Highlights from the Phoenix Digital Transition Briefing: Key Findings from the National Survey

At 8:30 a.m., as attendees settled in with coffee, the Phoenix Digital Transition Discussion began with a Digital Transition Briefing presented by LeiLani Cauthen, CEO and Publisher of the Learning Counsel. The briefing summarized findings from the Learning Counsel’s National Digital Transition Survey, the most extensive national survey of its kind. Between May and November, more than 21,000 educators completed the survey, providing a broad picture of where K–12 schooling stands in its digital evolution.

The survey shows the K–12 market fragmenting into a wider range of instructional approaches, moving away from a single traditional model toward many alternatives. Both administrators and teachers express interest in changing delivery models, with strong movement toward hybrid, hyflex, and blended/flipped approaches. Purchase intent for digital curriculum remains high through 2022, with over 63 percent of respondents indicating plans to acquire digital curriculum resources. Hardware purchases rose slightly during the recent period and are expected to remain at levels substantially higher than pre-pandemic norms.

While technology adoption has accelerated, many operational elements of schooling — particularly workflow, scheduling, and space logistics — remain largely manual. EdTech companies are now targeting these operational gaps with solutions focused on hybrid logistics and new kinds of transformation that address time and place coordination for instruction and learning.

A major hidden cost identified by the survey is the heavy burden of teacher-centric lesson planning. Significant portions of teachers’ time are spent building lessons and selecting digital resources, which reduces their capacity to focus on individual students and limits the feasibility of predictive analytics needed for true personalization. The survey found that in 39 percent of cases, teachers are responsible for all lesson planning and choosing digital resources. In 29 percent of districts, pacing guides and curated digital playlists are provided, but teachers must do the remaining lesson build-out themselves.

The data also reveals how limited direct instructional time between teachers and students has become. Approaches to assembling lessons vary widely:

26 percent of teachers custom-build digital lessons based on their knowledge or textbooks for lecture and assignment-style delivery.
13 percent of teachers rely on resources from the open internet, social media, and teacher subscription sites, pulling together files and images into lesson materials.
36 percent use a hybrid approach, combining approved materials with teacher-created content.

Both educators and administrators agreed that professional development (PD) must evolve to meet new demands. Survey respondents highlighted several specific PD needs that reflect shifts in instruction, technology, and the social-emotional landscape:

82.5 percent reported needing support with teaching students online using video conferencing and other remote tools.
74 percent identified the proliferation of new apps and subscription-based digital resources as an area requiring training and support.
72.5 percent cited emotional impacts affecting families, students, staff, and themselves, signaling a need for social-emotional supports and strategies.
65 percent reported challenges tied to changed schedules, including different class time slots, alternating weekly structures, or other new uses of time.
62.5 percent indicated that new or different uses of physical spaces require guidance and planning.

Cauthen also reviewed market spending for the prior year. In 2021, schools spent an estimated $39.5 billion across hardware, major systems, digital curriculum, paper resources, and networking. Of that, $14.9 billion was spent on school educational digital curriculum. By contrast, consumer spending on digital curriculum reached approximately $28.5 billion, underscoring a sizable market outside formal K–12 channels.

Implications from the briefing point to an environment in which technology is necessary but not sufficient for meaningful transformation. Schools must address operational workflows, provide targeted professional development, and reduce the burdens of manual lesson creation if they are to realize the potential of predictive analytics and fully personalized learning. The fragmentation into hybrid and blended models creates opportunities for innovation, but also demands coordinated planning around time, space, staffing, and resource curation to ensure equitable and effective implementation.

This summary reflects findings presented by LeiLani Cauthen based on the Learning Counsel’s National Digital Transition Survey. The results highlight where districts and educators are investing attention and where new support, both technical and pedagogical, is most urgently needed as K–12 education continues its digital transition.