Results from the Learning Counsel’s 2021 Digital Transition Survey are now under analysis, and many key findings were presented by CEO LeiLani Cauthen during the organization’s annual National Gathering market briefing. The survey gathered broad participation and delivers a detailed snapshot of K–12 digital transition activity, spending, and shifting instructional models.
The survey received 21,098 educator responses, including complete submissions from 373 districts, 202 schools, and 819 teachers. Respondents answered multi-part questions covering intentions across 22 major technology areas, preferences among eight schooling models, resources and purchasing behavior, teacher time use, and other operational factors. Responses were collected from March 15 through November 2. Participants included school and district administrators and, for the first time, a separate teacher cohort whose answers were used in cross-analysis with leader responses.
Top takeaways
Spending and purchasing trends
- Edtech spending rose by $2.2 billion in 2021, reaching a total of $39.5 billion. This figure includes hardware, major software systems, digital curriculum resources, and network spending.
- Purchase intention for digital curriculum through 2022 remains strong, with more than 63% of respondents indicating plans to buy. Hardware purchases increased modestly and are expected to remain at significantly higher levels than before the pandemic.
- Among specific tech categories, esports (36%) and social-emotional learning systems (31%) top purchase consideration lists.
- For hybrid classrooms—where some students attend in person while others participate virtually—audio enhancement ranks highest (31%) among technologies districts plan to acquire. Robotics (27%) and student coding apps (25%) followed closely in purchase plans.
- Despite three major federal stimulus packages directing funds to K–12 education, the market grew less than anticipated in 2021; at least 60% of districts and schools had not yet spent their full allocations at the time of the survey.
- Response rates from rural schools and districts increased, indicating the U.S. market is approaching device saturation for students as smaller institutions adopt fuller digital transitions.
School model shifts
- The K–12 market is fragmenting into a wider range of schooling alternatives and moving away from a single traditional model. Both administrators and teachers expressed strong interest in shifting delivery models, with Hybrid/HyFlex and Blended/Flipped models tied for the highest interest.
- Some traditional public districts saw slight enrollment gains by adding online-only pathways within their institutions or through charter offerings. Private schools experienced enrollment losses, while homeschooling grew another 0.6 percentage points, slowing its rate of expansion to under 10%.
- Fewer than half of schools now operate strictly traditional programs without offering at least some hybrid or simultaneous web-conferencing options.
- The survey estimates about 37% of students—roughly 21 million—have “opted out” of purely on-campus, full-time traditional schooling. These students are enrolled in public online programs, charters, private schools, or homeschools; a smaller share consists of remote learners who remain enrolled but participate primarily via web conferencing.
New priorities and operational challenges
- Workflows and time/space logistics remain largely manual across many districts. Analysts highlight this as a critical barrier to scaling effective hybrid models and are focusing research on streamlining scheduling and logistics through projects such as the Learning Counsel’s Hybrid Logistics Project.
- Teacher wellbeing is a major concern: 74% of teachers report feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. A significant driver is teacher-centric lesson planning, which consumes time and distracts from direct student support. Lack of normalized digital materials and consistent pathways also hinders the use of predictive analytics and personalization.
- Perceptions differ sharply between school leaders and teachers about administrative workload. Twenty-four percent of teachers report spending 30 or more hours per week on tasks such as finding digital lesson resources, building lesson sequences, handling back-and-forth digital assignments, managing email and notifications, and other administrative distribution work. Administrators, by contrast, estimate only 8.5% of teachers spend that amount of time on these tasks.
- New approaches to professional development are needed—especially to reduce teacher overwhelm and address social-emotional needs alongside instructional skills and technology use.
Top pressures cited by school and district administrators
- Time and space management – 46%
- Teacher and staff attrition – 20%
- Staffing shortages – 13%
- Student achievement – 8%
- Integrations and technology architecture complexity – 5%
Top pressures cited by teachers
- Student absences – 30%
- Time management – 29%
- Student engagement and staying on task – 14%
- Simultaneous teaching (in-person and remote together) – 9%
- Unrealistic administrative goals – 8%
- Student achievement – 7%
Learning Counsel CEO LeiLani Cauthen noted another notable trend: consumer spending on digital learning continued to climb. Parents increased purchases of digital learning apps, sites, and items such as eBooks—jumping by nearly $6 billion in 2021—creating a consumer market now approaching double the total school spend. At the same time, school spending on professional-grade digital curriculum and courseware is growing faster than in prior years, reflecting the shift from simply digitized materials to purpose-built digital resources with stronger workflows and user experiences. Consumer-side gains included increased sales of full subscription curriculum for homeschoolers and growth in direct-to-consumer offerings from vendors that traditionally sold primarily to schools.
The Learning Counsel thanks sponsors who underwrote the National Gathering event and the presentation of the National Digital Transition Survey results briefing: Glowing Screen Award – ClassLink (Single Sign-On for Education); Tech Imperative Award – SAFARI Montage (Learning Object Repository for Curriculum Equity); Blackboard (Best-in-Tech Solutions); Scholastic Digital Solutions (digital nonfiction solutions); Desire2Learn (build better learning experiences); and Identity Automation (digital identity platform for education).
About the Learning Counsel
Learning Counsel is a research institute and news media hub serving more than 310,000 readers. The organization provides context and practical guidance for schools undergoing digital transition, drawing on deep expertise in technology user experience, systems, and organizational change. Learning Counsel develops research, leadership communities, and projects—such as the EduJedi Leadership Society and the Hybrid Logistics Project—to help schools advance their digital strategies and operational models.