While school districts are trying to protect the privacy of student data, train teachers to use digital tools more effectively, and use dwindling federal resources for educational technology, teachers and students are turning to amazing ed-tech products.
With 548 in the 2017-18 school year, the average number of technology scores in a single month has nearly tripled in the past several years.to 1,417 in the 2021-22 school year, according to a report released this month by LearnPlatform.An education technology company that helps districts measure the use and effectiveness of their digital products.
It’s clear from those numbers that teachers are willing to experiment with a wide range of digital products to improve instruction. But if every teacher in a school or district has a different favorite product, it can be difficult for district and school leaders to provide effective professional development and ensure student data privacy is protected, educators and experts say.
More importantly, this proliferation of technological tools means that students often have to interact with different digital platforms that serve the same purpose, such as taking formative assessments or online quizzes created by their teachers.
Nearly a quarter of the tools districts and teachers use most are aimed at increasing student engagement, LearnPlatform found. Among the most popular are: Kahot!, Blocket and Kizzy. Another 10 percent or more are study tools like Quizlet, Desmos, and Grammarly.
The data used to calculate both the ratings and usage numbers was collected using LearnPlatform’s Inventory Dashboard between August 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022.
“These numbers should prompt district leaders to question not only what ed technology is being used in their schools or how often it is being used, but whether it is impacting safe, equitable and positive learning,” said CEO and Founder Carl Rectanus. In the description of LearnPlatform. As federal Covid relief funds run out, “Tech-enabled education is here to stay. Understanding which tools are effective and reliable will not only improve teaching and learning, but also inform budgeting decisions.”
One possible reason for the explosion in tech devices: During the pandemic, many companies gave away their products to teachers for free. And teachers—many of whom had little or no training in virtual learning—desperate to find something to engage their students and took them up on those offers.
Imitating technological devices is not an easy task.
Since then, districts are trying to refine the equipment used by their teachers, and if necessary, reduce their number to a few high-quality equipment.
North Carolina’s Union County School District began that work early in the outbreak.. Casey Reimer, the district’s director of innovation and educational technology, advises teachers to avoid the temptation to sign up for one of the freebies and instead stick with tools that have been carefully researched and have extensive use.
“We’ve really failed as a district,” Reimer said in an interview earlier this year. “We know that if we stick to our main equipment, we can support it [educators] And maintain professional development on those.
A school district in Rockford, Ill., has revamped its selection process for digital programs. After returning from virtual education.
Tech leaders tell teachers, “‘If you’re going to use software, it has to be curricular, it has to be approved, and it has to be accessible.’ In terms of IT, we [need] In an interview last spring, the district’s chief information officer, Jason Barthel, asked where the student data was going. “We were really, really able to take it. [out] “A lot of free apps are being used that we don’t even know about,” he said.
