Project Tomorrow Releases Speak Up Survey Results

Project Tomorrow Releases Speak Up Survey Results: Project Tomorrow hosted a briefing on March 24 to release the results of the annual "Speak Up" survey gauging the ideas and views of teachers, students, parents and administrators on education and technology. Since 2003, the Speak Up National Research Project has collected the views of 1.5 million survey respondents.

 

This year's results show that while there is overwhelming support for effective implementation of technology in schools and agreement that it is crucial to student success, students say they "step back in time" when they enter the school building. Further, there is a disconnect between the different groups of respondents. Fifty-six percent of school principals think their schools are doing a good job of preparing students for the jobs of the future, while only 32 percent of parents agree and only 39 percent of high school students agree.

 

Project Tomorrow asserts that districts are already using these findings to guide federal investments, including stimulus dollars, into education technology. The findings point to several recommendations, including: un-tether learning and leverage mobile devices to extend learning beyond the school day and meet all learners in their own world; create new, interactive, participatory learning spaces using tools such as online classes, gaming and simulations, online tutors and virtual reality environments; incorporate Web 2.0 tools into daily instruction, especially those that develop collaborative or social-based learning and provide unique opportunities for students to be content developers; expand digital resources in the classroom to add context and relevancy to learning experiences through new media tools; and get beyond the classroom walls and make learning truly experiential such as using high-tech science instrumentation and creating podcasts with content experts. More info.