FUNDING AND INTEGRATION STILL BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

For the third year in a row, funding for technology and integrating that technology into the classroom are the biggest challenges that school districts face in the area of technology, according to a survey issued by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) at the organization’s annual T+L Conference here.

Nearly 50 percent reported funding and 45 percent said integrating technology in the classroom were the biggest challenges they faced. Seventeen percent said that proving that technology benefits student learning is their biggest challenge.

NSBA conducted an e-mail survey the week of October 22 of approximately 1,200 registrants of the T+L Conference. The group includes technology specialists, teachers, administrators, and school board members.

For the first time, the survey examined the phenomenon of social networking. Almost 36 percent of respondents said the content of student postings on social networking websites, such as MySpace.com, is disruptive to the learning environment. The biggest problem they say – almost 70 percent – is that students post inappropriate material, followed by students giving out too much personally identifiable information – 62 percent.

Almost 35 percent said their school district has a policy that covers social websites. After examining the responses, that policy appears to be, for the most part, a firewall, blocking software or a rule forbidding access to these sites when using school computers.

“It is important to keep in mind that just blocking access to social websites at school is not the end of the story,” said Anne Bryant, NSBA executive director. “Most of the misuse of these sites takes place at home, but still affects the classroom. We have to teach our students about the safe and proper use of social websites.”

For the third straight year, survey respondents said by a wide margin – almost 94 percent -- that technology in the classroom increases educational opportunities for students. In raw numbers, only three respondents this year said technology did not increase opportunities.

When asked how technology helped, more than 92 percent said it helps students become more engaged in learning.

“The successful use of technology is overwhelming and is totally consistent with the survey results over the last two years,” Bryant said. “The opportunities for students provided by technology are growing, including virtual field trips to the zoo, online courses and access to the Smithsonian.”

Home access to the Internet for low-income students continues to be a serious issue. Nearly 71 percent of respondents said it was a problem in their districts, compared to 69 percent in 2004 and 78 percent in 2005.

The federal E-Rate program continues to be important to school districts in meeting their technology goals. Seventy percent replied that the E-Rate is somewhat or very important to their districts. In terms of improving the program, 66 percent said the application process needs to be enhanced, 44 percent want more outreach to applicants and 35 percent want sanctions for rule violators.

If school districts received additional technology funding, 72 percent said they would put it into classroom instruction and 55 percent said they would use it for staff professional development.

Survey results may be found on the NSBA website at http://www.nsba.org/site/view.asp?CID=1782&DID=39525

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