Many Teachers Lack Remote Teaching Technology

50% of teachers lack the needed technology for remote learning, a survey has found.

17:15 12 August 2021

A recent survey conducted by Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) and Dixons Carphone, has found that nearly 50% of teachers nationwide do not have access to the required technology to teach remotely. 

 

The survey, which was participated by 700 teachers across 200 schools in the United Kingdom, found that 47per cent of teachers believe they do not have adequate technology at home to effectively teach remotely while 24per cent said they do not have a suitable device on which to work. Only 53per cent of respondents said that their home internet set-up was fully suitable for working from home. 

 

The survey was published on the day thousands of children across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A Level results. 

 

Paul Finnis, Chief Executive of the Digital Poverty Alliance said: "We are delighted for these young people who did so well this year in spite of the exceptionally difficult circumstances that they found themselves in.

 

"But we also know that there will be many who did not excel or even achieve what they had hoped for and, even more sadly, were capable of.

 

"As the Ofcom report from April showed, 1.5m UK homes still have no internet access, 20% of children did not always have a device for online learning while schools were closed, and 4% of school-age children had to rely solely on mobile internet access during the pandemic, which also adds additional costs to already underprivileged families.

 

"The UK is facing not just a legacy of lost learning that children have had to cope with during lockdown, but also the lost opportunities for supporting their learning and their lives at home by providing the access they needed to the digital world over the past year.

 

"To add, our survey that we released today shows that 47% of the UK teachers did not have adequate technology at home to enable them to carry out teaching work remotely.

 

"As part of its levelling-up agenda, the government must address digital inequality. To help the government achieve this goal, the DPA is dedicated to building a community of individuals, companies and organisations who can share the best solutions for bridging the digital divide."