Validating Growth in Technology Integration: Using the LoTi® Survey to Track Progress Over Time

Providing access to digital tools is not the same as using technology to improve learning. Nor is it observing a group of students quietly sitting apart, staring at separate screens, and repeating low-level cognitive exercises over and over. 

For educator preparation programs and K–12 schools, the more important question is whether teachers are using technology purposefully—to deepen thinking, increase engagement, support collaboration, differentiate instruction, and connect learning to authentic problems.

The LoTi® Survey helps leaders examine that growth over time. Rather than measuring technology use as a one-time checkbox, the survey provides a consistent way to identify instructional strengths, uncover support needs, and track changes in technology-enabled pedagogy.

Why Technology Integration Matters

Purposeful technology integration is part of effective instructional practice—not a separate skill reserved for technology-rich classrooms.

For EPPs, it is also an increasingly visible expectation. CAEP Standard R1.3 calls for candidates to model and apply approved technology standards to engage learners and improve learning. The 2025 AAQEP Expectations Framework similarly expects program completers to select and employ current educational technology tools and systems to support learning.

These expectations go well beyond showing that candidates included technology in a lesson. Programs need credible evidence that candidates understand when, why, and how technology can strengthen instruction.

K–12 schools face a related challenge. Districts invest heavily in devices, platforms, digital curricula, and now artificial intelligence—but access alone does not reveal whether those resources are improving classroom practice. Leaders need a clearer picture of how technology is being used and where professional learning can have the greatest impact.

Measure More Than the Presence of Technology

The LoTi Framework measures the relationship among instruction, assessment, and digital resources. It examines whether technology is being used to promote higher-order thinking, engaged learning, and authentic assessment practices.

That distinction helps leaders move beyond "check-box" questions (e.g., Are teachers using technology?) to more pedagogically prudent questions such as:  

How are teachers using technology to change what students think about, create, investigate, or accomplish?

The goal is not more technology. The goal is stronger teaching and learning supported by the right technology.

Use the Empirically-Validated LoTi Survey as a Growth Measure

When administered at intentional points over time, the LoTi Digital-Age Survey can establish a baseline and reveal changes in instructional practice.

An EPP might administer the survey near the beginning, middle, and end of a preparation program. A K–12 school or district might use it before a professional learning initiative and again at planned intervals during implementation.

Results can help leaders:

• Identify emerging instructional support needs before they become persistent gaps

• Establish technology-integration goals for candidates, teachers, or groups

• Align coaching and professional learning with documented evidence

• Examine patterns across courses, cohorts, schools, or grade levels

• Determine whether instructional initiatives are producing meaningful change

This makes the survey both an early indicator and a measure of growth. Leaders can respond to current needs while building a longer-term picture of progress.

Build a More Defensible Story of Growth

A single score provides a snapshot. Multiple measures collected over time tell a stronger story.

The LoTi Survey helps EPPs and K–12 leaders document not simply whether technology is present, but whether educators are progressing toward more purposeful, student-centered uses of digital resources. When survey findings inform coaching—and are examined alongside lesson plans and classroom practice—leaders gain clearer evidence of both current needs and developing strengths.

That is how technology integration moves from an initiative to an instructional growth story: one that leaders can understand, support, and confidently explain.