An overwhelming majority of Australian adults, 86%, believe it’s important for schools to teach information technology skills, and two-thirds agreed that technology was making a positive contribution to education, according a national survey by Monash University published last week.
The report, Digital Lessons? Public opinions on the use of digital technologies in Australian schools, summarises responses from a representative sample of more than 2,000 and is one of the first studies of national public opinion on the digitisation of classrooms.
We started by testing a largely unquestioned assumption that underpins debates over education and technology – that is, people are generally supportive of the idea of having digital technology in school. This was certainly affirmed by responses to our first item. Here we find two-thirds of the sample (66.1%) in agreement with the statement “On the whole, digital technologies make a positive contribution to Australian public schools”. In contrast, only 6.7% of respondents are in disagreement. This level of support is relatively consistent across all different groups.”
- Digital Lessons
Other key findings include:
37 percent believe ‘Big Tech’ companies - Google, Microsoft, Apple - cannot be trusted to play a role in school technology.
79 percent support schools banning the use of mobile phones while students are in class, while just under a third supported a total ban.
44 percent supported the use of online exams.
79 percent objected to parents having to pay for BYODD (Bring Your Own Designated Device), where the school did not give a choice of device.