What Educators Want and Need Out of Digital Instructional Tools

Since their founding, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been dedicated to advancing education around the globe and has funded hundreds of efforts to do so. They believe that “the path out of poverty begins when the next generation can access quality healthcare and a great education.” The Foundation’s dedication to education initiatives leads me to follow and read information they publish. Recently, I came across this survey from 2015 of what educators want and need out of digital instructional tools. The survey was naturally very interesting to Rosanna and I, as we are building Edjro around the idea that we can help teachers find and use technology resources in the learning environment.

As a quick summary, the survey concludes that educators believe technology can be used to improve one or more of the following areas:

Delivering instruction directly to students Diagnosing student learning needs Varying the delivery method of instruction Tailoring the learning experience to meet individual student needs Supporting student collaboration and providing interactive experiences Fostering independent practice of specific skills

After reading the survey, both Rosanna and I concluded that it is spot on. In addition, many of the concerns raised by educators in the survey are the exact same challenges faced by educators we have talked and worked with. We are using the information collected from this survey to better position ourselves to understand what exactly teachers need from technology in the learning environment and where we can fill gaps with free resources. I encourage anyone interested to check out the survey results (including the biggest challenges faced by educators with regard to technology) and would be interested in hearing from any teachers who would have some insight to add!