Teachers' Technology Survey Project: Summary

Link to Survey

Link to Survey Results Page


Goals | Materials | Procedure | Results and Reflection

Goals
The Teachers's Technology Survey Project was designed for a course on Learning Networks through the CTER Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The goals of this project were as follows:
  • to engage at least 10 participants from a diverse geographical background to serve as a comparison group to the set of teachers at my school
  • to collect information on teachers' technology skills, preferences, and ideas
  • to gain insight in preparation for a new job as a K-8 technology specialist

Materials
Very few materials were needed for this project.  The main tool used was SurveyMonkey, an online application that allows users to create their own web based surveys.  A basic account (quite sufficient for this project) is free and allows users to publish surveys online and view responses.  The actual survey created for this project can be accessed here.

In addition, Microsoft Excel, Google Maps, and SeaMonkey Composer were used in the analysis and presentation of the results.

Procedure
The survey was created, as outlined above, and questions regarding the following topics were formulated:
  • Effective classroom technology integration
  • Skill/Comfort level with technology (school & personal use)
  • Staff development in the area of educational technology
  • Ideal technology support system within a school
After the survey was created, it was published online through SurveyMonkey.  Originally, I hoped to announce the project at the Global Schoolhouse, but realized that since I was looking for teachers, not students, this wasn't the place for me.  A link to the survey was subsequently announced July 16, 2007 on discussion boards at Tapped In, Google for Educators, and Teachers.Net.  This short announcement was used:

The Teachers' Technology Survey is a project geared toward teachers of all subjects and age groups.  It was designed for a masters level course (Networks for Learning) through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  I am seeking information from teachers on their current level of technology use as well as their thoughts on effective technology integration.  The results will be shared with all participants.  Follow the link below to get to the survey (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com); your response is appreciated!

In the interest of sharing information, participants who shared their email addresses (61%) received an email directing them to the results page and this project summary page.  These pages will remain active through my CTER career.

The survey will be redistributed in September 2007 to the teachers at my school. 

Results and Reflection
The overall success of this project was measured by the number of participants and the quality of their responses (i.e. whether or not they completed the survey thoughtfully).

The Teachers' Technology Survey was a huge success.  Within the fifteen day period, 44 participants began the survey, and 41 surveys were thoughtfully completed.  Three responses were deleted due to insufficient information.

I was also pleased with the quality of responses.  The survey contained several open ended questions with invitations for teachers to give suggestions for professional development and to describe an ideal technology support system within a school.  These questions were answered thoughtfully and honestly and supplied, perhaps, some of the most valuable information collected.

Several factors contributed to this high level of success including:
  • The intended audience for the survey: teachers, as opposed to students (who are mostly not in session), were targeted as potential participants. 
  • The popularity of education discussion boards among many teachers, even over summer vacation.
  • The low level of commitment to the project (just one ten-question survey, about ten minutes in length).
An unexpected outcome of this project was gaining experience in survey design.  The Teachers' Technology Survey was definitely a first attempt.  I enjoyed using SurveyMonkey.com and was pleased with its tools.  I learned a lot (especially after getting the results) about meaningful question design and how to effectively format a survey. 

If I were to repeat this project with unknown participants, I would change several of my question wordings and formats to get more meaningful information.  I would also try to find participants to help create questions rather than authoring them individually.  Because it was solely up to me to decide which technologies to include, the survey is limited to my knowledge and experience. 

The original audience for this project was the set of teachers at my new school.  Hoping to better serve them this fall, I wanted to collect information that would allow me to make considerate, informed decisions and be a better resource for the school.  For comparison, and to fit the parameters of the project, I opened the project to a much broader audience, seeking participants from various online locations.  Eventually, this took over the project and made the Teachers' Technology Survey an incredible learning experience.

Early on, the decision was made to hold off on distributing the survey to my new colleagues until September 2007.  This is largely the result of the overwhelming number of responses I received through the online announcements.  Having completed a simple analysis of the data collected, I now have the comparison group I was seeking at the outset of the project.  I am looking forward to running the survey again and comparing the results as I prepare for the academic year.


Rebecca M. Hix

last update: July 31, 2007