For teachers and other school personnel, technology is a way to get students engaged in what they’re learning and prepare them for the professional world. 

That’s the case for Gary Grant, who heads up the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education. 

“Technology (is) a tool to better prepare our students for the global communities that they’re gonna live in after their education years,” he said. 

Many respondents to a survey conducted by Education Week describe themselves a “risk-taker” or early adopter of new technologies. 

Education Week surveyed about 700 classroom teachers and school instructional specialists that are registered to its website. 

Although the sample can’t statistically represent the nation’s teachers, it does shed light on how some teachers are using technology to enhance their teaching. Educators more often said their students use technology for routine drills and review rather than for projects or collaboration. Respondents also rated students as more likely to use tech in the traditional approaches, such as practice or reading exercises, rather than the more creative ones. 

In today’s education system, where students know as much about technology as their teachers, Grant said it’s vital in the classroom. Until recently, teacher colleges weren’t giving teachers a good grounding in using technology to enhance instruction, Grant said. That’s changing. Teachers don’t have to focus as much on showing students how to use certain tools, he said. 

“We just have to give them a reason to use technology,” he said. 

The survey also attempted to measure respondents’ perceptions on the state of education technology by developing a confidence scale from 0 to 100. Respondents gave education technology a score of 49. The survey also reveals that teachers feel more upbeat about the future of ed tech. 

“As the applications for technology in the classroom continue to evolve, it’s important to understand how teachers are using technology to teach and what factors they consider when deciding which products to use,” Executive Project Editor Kevin C. Bushweller said in a news release. 

When respondents were asked which groups are most influential in deciding technologies to use, 51 percent said ranked themselves as most influential followed by other teachers at 27 percent. They were also more likely to learn about new tools from other teachers in their schools and said that sharing ideas is one of the best kinds of professional development. 

A lack of devices, training, wireless connectivity and computer breakdowns were among the barriers respondents said are holding them back. 

“As a whole our staff feels fairly confident with using education technology,” said Scott Harper, director of instruction and technology at Barren County Schools. 

He said teachers are using tools including remote learning programs such as Google Classroom, which allows teachers to set up an online page for their classes. It can be used to make assignments available for students to read or respond to and has been helpful on snow days, he said. 

Overall, he said, technology is a way to expand the reach of teachers and keep their lessons relevant. 

— Follow reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @aaron_muddbgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.