Research Report

Report: Schools’ Desire for Mobile Technology Outpaces Funds

A new study sponsored by the educational technology firm Amplify highlights the growing presence of mobile technology in the nation’s classrooms and a growing desire by many districts to supply every student with a tablet.

“Many districts look to mobile technology to increase student achievement and make learning more engaging and personalized,” the research firm IESD wrote in the full report. “However, many districts also report challenges in implementing mobile technology related to teacher lack of knowledge or experience, need for professional development and implementation support, and mobile device management issues.”

Key Findings

  • Nearly 71% of districts have implemented mobile technology in at least a quarter of their schools.
  • Types of apps officials said they most wanted: digital textbooks, creation tools, and collaboration tools.
  • 70% cite lack of teacher training as a major barrier to using mobile.

The report, which is produced each year by IESD – we have a look at the 2013 report here, was sponsored by Amplify so that educators could access a version of the report for free.

Amplify relaunched their tablet school solution at SXSW Edu in March. At the time, the move was seen as a major effort to put the nation’s most ambitious 1-to-1 program back on track.

“We realized that, while we’d built the world’s best platform for mobile learning using anyone’s content, we needed to come up with a device that was ready for the physical demands of the school environment,” said Amplify CEO Joel Klein at the time. “That’s exactly what we’ve done with this new tablet.”

The report highlighted that many districts want to see tablets used more widely in school, but they cite cost as the primary barrier.

As part of the Amplify-sponsored report, the company released this infographic.

Amplify Infographic

If you submit your contact information with Amplify you can also download a PDF of the educator version of the report.