Faculty Views on Technology

According to findings from a Gallup survey, all faculty members and technology administrators say meaningful student-teacher interaction is a hallmark of a quality online education, and that it is missing from most online courses. A majority of faculty members with online teaching experience still say those courses produce results inferior to in-person courses.

Highlights include:

-        Virtually all faculty members and technology administrators say meaningful student-teacher interaction is a hallmark of a quality online education, and that it is missing from most online courses.

-        A majority of faculty members with online teaching experience still say those courses produce results inferior to in-person courses.

-        Faculty members are overwhelmingly opposed to their institutions hiring outside "enablers" to manage any part of online course operation, even for marketing purposes.

-        Humanities instructors are most likely to say they have benefited from the digital humanities -- but also that those digital techniques have been oversold.

Straumsheim, C. (2014). Online ed skepticism and self-sufficiency: Survey of faculty views on technology. Washington, D.C.: Gallup. https://www.insidehighered.com/booklet/survey-faculty-attitudes-technology-0

Education Employees and Cyber Security

Education employees may be putting student data at risk, according to a MediaPro survey that posed hypothetical situations to educators about security and privacy. Among all the respondents, over half were classified as “risks” or “novices”, meaning their actions could lead to a potentially serious cyber incident or data breach. Meanwhile, only a third of respondents were classified as “heroes”, meaning they had strong knowledge of security and privacy best practices and are likely well-prepared to deal with many cyber threats. Implications from this study shed light on the important of informing education employees about a comprehensive approach to enhancing cyber security and privacy awareness, in order to better protect important student data.
 

Schwartz, J. (2017). Infographic: State of privacy and security awareness in education. Bothell, WA: MediaPro. https://www.mediapro.com/blog/infographic-state-of-privacy-security-awareness-education/  

Faculty Confident in Using Technology, Students Lack Confidence

In Campus Technology's second annual Teaching with Technology Survey, faculty were asked how they feel about tech in the classroom, where they go for IT support and more. An overwhelming majority said they are "absolutely confident" or "very confident" in their tech skills, and a smaller fraction consider their skills "adequate." A majority of faculty rated students’ abilities with technology as being “average”, with only a third of respondents rating students’ technological skills as being “excellent” or “above average”. However, the study states that a majority of faculty feel there is plenty of IT support they can come to for education technology assistance on campus, such as a help desk or IT department.

Kelly, R. (2017). 2017 Teaching with technology survey. Chatsworth, CA: Campus Technology. https://digital.1105media.com/CampusTech/2017/CAM_1707/SY_1707Q1_701925010.html#p=29