With the increased importance of technology proficiency in our digital age, parents, teachers and students all agree that students need better technological preparation, said an organization called Project Tomorrow and the technology company Blackboard, Inc.
In a report of a survey released October 29 called "Learning in the 21st Century: Parents’ Perspectives, Parents’ Priorities," one-third of parents and 40 percent of students in 6th to 12th grades do not think that their schools are doing enough in terms of educating children about technology. Yet 50 percent of principals consider themselves to be doing a “good job”. Parents want teachers to have more instruction in how to teach their students, and they want schools to have “online textbooks,” “interactive white boards,” “laptops for students” and “technology-based organizational tools”.
“The disconnect between educators and parents reveals the need for schools to improve the integration of technology into the learning environment and student’s learning experience,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. “Parents do not feel that schools are effectively preparing students for the jobs of the 21st century, and view technology implementation as essential to student success.”
Project Tomorrow is a nonprofit education organization and says that since 2003 it has collected the views of over 1.5 million k-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents in 18,000 schools in 50 states. For additional information, visit http://www.tomorrow.org .
Blackboard Inc. Nasdaq: BBBB) is the global technology company founded in 1997.
For a copy of the report "Learning in the 21st Century," go to http://www.blackboard.com/k12/education21c .
