If you have any questions, contact Jenny Hostert at (949) 609-4660, ext 17 or email her at jhostert@tomorrow.org.

November 1, 2015 0 comments