Get ready to be surprised in this fast paced, top 10 focused session! Based upon the latest Speak Up Project findings from over 415,000 K-12 students, including 34,000 students from California, you will learn how students really want to use mobile devices, social media and digital content to enhance learning - key data you need to inform budgets, programs, policies and instruction.

1. Top 10 Things Teachers and Tech Leaders
Should Know About Students and Digital
Learning
Julie Evans
@JulieEvans_PT
CEO, Project Tomorrow
ETC! 2016: The 17th Annual Educational Technology
Conference
February 27, 2016

2. Many thanks . . .

3. Today’s Discussion:
 Introduction to Project Tomorrow and the
Speak Up Research Project
 Countdown of “Top 10 Things” about
students & digital learning
 Invitation to participate in Speak Up 2016
 Your ideas/comments/questions

4. Be part of the discussion!
#ETC2016 @SpeakUpEd

5. Project Tomorrow, a national
education nonprofit organization
Programs:
• Research & evaluation studies
• STEM education programs
• Advocacy for digital learning
Mission: To ensure that today’s
students are prepared to become
tomorrow’s leaders, innovators and
engaged citizens of the world.

6. Annual research project
 Using online surveys + focus groups
 Surveys for: K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents,
Administrators, Community Members
 Special: Pre-Service Teachers in Schools of
Education
 Open for all K-12 schools and schools of education
 Schools, districts & colleges receive free report
with their own data
 Questions about how eLearning = 21c education
Speak Up Research Project
4.5 million
surveys
since 2003
Data informs: policies,
programs, funding at
local, state and federal
levels

7.  Learning & Teaching with Technology
 College and Career Ready Skills
 Students’ Career Interests in STEM
 Professional Development / Teacher Preparation
 Internet Safety / Data Privacy Issues / Homework Gap
 Administrators’ Challenges / Bandwidth Capacity
 Emerging Technologies both in & out of the Classroom
 Mobile Devices, Online Learning, Digital Content, E-texts
 Educational Games, Social Media tools and applications
 New Classroom Models, Print to Digital, Online
Assessments
 Designing the Ultimate School/Classroom
Speak Up survey question themes

8.  Students function as a “Digital Advance Team”
 Students regularly adopt and adapt emerging
technologies for learning
 Students’ frustrations focus on the
unsophisticated use of technologies within
education
 Persistent digital disconnect between students
and adults
 Exacerbation of lack of relevancy in current
education
 Students want a more personalized learning
What have we learned over the past 13 years?

9. Social–based learning
Un–tethered learning
Digitally–rich learning
Students & Digital Learning
Personalize
d Learning
Student Vision for Digital Learning

10. Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning
Speak Up 2015 Results from California

11. K-12 Students
415,686
Teachers & Librarians 40,218
Parents (in English & Spanish) 38,613
School/District Administrators/Tech Leaders
4,536
Community Members 6,623
About the participating schools & districts
o 7,825 schools and 2,676 districts
Speak Up 2015 national participation:
505,676

12. K-12 Students
34,356
Teachers & Librarians
2,837
Parents 4,221
Administrators 404
Community Members 724
Speak Up 2015 California participation:
42,542

13. Use of digital tools
for learning
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

14. Current uses of technology for learning
Four types of technology usage by students:
 In school:
o teacher directed
o student self – initiated
 Out of school time:
o supporting schoolwork
o supporting personal learning

15. Sample Digital
Activities
CA
Grades
3-5
CA
Grades
6-8
CA
Grades
9-12
Take tests online 53% 60% 42%
Use online textbooks 10% 38% 34%
Use Google Apps for
Education
41% 53% 45%
Watch teacher created
videos
26% 27% 21%
What are examples of teacher-facilitated
technology use by students?

16. Sample Digital Activities
CA Grades
6-8
CA Grades
9-12
Look up info on a mobile
device – in class
48% 59%
Text classmates for help 48% 58%
Find videos to help with
homework
36% 38%
Use social media sites to
facilitate peer
collaborations
25% 29%
What are examples of student self-directed
technology use to support learning?

17. Using technology in my classes
increases my interest in
learning
Agree:
53% of CA
middle school
students
43% of CA high
school students

18. Obstacles to tech
use at school
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

19. CA Students: Obstacles to using
technology at school
34%
36%
39%
56%
35%
41%
38%
33%
36%
40%
60%
44%
46%
49%
Can't text
Can't use my own mobile
Can't access social media
Internet is too slow
Teachers limit tech use
Too many rules
Edu websites are blocked
Gr 9-12 Gr 6-8

20. I would learn more if my
classes used more technology
to support my learning
Agree:
34% of CA
middle school
students
31% of CA
high school
students

21. Social Media
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

22. Social media:
tools to connect, collaborate, create
Instagram:
61% of CA HS students
48% of CA MS students
Twitter:
27% of CA students in Gr 9-12
Creating/watching videos:
79% of CA students in Gr 6-8

23. Massively multi-player
online games (MMOG)
33% of CA students in Gr 6-8
Facebook
21% of CA students in Gr 9-12
62% say rarely/never use
Social media:
tools to connect, collaborate, create
Snapchat
62% of CA high school
students

24. Digital Footprint Actions
CA Gr 9-12
students
2013
CA Gr 9-12
students
2015
I am careful about what I post about
myself or others online
69% 73%
I have advised my friends not to post
certain things online
38% 45%
I have stopped interacting with
someone based upon what they
posted online
30% 43%
I think it is important to have a positive
online profile
42% 55%
I don’t regularly post about myself
online
37% 46%
Digital footprints – change in behaviors

25. Video-based Learning
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

26. 2012 2015
K-2 students 23% 50%
Gr 3-5 students 18%
22%
Gr 6-8 students 30%
36%
Who is watching online videos for learning?

27. Student question: In what
class are you watching
videos for learning?
What do middle
school students
say?

28. In what class are you watching videos
for learning?
CA middle school students say:
1.Science (68%)
2.Math (64%)
3.Social Studies/History (56%)
4.English/Language Arts (49%)

29. What do CA students say are the
benefits of watching online videos to
support schoolwork?
.
Benefits of videos K-2 Gr 3-
5
Gr
6-8
Gr
9-12
I can watch videos to self-
remediate
39% 47% 64% 57%
Easy to find a variety of videos 46% 48% 57% 49%
Makes it easier to understand
difficult concepts
45% 46% 56% 53%
Teaches me in a different way
than my teacher does
37% 37% 42% 39%

30. Mobile devices
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

31. 32%
40%
73%
84%
44%
42%
50%
52%
59%
66%
63%
40%
24%
20%
23%
12%
Gr
K-2
Gr 3-5
Gr 6-8
Gr 9-12
Digital Reader Tablet Laptop Smartphone
CA students’ personal access to mobile
devices

32. Student access to technology in the
classroom
I most often use … CA
Grade 6-8
CA
Grade 9-
12
My own mobile device 36% 73%
A school provided laptop 17% 24%
A school provided tablet 28% 6%
A school provided
Chromebook
46% 28%
School computers in a lab,
library, media center
43% 43%
Do not regularly use 17% 15%

33. Students’ use of mobile devices to support learnin
73% of CA high school students say they use
their own mobile device to support learning
while at school
 58% text classmates about schoolwork questions
 55% take photos of assignments or text book
pages
 47% use mobile apps for learning
 24% take notes on a mobile device
 17% text their teachers with questions also!

34. It is important for every student
to be able to use a laptop, tablet
or Chromebook during the
school day to support learning
Agree:
76% of CA
middle school
students
73% of CA
high school
students

35. Different tasks =
different mobile
devices
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

36. Read a
book
or
article
s
Take notes in class
Use social media
Communicate w/peers & teacher
Create/watch videos
Create presentations
Take online tests
Write reports
What device I use depends upon the task to do

37. Internet Connectivity
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

38. Home internet access
Type of access Urban Suburba
n
Rural Title 1
Fast, broadband
access
58% 57% 51% 55%
Access through
Wifi
80% 78% 76% 75%
No or slow
access
11% 12% 16% 14%
Students in grades 6-8 nationwide:

39. Do we have a “homework gap?”
Homework gap is about more than at home Internet
access:
o 1/5 of students say that they often have a problem
doing digital or Internet-dependent homework when
outside of school
o 23% regularly go to school early or stay late to use
school Internet
o Parents are making decisions about who has priority for
limited home digital resources
o 61% of teachers say they don’t assign digital projects
or homework due to concerns re: homework gap

40. It is important for students to
have consistent, safe Internet
access outside of school time
to be successful in school.
Agree:
65% of CA
middle school
students
64% of CA
high school
students

41. Value of Digital
Classroom
Experiences
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

42. What model best represents the majority of
your classes?
Classroom Model CA
Grade 6-8
CA
Grade 9-
12
Traditional 60% 62%
Blended 27% 26%
Flipped 9% 7%
Virtual 2% 3%
Other 2% 2%

43. In their own words … how students value
digital learning
As a result of using technology for learning, I am …
Developing new skills
• Creativity
• Critical thinking and problem solving
Changing my learning behavior
• More likely to complete homework
• Collaborating more with my classmates
• Communicating with my teacher more often
• Participating more in class discussions
Enhancing my self-efficacy as a learner
• Learning at my own pace
• Learning in a way that fits my learning style
• In control over my learning

44. Career Exploration
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

45. CA Grade 6-8 Students:
Are you interested in a career in a STEM field?
22%
18%
39%
21%
15%
15%
37%
33%
Not interested
No opinion
Somewhat interested
Very interested
Boys Girls

46. CA Grade 6-8 students:
Are you interested in a career in teaching?
26%
22%
34%
18%
45%
25%
20%
10%
Not interested
No opinion
Somewhat interested
Very interested
Boys Girls

47. Grade 6-8 students: different ways to explore ca
What would be most helpful in exploring
a career?
CA Gr 6-8
Students
Traditional Approaches:
o Get real life experience – PT job, internship,
volunteering
73%
o Take field trips to see career in action 64%
o Shadow a career professional for the day 45%
New Digital Approaches:
o Watch videos about different jobs 51%
o Play a digital or online game about a career 40%
o Learn about careers through social media 36%

48. Student interest in learning how to code
Sweet spot for nurturing interest is
Grades 3-5
Yes, I am
interested in
learning how
to code or
program a
computer
Girls Boys
Grades 3-5 55% 62%
Grades 6-8 47% 57%
Grades 9-
12
37% 51%

49. I am learning things that are
important for my future on my
own outside of school
Agree:
56% of CA
middle school
students
49% of CA
high school
students

50. Designing the
Ultimate School for
Today’s Learners
Ten Things Everyone Should Know
about Today’s Students and Digital
Learning

51. “Imagine you are designing the
ultimate school for today’s
students, what technologies would
have the greatest impact on
learning?”
Favorite Speak Up Question:
Superintendents & School Boards

52. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Online classes
Tablets
Digital textbooks
Games
Schoolwide Internet
Principals Teachers Parents Gr 6-8 students
In California, do we have a shared vision
around digital learning solutions?

53. Context for why digital
“Customer” knowledge
Input for plans, programs & PD
Community buy-in
Myth busting

54. National Speak Up reports and infographics
Targeted and thematic reports
Digital learning trends
Mobile learning & social media
Games in the classroom
Blended learning outcomes
Presentations, podcasts and webinars
Services: consulting, workshops, evaluation
and efficacy studies
More Speak Up? www.tomorrow.org
New national report to be released in April 2016

55. Online surveys for:
o K-12 students – individual + group
o Parents – English and Spanish
o Teachers
o Librarians/Media Specialists
o School Site & District Administrators
o Technology Leaders
o Community Members
All schools are
invited to
participate
Surveys open
October 2016
Participate in Speak Up!
Sign up to receive
information at:
www.tomorrow.org

56. Your
thoughts,
ideas,
questions

57. Thank you for this discussion today!
For additional information about Speak Up please
contact:
Julie Evans
jevans@tomorrow.org
949-609-4660 x15
Twitter: JulieEvans_PT and SpeakUpEd
Copyright Project Tomorrow 2016
This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted
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