How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in ... - Prisa Digital

I. Introduction
This study is the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project’s first extensive examination of
teachers’ perceptions of the positive and negative impacts of a rapidly evolving technological
environment on teachers’ professional activities and how that new environment has impacted teachers’
own tech use. This research was developed to explore not only teachers’ assessments of students’
research and writing habits, but also the broad impacts of digital technologies on their students, and the
extent to which teachers incorporate digital technologies into classroom pedagogy. It builds on prior
Pew Internet research on the growing use of the internet and digital tools among both adults and teens
in the U.S., and looks closely at teachers’ technology adoption as it compares to the adult population as
a whole.
Pew Internet’s prior research on adult and teen internet use
The current study builds on Pew Internet’s extensive research on how U.S. adults and teens gather
information online, communicate using digital tools, and use these tools for their own training and
education. Pew Internet’s prior surveys have shown that:
Online information gathering (in the form of search engine use) tops the list of the most popular
online activities, along with email
Adults as well as teens have become increasingly reliant on mobile tools, particularly
smartphones, to communicate and engage with online content
Social networking has become one of the most popular online activities with teens and adults.
While teens and young adults initially led the foray into this online social milieu, the past several
years have seen particular growth in social network site use among older adults
Both teens and adults are heavily engaged in consuming and curating online video and pictures,
and remixing the content available online into their own creations
Texting has become the major form of communication among 12-17 year-olds in the U.S., and is
growing dramatically among adults as well
Given these trends, we felt it would be useful to examine how teachers as a population are experiencing
these digital disruptions. These are important questions, as educators remain a main point of contact
for teens growing up in the new digital ecosystem. The extent to which their teachers use, understand,
and are critical of or optimistic about these tools all shape how often and how effectively digital tools
are used in today’s classrooms.
This is the second of three reports emerging from the study. Issued in succession, the three reports are
guided by the following questions:
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