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Technology Reports
Integrating technology and media helps to improve instruction and student
learning. Our collection of recent research can help you plan the best approach
for your students. When you click on the title of the report below,
you will find a summary of the research as well as information on where to
obtain the research.
Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools |
Report: The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools
Authors: Levin, Doug; Arafeh, Sousan; Lenhart, Amanda; Rainie, Lee
Date: 2002
Pew Internet & American Life Project
This 2002 study from the Pew Internet & American Life project compares students' interest and fluency in Internet usage to what is offered them in their schools. The study is based primarily on information gathered from 14 gender-balanced, racially diverse focus groups of 136 students, drawn from 36 different schools.
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Digital Leadership Divide |
Report: Digital Leadership Divide
Authors: Consortium for School Networking
Date: 2005
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and Grunwald Associates
This 2004 survey from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and Grunwald Associates includes data from 455 school district decision-makers for technology. The report points to large and growing disparities in funding for school technology and questions if these differences signal a growing digital divide.
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Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2005 |
Report: Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2005
Authors: Wells, John and Lewis, Laurie
Date: November 2006
U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics
This report presents 11 years of data from 1994 to 2005 (no survey was conducted in 2004) on Internet access in U.S. public schools by school characteristics. It provides trend analysis on the percent of public schools and instructional rooms with Internet access and on the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access. The report contains data on the types of Internet connections, technologies and procedures used to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet, and the availability of hand-held and laptop computers to students and teachers. It also provides information on teacher professional development on how to integrate the use of the Internet into the curriculum, and the use of the Internet to provide opportunities and information for teaching and learning.
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Internet and Education: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project |
Report: The Internet and Education: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project
Authors: Lenhart, Amanda; Simon, Maya; Graziano, Mike
Date: 2001
Pew Internet & American Life Project
The Internet has become an increasingly important feature of the learning environment for teenagers. Research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in November and December 2000 shows that teens use the Internet as an essential study aid outside the classroom and that the Internet increasingly has a place inside the classroom. The Project surveyed 754 online youth ages 12-17 and their parents. Teens and parents report that Internet is vital to completing school projects and has effectively replaced the library for a large number of online youth. 71% of students report using the Internet at their primary source for their last major project, and they also report accessing online study aids like Sparknotes or CliffNotes. Beyond legitimate assistance with studies via websites, or email or Instant message communication with teachers, students also take advantage of the Internet to cheat,
with 18% of students reporting knowing someone who used the Internet to do so.
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K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School District Administrators |
Report: K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School District Administrators
Authors: Picciano, Anthony G.; Seaman, Jeff
Date: 2007
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Sloan Consortium's first ever survey of online learning in elementary
and secondary education, "K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School
District Administrators," predicts rapid growth in online education.
The nationwide survey, conducted during the 2005-2006 academic year, finds
that almost two out of three (63 %) school districts had one or more students
enrolled in either a fully online or a blended course, which combines online
learning with traditional face-to-face instruction. The new study estimates
that 700,000 K-12 students were engaged in online courses in the 2005-2006
academic year. The complete survey is available online. The Sloan Consortium's
K-12 online survey, developed in collaboration with Hunter College and Babson
College and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, consists of responses
from 366 public school district chief administrators representing two million
students nationwide. It was patterned after a similar study of online learning
in higher education.
Survey results show online learning is meeting the specific needs of a range
of students including those who need extra help, those who want to take more
advanced courses and those whose districts do not have enough teachers to
offer certain subjects. "Perhaps the voices heard most clearly in this
survey were those of small rural school districts," said Anthony G. Picciano,
professor, School of Education, Hunter College and Graduate Center of the
City University of New York. "For them, the availability of online learning
is most important in order to provide students with course choices and, in
some cases, the basic courses that should be part of every curriculum."
Picciano says these rural districts are potentially good models for districts
facing teacher shortages in high-need subject areas such as high school science
and mathematics. The Sloan Consortium is the nation's largest association
of institutions and organizations committed to quality online education and
administered through Babson College and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.
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McREL Rural Technology Initiative: Research and Evaluation Study |
Report: The McREL Rural Technology Initiative: Research and Evaluation Study
Authors: Lauer, Patricia A.; Stoutemyer, Kirsten L.; Van Buhler, Rebecca J.
Date: 2005
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning
This study investigated McREL's Rural Technology Initiative (RTI), an online professional development intervention that provides opportunities for teacher collaboration while delivering training to teachers and administrators on instructional improvement, including the use of technology for teaching and learning. The purposes of the study were: (1) to examine the effects of online professional development on teacher professional community and teacher retention, (2) to evaluate the influences of the RTI on teacher instruction, teacher and administrator use of technology, and administrator practice, and (3) to identify those aspects of the RTI intervention that worked best and those that should be changed.
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Research and Guidelines on Online Social - and Educational - Networking |
Report: Research and Guidelines on Online Social - and Educational - Networking
Authors: Lang, Vockley
Date: 2007
National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC
The study released by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC exploring the online behaviors of U.S. teens and 'tweens shows that 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Nearly 60 percent of online students report discussing education-related topics such as college or college planning, learning outside of school, and careers. And 50 percent of online students say they talk specifically about schoolwork. "The challenge for school boards and educators is that they have to keep pace with how students are using these tools in positive ways and consider how they might incorporate this technology into the school setting," said Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association.
Students report they are engaging in highly creative activities on social networking internet sites including writing, art, and contributing to collaborative online projects whether or not these activities are related to schoolwork. Almost half of students (49 percent) say that they have uploaded pictures they have made or photos they have taken, and more than one in five students (22 percent) report that they have uploaded video they have created. Today, students report that they are spending almost as much time using social networking services and websites as they spend watching television. Among teens who use social networking sites, that amounts to about 9 hours a week online, compared to 10 hours a week watching television. While most schools have rules against social networking activities, almost 70 percent of districts report having student internet programs, and nearly half report their schools participate in online collaborative projects with other schools and in online pen pal or other international programs. Further, more than a third say their schools and/or students have blogs, either officially or in the context of instruction. The report, "Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social and Educational Networking," is available online.
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Technology in Schools: What the Research Says |
Report: Technology
in Schools: What the Research Says
Authors: Fadel, Charles; Lemke, Cheryl
Date: September 28, 2006
Cisco Systems and the Metiri Group
An analysis of existing ed-tech research offers both good and bad news for
advocates of educational technology: Although technology has had a positive
impact on education so far, more dedication to research, implementation, and
development is needed for technology to realize its full potential as a teaching
and learning tool. That's the conclusion, anyway, of "Technology in Schools:
What the Research Says," a new meta-study -- or study of studies -- on
the use and effectiveness of classroom technologies. Produced by Cisco Systems
and the Metiri Group, the report summarizes general trends and representative
studies in areas such as television and video use, calculators, engagement
devices such as interactive whiteboards, portable or handheld devices, virtual
learning, in-school computing, and one-to-one computing. The report aims to
provide educators with sound data about technological innovations that researchers
say are working. Its goal is to help school leaders make better decisions
about technology investments.
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