Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: Fall 2008

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This First Look report presents data from a fall 2008 Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) survey of public schools on the availability and use of educational technology. This includes information on computer hardware and Internet access, availability of staff to help integrate technology into instruction and provide timely technical support, and perceptions of educational technology issues at the school and district level. It follows a series of school level surveys dating back to 1994; the 2008 surveys also included one conducted at the district level and another asked of teachers.

Findings from the survey of schools include:

* An estimated 100 percent of public schools had one or more instructional computers with Internet access. The ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access was 3.1 to 1. All public schools reported having one or more instructional computers with Internet access. Nearly all-97 percent -- had one or more instructional computers located in classrooms and 58 percent of schools had laptops on carts. Schools report having one instructional computer with Internet access for every three students.

* Public schools used their district network or the Internet to provide standardized assessment results and data for teachers to individualize instruction (87 percent), data to inform instructional planning at the school (85 percent), online student assessment (72 percent), and high-quality digital content (65 percent).

* Nine out of 10 schools reported that it takes 8 hours or less to get network services restored when the network goes down (22 percent reported less than 1 hour and 68 percent reported 1 to 8 hours). Fifty-one percent of schools reported that it takes 1 to 8 hours to receive assistance with software problems or questions, and 45 percent reported that it takes 2 to 5 days to get a computer repaired.