What Are Parents' Perceptions Of The IT Solutions You Provide To Schools?

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

A survey published by Marketplace Learning Curve let parents weigh in on the impact of technology on the quality of education, and found that 71 percent of those polled think that the digital classroom is doing good things for their children.

The national, online survey of parents of children in grades 3 through 12 was conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide, and found that 90 percent of those children have access to a computer for school work, with most using their own home computer, while 98 percent of children use technology — including smartphones — for their school work.

The study also reveals that parents find technology particularly useful for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses, and most parents think that technology helps level the economic playing field among students. However, parents across the board raised concerns about issues such as screen time and the impact of technology on critical thinking skills as well.

A full 83 percent of parents report that their children are required to conduct research online, while 68 percent said that technology has increased their own ability to help their children with their assigned work.

The study also wanted to know how technology was affecting parents, and respondents indicated that email makes it easier to communicate with teachers (84 percent); providing more information about their child’s progress allows parents to feel more in control (80 percent); making it easier to be more involved in their child’s education (80 percent). Other parents reported feeling comfortable helping their child with technology (78 percent) and said that overall school technology has made their own lives easier (78 percent).

Among the chief parental concerns surrounding technology are student data privacy, ways that their child’s information is collected and used, advertisers’ access to their child, and opportunities for cheating and fraud. They also cited ability of their child to access inappropriate content and their own ability to understand technology to keep up with their child as concerns.

However, despite some specific concerns, overall parents reported feeling positively about the impact of technology on their children’s education.