The impact of digital technology on education is huge, and the events of 2020 has forced the education sector to push forward into tech like never before.
Technology and education have not historically made for a comfortable match, and the extent to which educational establishments have introduced tech into their organizations varies dramatically.
While the EdTech industry as a whole is booming, there is no doubt that many institutions lag behind their peers, leading to a sector that finds itself unbalanced as far as tech adoption goes.
Such is the concern about implementing technology that the Department of Education saw fit to establish a plan to encourage further adoption of tech in an effort to level the playing field a little more.
The plan, termed the National Education Technology Plan, focuses on five key areas:
- Teaching using technology
- Learning through technology
- Leadership to create a transformative culture
- Assessment of transformative tools and processes
- An infrastructure that enables access and use of technology
And that takes us back to the education industry at large. Exactly how advanced is it? What impact has digital technology had on education, and is adoption a positive or negative?
We’ve drawn up 25 of the most important stats to demonstrate the effect that EdTech has had on the field—where it’s at and where it’s going. Let’s take a look.
1. In the first half of 2020, U.S. education technology companies raised more than $803 million in venture capital, according to an EdSurge database of publicly announced funding deals—primarily driven as a result of the pandemic.
2. Education technology is becoming a global phenomenon and a market expected to grow at 17% per year, to $252 billion by 2020 as distribution and platforms scale.
3. 86% of teachers think it’s essential to use EdTech in the classroom, while 96% believe its use increases student engagement.
4. The education industry ranks last out of 17 major industries when it comes to preparedness to cope with cybersecurity threats.
5. 83% of IT administrators in education reported IT security as their top priority.
6. The education sector accounted for 13% of all data security breaches during the first half of 2017, resulting in the compromise of some 32 million personal records.
7. Education expenditure on augmented reality and virtual reality was $1.8 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $8.66 billion in 2022.
8. The use of technology in the education sector has increased by more than 3x in the past decade.
9. 65% of teachers reported using digital learning tools in their classroom every day. 87% said they used them at least a few days a week. Only 7% said they did not use them at all.
10. 63% of educators think educational technology accelerates learning.
11. 75% of teachers believe that digital learning content will totally replace printed textbooks within the next 10 years.
12. Despite everyday use, there is room for growth in school technology adoption. 4 in 10 teachers say their school is behind the curve when it comes to technology adoption and implementation.
13. In corporate education, approximately 77% of US businesses used online learning in 2017, and 98% planned to incorporate it into their program by this year.
14. 89% of students reported using digital learning tools at least a few days a week in class. Nearly 70% said they used them to complete lessons outside of school.
15. 95% of undergraduate students own a laptop or a smartphone and 30% own a laptop, a smartphone, and a tablet.
16. Studies have shown that using AR in the classroom contributes to deeper content understanding, information retention, improved collaboration, and increased student motivation
17. Personalized learning is the No. 1 educational technology priority around the country, according to a survey by the Center for Digital Education.
18. 76% of administrators and educators reported that they are constantly striving to innovate using technology as a tool for education.
19. 98% of educators view video-based learning as an essential aspect of providing a personalized experience—an increasingly important function in modern education.
20. 57% of K-12 students use digital tools in school every day, including two-thirds of all high school students.
21. Schools spend more than $3 billion annually on digital content for their students.
22. 70% of students say that they use EdTech tools outside of school on a weekly basis.
