Parents’ Conflicting Views on Personalized Learning vs. Screen Time

Presented by: Dr. Julie A. EvansCEO, Project Tomorrow@JulieEvans_PT

Parents’ Conflicting Views on Personalized Learning vs. Screen Time

Today’s Discussion

▪ About Project Tomorrow and the Speak Up Research Project

▪ Parents’ conflicting views ▪ Support for digital learning▪ Concerns about too much screen time▪ Why does this conflict exist? ▪ How to message value of personalized learning to parents

▪ Project Tomorrow resources to support your work

▪ Your questions, comments, thoughts – let’s discuss!

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@JulieEvans_PT @SpeakUpEd #FETC18

@Project Tomorrow 2017

Getting to know you!

About Project Tomorrow

▪ Nonprofit education organization supporting K-12 education since 1996

▪ Mission is to ensure today’s students are well prepared for the future

▪ Programs and research focus on role of digital tools within the education ecosystem

o Speak Up Research Project on Digital Learning:

collecting & reporting on the authentic feedback of K-12 stakeholders to inform federal, state & local programs and policies

About the Speak Up Project on Digital Learning

▪ Annual research project since 2003

▪ Uses online surveys + focus groups

▪ Facilitated through schools and districts with support from state DOE

▪ Online surveys for: K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, and Community Members

▪ All K-12 schools are eligible to participate

About the Speak Up Project

▪ Participating schools and districts get access to all locally collected data + state and national data for benchmarks

▪ National data is reported via white papers and infographics – and used regularly by edu orgs & policymakers

▪ 100% free service for schools/districts

Since 2003,

5 million

Speak Up

surveys

submitted

About the Speak Up Project

Topics covered include:

✓ Use of technology to support learning – formal and informal ✓ School climate for innovation ✓ College and career ready skill development ✓ Leadership challenges ✓ Teachers’ needs and professional learning experiences✓ Valuations of different stakeholders on digital learning ✓ Emerging trends with digital tools, content and resources ✓ New classroom models✓ School to home communications✓ Designing the ultimate school

“Without data, you are just another person with an opinion …”

Introducing the Speak Up Project to

inform new discussions and better decision-

making around your digital learning

planning


National participation in Speak Up 2016: 514,085

Survey Audience # of Surveys Submitted

K-12 Students 435,510

Teachers & Librarians 38,512

Parents 29,670

Administrators 4,592

Community Members 5,801

About schools and districts: 2,445 schools, 7,123 districts26% urban, 36% rural, 38% suburban, 57% title 1 eligible


Speak Up 2016 findings from parents of school-aged children nationwide

29,670 parents nationwide

80% mothers

Child’s grade band:

• PreK – Gr 2: 36%

• Gr 3-5: 35%

• Gr 6-8: 34%

• Gr 9-12: 32%

Age distribution:

• 20s – 4%, 30s – 32%,

• 40s – 47%, +50 – 16%

Key trends from our research …

• Greater emphasis on students’ global skill preparation

• Value of personalized learning on the rise

• Acceptance of new learning models

• Increasing criticality for connectivity at school and home

• Learning as a 24/7 enterprise for students

• New expectations from parents – increasingly, digital

• Heightened importance of effective communications

Talking about personalized learning . . . . .

What is personalized learning?

“Tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests–including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn–to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible.”

iNACOL 2016

Talking about personalized learning

“The answer is not to standardize education, but to personalize and customize it to the needs of

each child and community. There is no alternative. There never was.”

Sir Ken Robinson


What do you see?

Are we seeing the same things?


Educators see this:


Educators see this:

Parents fear this:


Is it personalized learning

OR

Is it too much screen time?

The Great Digital Learning Debate

Parents’ support for digital learning . . . . .


1. Parents believe that technology skills are important for students’ future success

Besides strong subject area knowledge, what college/workplace skills are most important for students to acquire to be successful in the future?

1. Critical thinking and problem solving skills (85% of parents)

2. Creativity (75%)

3. Ability to work with diverse groups of people (75%)

4. Teamwork and collaboration skills (74%)

5. Technology skills (70%)



What is the best way for your child to acquire those skills?

▪ Getting work experience (80% of parents)

▪ Participating on a sports team or academic group (64%)

▪ Participating in school leadership activities (64%)

▪ Using technology within his/her classes at school (63%)



How important is the effective use of instructional technology to students’ success?

2%

12%

37%

49%

2%

12%

34%

50%

2%

12%

33%

51%

Not important

Somewhat important

Important

Extremely important

HS Parents MS Parents ES Parents


2. Parents believe students should have regular access to digital learning tools and content.

✓ 71% of parents say that every student should be able to use a mobile device during the school day to support schoolwork

o No statistical difference based upon community type

o No statistical difference based upon age of parent

o No statistical difference based upon family income

o No statistical difference based upon child’s grade


2. Parents believe students should have regular access to digital learning tools and content.

✓ 50% of parents say a blended learning environment would be best for their child

Blended learning class: a formalized structure where the teacher provides instruction part of the time in a physical classroom with a class of students, and part of the time the

students follow an online curriculum at their own pace at home or at school

✓ 24% chose a flipped learning class as best for their child

Flipped class: the teacher assigns online videos of lessons, labs, and lectures for students to watch as homework, and then the in-school class period is used for doing projects, in-

depth discussions, remediation, and individualized schoolwork help


3. Parents’ vision for their ultimate school is technology rich

Imagine you are designing a dream school for today’s students. What digital tools will increase student achievement and success?

▪ Laptop or Chromebook for every child (59%)

▪ Access to cloud based tools (50%)

▪ Online organizing tools (50%)

▪ Online tutors (48%)

▪ Digital media creation tools (46%)

▪ Online textbooks (45%)

▪ Access to mobile apps (44%)


4. Parents say that the use of technology in school has a positive impact on students

As a result of how technology is used in school to support learning, my child is …

▪ Applying knowledge to practice problems

▪ Developing creativity and critical thinking

skills

▪ Collaborating with other students more

▪ Communicating with his/her teacher

more

▪ Taking ownership of his/her learning


4. Parents say that the use of technology in school has a positive impact on students

What is the level of parents’ support in your community

or school for “digital or personalized learning?”

Parents’ concerns about screen time . . . . .


1. Parents’ concerns about screen time have grown significantly in past 10 years

What concerns you about your child’s use of online tools or Internet resources?

40%

61%

Parents 2007 Parents 2016

Too much screen time

52% more parents identified too

much screen time as a concern in 2016 vs. 2007


2. Profile of the parents with this concern varies based upon specific demographic factors


Age of parent 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Too much screen time is a concern

59% 62% 65% 61%

Grade of child in school

K-5 Gr 6-8 Gr 9-12


61% 62% 62%

No significant differences based

upon age of parent or grade of

child in school




Family Income < 50K 50 –100K

100 –150K

150 –200K

> 200K


50% 62% 64% 66% 68%

Community type Urban Suburban Rural


59% 63% 60%Some differences

based upon family income, home

poverty and community type

Home poverty Title 1 Non-Title 1


56% 66%




What is the level of parents’ concern in your community or school about “too much

screen time?”


The Great Digital Learning Debate : your insights

What is driving or fueling this conflict?

What factors are influencing parents’

concerns?


Factor: Use of social media by parents of school-aged children?

Social Media Parents 29 or

younger in age

Parents 30 -39 in

age

Parents 40-49 in

age

Parents 50-59 in

age

Facebook 64% 66% 60% 51%

Instagram 37% 28% 18% 10%

Snapchat 33% 11% 5% 3%

Twitter 11% 8% 11% 9%

YouTube 43% 30% 23% 19%

Msg apps 47% 46% 38% 30%

Video msg 27% 23% 19% 17%

Usage scale: All the time + often


Factor: Negative media stories and inappropriate research?


Factor: School has or has not changed since parents’ childhood?

Things to consider with your messaging about

personalized learning . . . .


Value messages to parents about personalizing learning using digital content and tools

1. Promotes workplace skill development (56% of parents worry that their children are not learning workplace skills in school)

2. One size learning does not fit anyone – every child learns differently

3. Increased motivation to learn results in greater student ownership of learning

4. Using data derived from digital tools helps the teacher pay closer attention to each child’s needs

5. Digital tools enable students to become creators of content, not just consumers

6. Extends learning beyond the physical world – demystifies what we cannot see

Today’s Discussion

▪ About Project Tomorrow and the Speak Up Research Project

▪ Parents’ conflicting views ▪ Support for digital learning▪ Concerns about too much screen time▪ Why does this conflict exist? ▪ How to message value of personalized learning to parents

▪ Project Tomorrow resources to support your work

▪ Your questions, comments, thoughts – let’s discuss!

National Speak Up reports and infographics

Targeted and thematic reportsDigital learning trendsCommunity engagement Mobile learning Games in the classroomBlended learning outcomes Community engagement – coming soon!

Presentations, podcasts and webinars

Services: consulting, workshops, evaluation and efficacy studies

More resources available at www.tomorrow.org

New Speak Up 2017 reports to be released in Spring 2018

Plan to participate in Speak Up 2018

Online surveys for: o K-12 students – individual + groupo Parents – English and Spanisho Teachers o Librarians/Media Specialistso School Site & District Administratorso Technology Leaderso Community Members & Communications

Officers

Gain news insights in the activities, attitudes and aspirations of your stakeholders

Surveys open Oct 2018 – Jan 2019Learn more www.tomorrow.org/speakup

Your questions,

comments,

thoughts

Thank you for joining today’s discussion!

Dr. Julie A. [email protected]

949-609-4660 x15Twitter: JulieEvans_PT and SpeakUpEd

Education

Parents’ Conflicting Views on Personalized Learning vs. Screen Time