Higher education has witnessed rapid change in recent years with the rise of education technology (EdTech) tools and the shift to more flexible, remote, and asynchronous learning environments. As a result, the role of faculty has also undergone rapid evolution. Faculty must adjust to an increasingly tech-enabled learning environment while maintaining a productive, accessible, and engaging learning experience.
In November 2023, WGU Labs launched its third Annual Faculty EdTech Survey to examine the faculty experience in the face of their rapidly evolving role. Our survey gathered data from 359 faculty across a diverse group of higher education institutions, including community colleges; primarily online, not-for-profit colleges; and one public four-year institution. As with our previous reports (2022, 2023), we were interested in faculty’s experience with EdTech and online learning, including the recent boom in artificial intelligence (AI).
Similar to previous reports, we found that faculty members largely agreed that technology in the classroom is here to stay, but showed signs of tech fatigue. This survey also revealed that faculty do not think that tech will add value to higher education. In fact, in this latest survey, only 33% of faculty thought that higher education was heading in the right direction. Notably, sentiment was divided by teaching modality, with faculty who primarily taught in online asynchronous formats reporting a more positive take on EdTech and the future of higher education than their peers.
Regarding one of the most debated concerns with technology on campus — the use of AI and large language learning models like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, to name a few — we found little consensus. Faculty were nearly evenly split on whether they found these tools useful in their work and whether they encouraged students to use them in their work. Divergent attitudes among faculty, who serve as curators of the learning experience, will likely mean students have different access and exposure to these tools in their learning experience.
Key takeaways include:
- 92% of faculty expect to use more EdTech tools in the classroom. But less than 33% believe that higher education is heading in the right direction.
- Teaching modality impacts perceptions of higher education: 42% of faculty teaching online believe that higher education is headed in the right direction compared to 20% of faculty teaching face-to-face.
- Only 42% of faculty believe AI tools will positively impact faculty, and 49% do not use them in the classroom.
- 41% of faculty report burnout, which is correlated with high levels of technology fatigue.
Four years after institutions were forced to undergo rapid technological transformation, faculty now see technology as not only a permanent but also a growing influence on learning — a reality that seems to be creating a divide about the future of higher education. Such growing chasms among faculty may pose challenges, inefficiencies, and inconsistencies in teaching and instruction, which administrators must navigate. In this report, we share insights for practical change that higher education institutions can bring to better support their faculty transition into a tech-enabled and increasingly accessible learning environment.
