digital media in the classroom

The use of digital media and internet in the classroom is on the rise according to the latest edition of an annual study conducted by Grunwald Associates for PBS.

More than three-quarters (76%) of K-12 educators say they use digital media, up from 69% in 2008. Of K-12 teachers who use digital media in the classroom, 80% say they are frequent or regular users.

While DVDs are still the preferred medium by a narrow margin, 72% of teachers reported streaming or downloading content from the Internet, up from 65% in 2008. About one in three (29%) pre-K educators use this method.

One-quarter of K-12 educators say they belong to an online community specifically for teachers such as PBS' pbsteachers.org site, and those who use social networking sites are comfortable with a variety of online activities. Results are similar for pre-K educators.