Industry Insight: Listening To The Real K-12 Customers

Some results are not that surprising. K-12 students reported the top technology devices are computers, cell phones and video game players, for example, and the use of digital cameras, MP3 players and laptop computers all increased dramatically in just the past two years for students in grades 3-12. More telling for solution providers, weekly use of desktop computers by students in the early elementary grades (K-2) increased by 28 percent in just one year. As it relates to schoolwork, students are using technology to do Internet research, create presentations and movies, and to practice skills by playing educational games. Further, the survey shows that online classes are increasingly interesting and appealing to students -- particularly when they want to study subjects not offered at their schools or need extra help in classes where they're struggling.

In addition, two-thirds of parents and teachers list online safety and privacy as top concerns, compared to students, who list spam, digital access equity and online cheating. Students say they want to learn science and math through real-world problem-solving, visiting places where science is in action, talking to professionals in those fields and using technology in multiple ways. While 86 percent of students in K-2 are interested in specific careers in science and/or math, starting in grade 3 that interest starts to decrease. In grades 3-12, more than one-third of students say they are not interested in any careers in science, math, technology or engineering.

For companies serving the K-12 education space with technology offerings, these findings should be of great interest. The strategy for targeting this segment of education has to change if school districts stand any chance of moving ahead of the technology curve. With the corporate sector continuing to develop, provide and sell education technology products to serve our nation's schools, understanding what students find engaging and effective and receiving feedback from these end users are critical elements in determining and implementing a marketing strategy.

Solution providers have to understand not only the end customer that holds the funds, but also the customers that actually access the technology and therefore influence what's considered worth a school district's time.

Further information about Speak Up 2006 is available at http://tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup_your_data.html#services.