ERIC Number: ED676997
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 20
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Unfinished Business: Understanding the Digital Design Divide in American Schools. Key Findings from the Speak up Research Project®. Special Report 3
Project Tomorrow
In support of new local and state discussions about how to most effectively utilize technology in the classroom, Project Tomorrow, in collaboration with Spectrum Business®, is publishing a new series of reports that examine each of the three digital divides (the access, design and use divides) through the lens of the Speak Up Research findings. The Speak Up Research findings provide an insider glimpse into the authentic views and values of K-12 students, teachers, administrators, parents, and families about the state of education, and particularly the role of technology within the learning process. Each report in this series provides foundational data to support a new emphasis on closing the access, design and use divides in American education, and identify specific areas of unfinished business that will help local, state, and national leaders understand the need for urgency and targeted attention on the inequities inherent in the divides. This third report in the special series examines how changes in teachers' mindsets and valuations on digital learning can result in transformative learning environments for their students. Additionally, this report provides new research findings about the teachers' desires for more effective professional learning to enable these new mindsets and valuations. Central to any discussion about designing new learning experiences for students using technology must be a conversation around what constitutes effective use of digital tools. Input from school administrators provides a new lens for supporting teachers to use technology most effectively. The Speak Up findings documented in this report include feedback from over 7,600 K-12 classroom teachers and nearly 1,000 school building administrators from 2022-2024. Where appropriate, this report references longitudinal data from the Speak Up Research dataset from 2003-2024 to provide additional context. School level demographic analysis of the research findings enables greater clarity to understand where gaps and unfinished business still exist relative to effective technology usage and teachers' professional learning needs. To support local discussions by school and district leaders, each report in this series concludes with a relevant list of discussion starter questions, appropriate for a cabinet meeting, school board meeting or community forum, to stimulate new ideas about how to address the digital divides. [This report was created in partnership with Spectrum Business, a part of Charter Communications.]
Descriptors: Technology Uses in Education, Access to Computers, Learning Processes, Educational Technology, Individualized Instruction, Online Courses, Computer Games, Video Technology, Computer Assisted Testing, Instructional Design, Learning Activities, Elementary Secondary Education, Faculty Development, Learning Experience
Project Tomorrow. 15707 Rockfield Boulevard Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92618. Tel: 949-609-4660; Fax: 949-609-4665; e-mail: speakup@tomorrow.org; Web site: http://www.tomorrow.org


