Finding #4: Differences in Perceptions of Ed Tech Effectiveness
Teachers who serve different populations have diverse perspectives
Positive perceptions of the effectiveness and benefits of digital learning tools are stronger among teachers in high-poverty schools.
From the NewSchools-Gallup Survey on Ed Tech
Compared to teachers in low-poverty schools, more teachers in high-poverty schools strongly agree that digital learning tools make their teaching more effective, efficient, and help them to personalize learning for students. More teachers in high-poverty schools agree that digital learning tools help students focus better, learn new things on their own, and practice solving real-world problems. Differences are also reflected in how teachers select digital learning tools for their classrooms: for teachers in high-poverty schools, personalization and actionable feedback are the most selected priorities when selecting digital learning tools, while student engagement and ease of use are the most popular selection criteria for teachers in low-poverty schools.
Implications
While there is some ambiguity in how different educators define effectiveness, this finding seems aligned with research demonstrating the potential of ed tech to close certain instructional gaps for students and teachers in low-income communities. For teachers in high-poverty schools, it appears ed tech’s potential to increase efficiency and add capacity is considered a significant value-add in supporting their instructional goals. Perhaps teachers in high-poverty schools more frequently need to navigate classrooms where this additional capacity is especially helpful (e.g. larger student-to-teacher ratios, more diverse learner needs, etc.). Within these classroom environments, ed tech’s ability to support greater personalization could also be viewed as a crucial tool to help reimagine teaching and learning.
