In a photo taken Feb. 2012, Wiesbaden robotics club adviser Frank Pendzich, center, watches as Tim Kanser, Riley Pickering, Kenny Philips, Dhillon Tisdale and Shena Cousens, from left, attach skirting to the RoboWarriors' robot as they got it ready to be shipped off to Las Vegas for the FIRST Robotics Competition. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes file photo)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — For the first time, students, parents and educators with the Department of Defense Education Activity have the opportunity to participate in a national survey about technology use and interest in the classroom.
The Speak Up 2014 online survey is open through Dec. 19.
This is an opportunity to speak up, DODEA Director Tom Brady said in a DODEA statement. “Data from the survey will allow DODEA to make better technology decisions in many areas, such as how we resource our classrooms and the type of professional development teachers want.”
The survey asks K-12 students, educators and parents how they use — and how they would like to use — technology for learning.
For students, survey questions are geared to particular grade levels — and some are open-ended. Last year, for example, students in kindergarten to second grade were asked to explain what they like about using computers or the Internet to learn science or math. Students in grades 9 to 12 last year were asked to “pick a subject and tell us how using technology in that class could make that subject more interesting for you.”
Students need a password — to be assigned locally — to access this year’s survey.
Administered by Project Tomorrow, a nonprofit national education organization based in California, the Speak Up survey has been around for more than a decade, with so far more than 3.4 million participants, according to the group’s website.
National data findings will be released in the spring during two Congressional briefings, according to DODEA. Districts and schools will also have access to the results.
This year for the first time, others in the community are also invited to participate in the survey, according to the survey web site.
The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete; answers are confidential.
