Students want to have their personal technologies in school. Schools don't often go along and that marks a growing "digital disconnect" between students and their teachers and parents about learning and preparing for jobs with technology. Mobile technologies are one of three emerging technologies added to Project Tomorrow's 5^th Annual Speak Up survey. Attitudes toward educational gaming and online learning were also added to the survey of teaching and learning with technology, 21^st century skills and science education.

Students have access to technology. More than one-third of students have personal access to a laptop. A third of K-5 students have a cell phone, and that figure jumps to 52% for grades 6-8 and 67% for high school. 75% of middle and high students have an MP3 player. A separate survey of the Pew Internet Project shows that, unlike with desktops, minority students have access to mobile technologies.

Students also have tech skills. Seventy percent of students in grades 6-12 rate their tech skills "average" compared to their peers, and 24% identify themselves as advanced. The gender gap persists, with girls more likely to say they have "beginner" skills and less likely to say "advanced."

Out of school technology concentrates on gaming, with more than 64% of students in grades K-12 playing online and or electronics-based games regularly. Narrow the age group to middle and high school students, and the #1 activity shifts to downloading music. Social networking draws in 40% of middle school students and 67% of high school students. Half of all high school students regularly use communications tools such as (email, IM and test messaging), with girl's use outpacing boy's by 12 percentage points.

The top five in-school activities for grades 6-12 are:

• Writing assignments (74%)
• Online research (72%)
• Checking assignments or grades online (58%)
• Creating slideshows, videos, webpages for schoolwork (57%)
• Email or IM with classmates about assignments (44%).

While teachers, parents and administrators see the value of many technologies for the classroom, they are not clamoring for it:

• 52% believe these technologies increase student engagement in learning
• 43% extend learning beyond the school day
• 42% prepare students for the world of work.

The number one use of technology to facilitate student learning, at 51%, is assigning homework or practice work. Teacher's and administrators' use of technology centers heavily on email. Fifty-nine percent of teachers and 71% of administrators create powerpoint presentations. Roughly a third of teachers create or listen to podcasts or videos, and 21% maintain a personal website. Almost a third of administrators participate in online communities.

Educators' expectations for gaming are high, with 65% of teachers saying gaming will help engage their students in the coursework and provide them with an effective tool for teaching to students with different learning styles. Teachers, in fact, have more faith in the learning value of the gaming than students do.

Online learning remains rare, with only 8% of students have had a school-based online class experience, and 6% with an "out of school" experience. However, more than 33% of high school students, 24% of middle school students, and 19% of 3 - 5 grade students with no previous online class experience stated they would like to take an online class. Girls have a slightly stronger interest than boys. Asked why, age made a difference:

• High school students were most interested in earning college credit (43%)
• Middle school students are seeking extra help in a subject (39%)
• Elementary students view it as a new way to learn something (31%).

Forty-five percent of school and district administrators identified online learning as a way to boost student engagement; and 33% of teachers have explored how to incorporate online learning into their classroom. One-third of teachers surveyed said they were interested in online learning for professional development , and 26% stated that online learning is their preferred training methodology. Self-paced learning is attractive to teachers and students.

Additional findings and special reports from the survey will be released throughout the year.

Sources: Speak Up 2007 for Students, Teachers, Parents & School Leaders Selected National Findings - April 8, 2008; Speak Up press release, Students Want the 21st Century Classroom, but Schools Not Meeting Student Expectations, According to Latest National Study