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Goodbye PCs – which school tech is on its way out?
Do you know which edtech schools are most likely to adopt in the next few years, and which will be phased out? Find out the stats from The State of Technology in Education report.
The technology in our schools is constantly changing. Videotapes and OHPs are almost obsolete and interactive front-of-class technology and cloud-based resources are increasingly common, driving better learning experiences and improving teachers’ workloads.
But which technologies do teachers actually prefer to use over others, these days? We asked educators, as part of our annual State of technology in Education 2018/19 report, what edtech was available and in use in the schools.
Which technologies are teachers using more?
According to our report, there has been a 14% rise in availability and use of handheld devices in schools. As well as this, 6% more are using interactive panels and 4% more using tablets for teaching since last year.
Teaching with desktop computers, meanwhile, has dropped 8%. The use of projectors is down 7% and photocopiers are used 3% less than in previous years.
What’s more, according to our report, over 37% of teachers already use online tools for summative assessment, and 23% use technology for formative assessment.
What edtech will see the biggest growth?
As well as current tech usage, we have also been tracking educators’ opinions on the growth of various technologies over the next three years.
According to our 2018 State of Technology in Education report, educators expect to see greater proliferation of online assessment, content and resources, as well as tablets, apps, and interactive front-of-class panels over the next three years.
This year, 26% more teachers selected front-of-class technologies as a major growth area than last year. BYOD schemes and smartphones, meanwhile, are now considered less likely to grow than they were before.
So, are we likely to see the end of desktop PCs in schools?
According to our survey, this type of static edtech will gradually be phased out and replaced with more interactive, touchscreen technologies like ActivPanels that improve engagement levels. Teachers are also increasingly likely to use perform online assessments and use digital resources to improve their teaching and streamline their administrative duties.