The proliferation of smartphones and other technologies have the potential to transform our lives, both personally and professionally. So how are technological changes and trends impacting our teachers, the places we learn and the student experience?
In 2016, we ran the first ever global Navitas teacher technology survey to find out more about our teachers’ usage and attitudes towards technology. Questions we wanted to explore included:
How are teachers currently using technology in their personal lives and in our colleges?
What encourages teachers to adopt and integrate technologies into teaching practice?
What are teachers looking for in terms of support, inspiration, and innovation in learning technologies?
After analysing over 1,800 responses from our colleges around the world, our data-soaked brains are buzzing, not only from the number-crunching but also from the conversations we’ve been able to have with teachers and academic managers about what these results could mean.
8. Attitudes & Benefits
In general, how do you feel about using technology in your teaching?
Which of these best describes your attitude to new technologies?
Do you agree with the following benefits of using technology in your teaching?
10. It enhances creativity and
makes learning fun. Deakin
It helps the classroom reflect the real
world, it helps develop my students' skills.
BCUIC
In general, how do you feel about using technology in your teaching?
It builds a bridge to a
generation raised in a tech
world Navitas at UML
11. I usually use new
technologies at the same
time as other people I know
‘Innovators’
‘Early
adopters’
‘Early
majority’
‘Late
majority’ ‘Laggards’
Which of these best describes your attitude to new technologies?
12. • Encourage student BYOD
• Use a wider range of technology
• Agree with a range of benefits
• Recommend technology ideas
‘Innovators’
‘Early
adopters’
Which of these best describes your attitude to new technologies?
13. It enables me
to access a
wide range
of additional
content
It allows me to
create more
variety in my
lessons
It encourages
me to keep
searching for
effective ways
to teach
94%
Do you agree with the following benefits of using technology in your teaching?
88%
79%
14. • Teachers feel positive about using technology
• Many ‘early majority’ and ‘early adopters’
• Agree with diverse benefits for selves and students
• Recognise and build on positive attitudes
• Enable/ encourage links from adopters to majority
• Support communication of the ‘why?’ (benefits)
What next?
Key takeaways
15. Ownership & Usage
Which of these devices do you own?
Which of your personal devices do you use for teaching or preparation work?
Which of these statements best reflects your approach to students using their own device in class?
17. Which of these statements best reflects your approach to students using their own devices in class?
‘I require/encourage
student BYOD’
‘I don’t have a
preference
‘I discourage/don’t allow
student BYOD’
We have to move into modern
teaching and see technology/
smartphones are a tool rather than
a distraction. Each week my
students use smartphones for taking
part in online interactive quizzes.
Smartphones are
NEVER helpful and
they always interfere
with student
engagement. Laptops,
on the other hand,
are essential
Every student
should decide for
themselves how
best to follow the
lessons. So I leave
them the free
choice
18. • High ownership of common devices
• Personal devices being used in teaching activities
• Encouraging student use of devices in class
• Guidance on policy and use of devices in class
• Sharing examples of effective classroom
practice for mobile devices
What next?
Key takeaways
19. Technology & Teaching
Do you use technology for any of these teaching activities?
Which aspects of multimedia do you find challenging?
How do you communicate with your teaching colleagues?
How do you communicate with your students?
20. Do you use technology for any of these teaching activities?
Student
activities
Systems &
admin
Preparation
activities
Monitoring attendance
Giving feedback on assessment
Individual student activities
Finding information
Creating presentations
Creating teaching resources
Lesson planning
88%
90%
to
30%
73%
55% Collaborative/group activities
21. 1 in 2
teachers said that
finding quality media
is challenging
Finding quality
resources relevant to
the teaching context.
Navitas English
Finding content is the
hardest part.
Navitas at FAU
Which aspects of multimedia do you find challenging?
22. Which aspects of multimedia do you find challenging?
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyse
Evaluate
• Creating my own media
• Helping students to
create their own media Create
23. Email Face-to-face
Online class space Phone calls & texts
With studentsWith teachers
How do you communicate with your teaching colleagues? How do you communicate with your students?
24. • Technology integral to teaching prep & resources
• Multimedia valued as teaching and learning resource
• Communication still ‘traditional’; email & face-to-face
• More guidance for integrating technology into
student-focussed classroom activities
• Opportunities for multimedia resources and PD
• Online spaces as communication alternatives?
What next?
Key takeaways
25. Challenges & Support
What stops you from using technology more effectively in your teaching?
Who do you go to if you have a problem with technology?
How can your experience with technology in your teaching be improved?
26. Nothing stops me38%
24%
I don’t know how to
use it well enough
What stops you from using technology more effectively in your teaching?
27. 74%
Tech support / IT
helpdesk
49%
Usually fix it myself
Who do you go to if you have a problem with technology?
28. Access & resources PD & Training
Reliability Self-development
How can your experience with technology in your teaching be improved?
By being exposed to different
approaches, seeing the different ways
other teachers use. Navitas English
I would like more PD
sessions and sharing to
occur. SIBT
By having classrooms sufficiently
equipped with properly working
technology. UP NA
More available resources,
more up-to-date
resources. SAE
Fault free equipment and more
understanding (of how to fix) when
things do go wrong UP EU
Sometimes, the slow internet
stops me from showing
relevant videos in class. SAE
I need to be much more proficient to
be comfortable. Deakin College
I just need to use it
more in class.
Navitas English
29. • Tech support remains important; teachers also draw
on their own resources and colleagues
• Barriers to technology use: knowing how to use tech
& access/resources
• Continued PD/training to remove barriers to tech
• Balancing formal and informal means of support?
What next?
Key takeaways
30. Learning & Sharing
How would you like to learn more about teaching with technology?
Which of the following best describes how you talk about technology with other teachers?
What has previously encouraged you to try a new technology-related idea in your teaching?
31. How would you like to learn more about teaching with technology?
PD sessions
Idea-sharing with
teaching colleagues
Practice things
myself
32. ‘I often
recommend
technology ideas to
other teaching staff’
‘I sometimes
recommend a
technology idea to
other teaching staff’
‘I chat about
technology with
other teaching staff’
‘I listen to
teaching staff
who talk about
technology’
‘I don’t pay
much attention
to teaching staff who
talk about technology
We should create shared
resources with other
teachers and be encouraged
to share with each other.
SAIBT
I don't even know all
of my teaching
colleagues. So there
is no chance for me
to talk with them.
SAE GSA
Which of the following best describes how you talk about technology with other teachers?
33. Recommendation from a
teaching colleague
Attending a PD session
Seeing an example of it
in my teaching context
What has previously encouraged you to try a new technology-related idea in your teaching?
70%
59%
68%
to
12%
34. • Varied learning: PD, idea-sharing, individual practice
• ‘Active’ and ‘passive’ approaches to talking and
sharing technology ideas
• Colleagues, context and PD encourage new ideas
• Learning through formal and informal, individual
and group contexts
• Connecting teachers to enable and encourage
active sharing of practice
What next?
Key takeaways
SAE – biggest chunk
UP AU – 2nd biggest chunk
Red – UP UK
Yellow – UP NA
Blue – EFSGrey - NPI
SAE and US teachers have more teachers that self-classify as Early adopters
Innovators & early adopters: more likely to encourage BYOD; use technology for a wider & more complex range of activities; more likely to agree with wider range of ‘benefits’
Navitas English – Use smartphone in teaching at a greater rate (53%)
AMEP – Encourage most at 64%
UP US – Have a high number not allowing (per policy)
Navitas English are much lower for monitoring attendance ~30%
NPI, UP UK are much higher for monitoring attendance ~ +90%
All teachers
Creating my own media – fairly consistent
Helping students – Much more for Navitas English, NPI and UP AU.
Not challenging – SAE and UP US.
With students – Navitas English less Emails, minimal online spaces (AMEP more texts and phone calls
Internet is variable – most affected SAE and EFS
SAE – is much lower in I don’t know how to use it well enough (11%) and NPI the top (38%)
Tech support is high across the board
Navitas English are more reliant on teaching colleagues
SAE – fix myself first, then IT helpdesk
26% – A&R
29% - PD
22% - SD
15% Reliability
Low PD – SAE, UP NA and UP UK
High PD – UP AU, EFS, NPI
AMEP – Encourage most at 64%
UP US – Have a high number not allowing (per policy)
SAE and US teachers have more teachers that self-classify as Early adopters
Outliers –
50% of teachers in SAE are permanent
100% of teachers in Canada are fixed term
UP UK and UP NA have more fixed term
Outliers –
50% of teachers in SAE are permanent
100% of teachers in Canada are fixed term
UP UK and UP NA have more fixed term
Outliers –
50% of teachers in SAE are permanent
100% of teachers in Canada are fixed term
UP UK and UP NA have more fixed term
I don’t really mind if students use their own devices in class, in fact, I encourage it. 74
English language teachers use smartphone at a much higher rate at about 53%
NPI are far less at 24%