One of the things I love about professional associations like TCEA is that they allow individuals with similar interests and professional goals to network with each other. This is especially true in a field like educational technology. Things move so quickly in this area of education that if you aren’t well connected with others that have similar jobs as yours, you might make strategic decisions that involve large expenditures without having all the necessary information.
This is why TCEA launched the TCEA District Technology Survey. The data from this survey will illuminate the landscape of technology use in Texas districts. The survey questions have been developed to gather information on a range of topics: instructional technology products and practices, technical support products and practices, and leadership of technology departments and staffing configurations. In addition, for those that opt-in, the information will also serve as a way to match individuals who are using certain products or who are implementing specific instructional practices in order to gain insight and assistance when needed.
The survey will close on June 15, but let’s look at some of the data we’ve already collected. Hopefully more people will respond, which means the data is subject to change. But this will give you an idea as to what type of information you can glean from the results of the survey.
BYOD
As you can see in the charts below, a good number of districts are allowing some of their students to use their own digital device at school.
Device Checkout Program
Districts are also recognizing that some of their students may not have devices to bring to school. So they have devices that students can check out.
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Every Student Has a Device
Although we are a long way from districts giving every student a device, the practice is growing.
Open Education Resources
This chart indicates that 95% of Texas districts are at least interested in learning more about Open Education Resources and 40% are currently in the process of investigating what that would look like in their district.
Additional Types of Questions
In addition to these questions, the survey also explores a range of other topics:
- Types of applications used to manage technology
- Types of applications used instructionally
- Staffing patterns
- Data privacy and security practices
- Student use of email and social media
- Department organization
Contribute to Survey Data
If you are a technology director in a Texas school district or charter school and you haven’t taken the survey, please do so. We suggest that the survey be answered by the technology director and/or their leadership team. Please forward this information to whomever would best be able to complete the survey. It is estimated to take between 15-20 minutes to take. The survey will be open until June 15. The results of the survey will be made public at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.
