Are teachers actually using new, advanced technologies in teaching? The answer may surprise you and shock all those tech jockeys in both K12 and HigherEd that the chalkboard is dead.
Only 13 percent of the professors surveyed said they used blogs in teaching; 12 percent had tried videoconferencing; and 13 percent gave interactive quizzes using “clickers,” or TV-remotelike devices that let students respond and get feedback instantaneously. The one technology that most teachers use regularly—course-management systems—focuses mostly on housekeeping tasks like handing out assignments or keeping track of student grades.
The survey, answered by 4,600 professors nationwide and did not ask about PowerPoint, which anecdotal evidence suggests is ubiquitous as a replacement for overhead and slide projectors.
Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium, held in San Jose, by the Sloan Consortium.
There seems to be a lesson for all those technology enthusiasts and “leaders” in k12 education: Regardless of forcing faculty to utilize LMS, they are simply not using technology.
So is the technology investment paying off? Universities have been investing millions into classrooms and lecture halls. With very tight budgets today I wonder if there is going to be a call for institutional reviews of technology spending. Clearly the mantra of “build it and they will come” does not apply.
Outside of the mandatory use of LMS solutions (indicated above) faculty have clearly pushed back against technology while their students (paying customers) are eager to embrace the latest consumer electronic releases across the board. This must be frustrating for IT, Academic affairs and the CFO’s office.