Teachers and tech: What can't you live without…?

According to research by YouGov and Promethean, tech is the one thing most teachers couldn’t live without. More than half of teachers questioned said they would be lost without their wi-fi connection or an Interactive Flat Panel Display (IFPD) in their classroom.
In addition, over 50% thought that lesson-planning software was a must for successful modern teaching. The survey also showed an emerging trend for hand-held devices to be used as learning tools, with 15% of teachers saying that tablets such as iPads and Kindles are essential in today’s classrooms. This figure jumps to 29% in art and design faculties.

Some readers will be pleased to know that Post-It Notes and Blutack still make an essential contribution to many classrooms

The findings underline the move towards technology becoming a mainstay in the modern classroom – no longer just the domain of an IT specialist, but something that can be applied across all subjects.
The survey wasn’t all about tech though – some readers will be pleased to know that Post-It Notes and Blutack still make an essential contribution to many classrooms up and down the land, and while just over a quarter of teachers still use their laminating machines, almost half view static display boards as an essential classroom tool.
There is no doubt that edtech is playing an increasingly important role in the modern classroom, but it is also clear that not all teachers are as confident and comfortable with it, particularly when it comes to letting pupils interact with that technology, whether it be through school devices or their own.
Edtech is often misinterpreted as being all about IT skills, but it’s not just about teaching pupils to use the technology (more often than not, they could probably teach us!) – it’s about helping children engage with all subjects, through multi-sensory learning.

There is no doubt that edtech is playing an increasingly important role in the modern classroom, but it is also clear that not all teachers are as confident and comfortable with it

Technology is set to play a huge part in future teaching (and learning) trends, including flexible learning spaces and flipped learning; trends which are helping to rethink the way teachers teach, and pupils learn.
If you’d like to check how tech-savvy you are, try out this new teacher tech grader from Promethean. It’ll even give you some practical tips to help you stay ahead.
To find out how Promethean’s ActivPanel range with ClassFlow could benefit your classroom or school, come and see us on stand B98 at Bett from January 25-28, 2017, where we will be running a series of teacher-led seminars to showcase the technologies in a classroom application.