Technology and education go hand-in-hand with Indian parents

More than anywhere else in the world, parents in India are embracing technology to transform education and balance their lives, according to new research released today by global technology company Lenovo. The survey results show how education around the world has been positively transformed thanks to smarter technology, creating a generation of independent learners and problem solvers. In particular, India (89 per cent) and China (85 per cent) have seen a rise in parents using technology to assist with their kids’ learning in recent years. The research surveyed over 15,000 individuals globally, including India, US, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, UK, Germany, France, and Italy.

Around the world, technology is aiding future generations to be “more independent learners and problem solvers”. Indian parents are most likely to agree with this concept (91 per cent), with parents in the United States least likely (59 per cent). The new study gives further context to Indian parents’ growing enthusiasm for the use of technology to help educate younger generations, including the use of virtual reality in Indian schools to create inclusive and immersive learning environments, supporting students facing physical, social or cognitive disabilities.

Technology provides parents with better educational resources

The study also found that the parental burden of helping with homework is becoming a thing of the past: three-quarters of parents surveyed worldwide (75 per cent) say their kids are more likely to look something up online than ask them for help when it comes to a question about schoolwork.

On the flip side, however, 60 per cent of parents also say they have, at least once, looked something up online and then pretended they already knew the answer when helping their child with schoolwork. This was most common with STEM subjects such as mathematics (45 per cent) and science (38 per cent) but was also true in geography (36 per cent) and foreign languages (35 per cent).

Most global respondents (83 per cent) agreed that advances in technology in education are helping students perform better in school. Likewise, a substantial majority of working parents (84 per cent) said current and new technologies encourage more parents to remain in the workforce due to the personal benefits they bring, while also enabling them to stay more connected with their families. This was highest in China and India, with a massive 95 per cent of respondents in both countries believing tech is helping to balance their careers and parenting lives, followed by Brazil at 89 per cent. The countries that agreed least with this sentiment were Germany (68 per cent) along with Italy (71 per cent).

The growth of Education start-ups in India is opening up newer possibilities

There has been a rapid growth of technology-enabled education start-ups in India. A lot of these new-age companies use Lenovo tablets, where students can access all the study material. The use of tablets has positively impacted students’ reading and writing proficiency and helped increase their overall academic performance, setting a great example of the use of technology for better learning.

Tech empowering a new generation of independent learners

While technology has many positives in aiding learning (use of the high-speed Internet, automated translation tools, and accessibility features), 72 per cent of parents said they have concerns it could create dependencies in young people, potentially affecting social skills. However, 73 per cent said they trust technology is aiding future generations to be “more independent learners and problem solvers”. Global Gen Z and millennials generally feel that technology has had a positive role in their education, with 44 per cent agreeing it makes it easier to find out about causes or social issues they care about. The sentiment was shared by the general population, too, with almost half (49 per cent) believing technology will be “extremely important” in solving future challenges in education.

About the research

Lenovo surveyed 15,226 people in eight languages across 10 global markets, including the US, Mexico, Brazil, China, India, Japan, UK, Germany, France, and Italy. The respondent sample was nationally representative of the online adult population (18+) in each market.

The survey was conducted March 31st – April 27th, 2019 and the overall margin of error is +/- 1 per cent age point (at a 95 per cent confidence level); the margin of error within each country is +/- 3 per cent age points (at a 95 per cent confidence level). The survey probed respondents on how they view the role of technology in their lives and in society, both today and in the future.