The idea that teachers are overly resistant to new technology is a little bit of an exaggeration. Teachers of all ages will differ on their opinions about different technology in the classroom. But, like people in all professions, teachers do not like the idea of changing their teaching methods and working tools too quickly. You may get the same reaction from a dentist, who may not be too happy changing from a drill to a laser pick.
Technology in the classroom at the moment
If we stick to the technology being used by teachers alone, then a lot of the usages numbers will not surprise you. For example, the use of a desktop or laptop computer by teachers within the classroom stands at 93%, which is hardly surprising in this day and age.
You may be surprised to learn that 43% of teachers use a tablet, which is a little bit unexpected at this time. One may expect tablet devices to tunnel their way into classrooms at some point in the future, but the idea that almost half of American teachers use a tablet in school is a little surprising.
Around 52% of teachers say that their students use learning technology almost every day in the classroom. For some lessons such as programming, computer science, etc., this may be expected anyway. But, it does also suggest that other lessons are using technology too.
Teaching methods are merging technology and tradition
Many teachers already claim that a broad and blended teaching methodology requires the interaction of at least a little bit of technology. Many teachers report using technology at some point in their teaching. The teachers who use no technology at all are the ones who are often told that they cannot use it. They are told by the program that they are teaching/part of.
The bare statistics are unsurprising at this stage
Here are the percentage numbers of people who say they use the devices in question. Obviously, these numbers are percentages and the same teachers were asked for each category. So, where it is possible that each teacher only uses one device, it is more likely that most teachers use more than one, which therefore affects the relevancy of differences in the results.
Around 93% of teachers use a laptop or desktop computer in class, and 55% use an interactive whiteboard. These numbers are unsurprising as many schools provide these things for the teachers.
Around 34% of teachers use tablets and 34% use handheld devices. These percentages are the numbers of teachers who use them in the classroom, as oppose to the teachers who own them, as more than 90% of teachers own a handheld device (Smartphone or Blackberry). With just a third of teachers using these devices in classrooms, one may assume that few schools provide these devices for teachers.
Around 5% of teachers use multi-touch tables and surfaces, and one may correctly assume that these are provided by the school and are for very specific lessons and disciplines.
