Since 2013, the number of U.S. teachers with broadband access in the classroom has increased from 300,000 to more than 1.5 million. One consequence of high-speed internet access in schools has been unprecedented collaboration and sharing of resources, by teachers, online. As a result, teacher “marketplaces” are exploding in popularity, offering tens of millions of teacher-created lesson plans and materials for a global community of more than 15 million educators. This growing market holds great promise for teachers seeking to expand their pool of available resources, but until recently, little research has been done on the quality and efficacy of online materials.
In 2014, researchers from Stanford University conducted a survey of nearly ten thousand teachers who buy or sell education resources on TES.com, the largest online community of teachers with more than 8 million users. The goal of the survey was to determine the “social value” of online resources – that is, whether the materials obtained through the online marketplace helped teachers improve their lessons and stay engaged in their work. Participants were asked to report on their perception of the quality and relevance of the resources they downloaded from TES.com, as well as the impact of those resources in the classroom.
According to the survey results, almost all teachers found online educational resources to be high-quality and relevant to the classroom. Nearly all participants (90%) rated the resources they used as above-average in both quality and relevance, and more than 30% gave the maximum score for both categories. The survey found that of all the materials teachers download from the marketplace, two out of three are actually used in the classroom – suggesting that after downloading and reviewing a particular resource, teachers are likely to put it to use. This usage rate remained relatively constant across different types of resource (worksheets, games, flashcards) and across subject matter.
Teachers also reported that online educational resources positively affect their day-to-day classroom experience. More than two-thirds of participants reported that using TES materials had a strong positive impact on the quality of their instruction, helping them develop effective lessons, engage students, and introduce new pedagogical methods. Teachers also felt very strongly that access to online resource marketplaces enabled them to be part of a community where teachers can learn from each other.
These initial results indicate that teacher-driven libraries of online educational materials can have a high level of impact in the classroom. As these marketplaces continue to expand, they provide a valuable channel for millions of educators to access a wide range of high-quality content and join a global community of creative and innovative teachers.
For more information please contact:
Tom Glover
Communications Director, TES Global
Notes on methodology
The survey focused on teachers’ perceptions of relevance and efficacy of specific resources, teachers’ perceptions of the impact of TES resources in their day-to-day classroom interactions, and, finally, teachers’ perceptions of their careers. TES and our research team collaborated to make the survey.
Most of the design took place in the early months of 2014. In June 2014, TES made the survey available to teachers. The timing of the release was a difficult decision. June is typically a month when school is ending for the year and fewer and fewer teachers are downloading resources from TES. In collaboration with TES, we decided to continue on with the survey. It continued through mid-November.
TES offered the survey to 185,506 individuals. Of these, 9,596 completed the survey making the completion rate for the survey 5.17 percent. Of all of the individuals offered the survey, 54,105 deferred the survey. The remaining declined to participate.
In sampling for the survey, we focused on two groups. First, we focused on individuals who initially registered for TES in 2011. With the exception of the individuals who registered in December, July, and August (average number of surveys for each cohort = 257), the survey was balanced in the number of respondents from the other months (average number of surveys for each cohort = 476). The difference in the numbers of individuals per month of registration has more to do with the overall number of people who ever registered during that month than anything else. Given that schools are mostly on holiday, July, August, and December are months with lower registration numbers among TES users.
The second group of individuals consists of users in primary and secondary math and English. These groups are the largest groups of downloaders on the site, and we separate the results for each group.