Updated August 10, 2026: We refreshed this post with the latest stats and guidance to keep it accurate and useful.
It’s the dawn of another school year. Every administrator is asking the same question: Will they find the teachers they need? Each year, CTE programs work to fill an average of 15,900 open instructor positions. With 74% of U.S. public schools reporting challenges hiring teachers last year, this trend isn’t going anywhere.
While teachers say their vocation is fulfilling and enjoyable, it can also be stressful and overwhelming, according to Pew Research. The skilled trades offer paths to rewarding, lucrative careers for students. However, when schools don’t have the instructors and resources to offer these courses, students lose access to key learning and career opportunities.
The High Cost of Teacher Attrition in the Skilled Trades
Replacing a specialized, credentialed CTE instructor typically costs between 50% and 75% of their annual salary due to strict public sector search requirements and market competition. In the skilled trades, institutions compete with higher industry pay and a lack of skilled tradespeople willing to teach. For a $60,000-a-year technical instructor, that adds up to a $30,000 replacement cost, conservatively.
Teacher turnover means high replacement costs, higher stress and burnout for remaining faculty, and tougher recruitment. It also impacts students, who face overburdened and inexperienced faculty or canceled classes. When faculty members are pushed to their capacity limits, schools cannot scale programs or add new cohorts. Instructor burnout directly caps institutional growth.
Not Enough Time, Too Few Resources
So, how can schools support teachers, reduce burnout, and boost retention? It comes down to two factors: time and tools. Teachers work 54 hours per week, eight more than the typical working adult. 55% report frequent job-related stress, and 57% report symptoms of burnout.
Simultaneously, only 36% of teachers say they have the resources they need for their job, according to Pew Research. Several of the top stressors for teachers are managing student behavior and teaching and admin work that bleeds outside of contract hours. Time-saving educational technology tools exist, but simply aren’t being leveraged in most cases.
While you can’t give every teacher the raise they deserve, you can equip them with technology for teaching that saves time, alleviates burnout, and improves outcomes. Here are five ways to support teachers (and students) through educational technology for teachers, including educational technology for CTE.
How to Give Time Back to Teachers with Technology
1. Gamify Learning to Engage Students
Gamification—or completing actions for rewards—is an effective method to engage students and encourage learning. Games activate motivation and pleasure centers in the brain when students acquire new knowledge. Students also respond well to learning experiences that resemble video games or other interactive content.
Many experienced teachers already use games to motivate students. Gamification built into learning platforms introduces healthy competition, with no extra effort required by the teacher to create the games. This is a clear example of educational technology for teachers improving student engagement.
When you equip teachers with immersive and engaging learning tools, you help students to direct their own learning and relieve teacher stress.
Gamification example: the SkillMill online learning platform, students collect points and badges for each video, simulation, or knowledge check they complete. A digital leaderboard encourages healthy class competition and student engagement.
2. Offer Self-Serve Learning Experiences
One-on-one tutoring or instructional support is a major learning advantage. But a teacher can’t practically do that with each student in a classroom of 30. Accommodating differentiation and interventions for struggling students takes extra time and slows the whole class.
A self-serve learning experience, like a self-paced online curriculum, lets students get started and advance on their own. Self-sufficient students can advance quickly without boredom, and students needing extra support can review core concepts and request teacher support without compromising whole-class teaching time. This approach allows teachers to spend their time where they are needed most while still being able to serve a large number of students. These educational technology tools demonstrate how technology for teaching supports student learning.
Self-serve learning example: Remington College introduced Interplay Learning’s 3D simulations to offer on-demand, self-directed learning in a hybrid lab setting. “Any simulation, whether graded or not, gives students the autonomy to engage in it and to self-assess what areas of development or weak points to practice. When they reach a point of proficiency that they feel comfortable with, they can decide to move on,” recounts Heather Hensell.
3. Mitigate Classroom Safety Concerns
In teaching the skilled trades, teachers are responsible for more than just student learning. They’re also responsible for student safety in a risky environment.
In a skilled trades lab, students practice on live equipment involving electrical components or hazardous chemicals. The stress of monitoring student behavior and risk, along with the use of costly materials, takes a toll.
Blending 3D simulations with in-person lab practice relieves the pressure on teachers. When students practice an activity in a safe, controlled environment first, they transition to lab practice with fewer injuries and more independence. This is educational technology for CTE at its best and shows how educational technology improves student engagement by building confidence before hands-on work.
Classroom safety example: Electrical instructor and industry veteran Chad Soucy shares how 3D simulations have impacted his teaching. “Since simulations remove real-life risks, students can truly focus on learning rather than fearing the consequences of an unsafe action. This allows trainers to concentrate on coaching and mentorship while learners build their confidence and trust in the process.”
4. Leverage an Out-of-the-Box Curriculum Created by Experts
Lesson planning takes a lot of teacher bandwidth. When you reduce the time required for lesson planning, you free up teacher time and energy for other things.
An out-of-the-box curriculum, like the one offered by Interplay Learning, makes planning easier for teachers with a pre-built curriculum developed by experts. The courses also meet different learning styles with videos, interactive components, and visuals. These technology for teaching resources highlight the benefits of using technology in lesson planning by saving time and ensuring alignment to outcomes.
Out-of-the-box curriculum example: “I always wanted more visuals because people learn so many ways—the visual aids and interaction of Interplay Learning are great. I don’t have to take up class time to teach something that Interplay Learning covers,” says Shawn McGivern, a third-generation trades educator at Kansas City Community College.
5. Give Visibility Into Student Progress
With many students to track, teachers may not realize until too late in a semester that a student is struggling. A quality online learning platform makes it easy for teachers to track student progress at a glance. They can see how much material students have completed and which students need extra support. Automated knowledge checks and quizzes assess mastery without teachers needing to lift a pencil for grading. These educational technology tools help teachers intervene sooner.
Student visibility example: Interplay Learning’s dashboard gives teachers leaderboards, individual progress completion, and recorded simulations and student knowledge checks so they can see student progress at a glance and pinpoint which students need intervention—another way educational technology for teachers supports learning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is educational technology in the classroom?
Educational technology in the classroom refers to digital tools, platforms, and practices used to plan lessons, deliver content, assess learning, and support students. In educational technology for CTE, this includes simulations, VR, videos, and dashboards that connect instruction to real-world trade skills and improve student engagement.
How can teachers use technology to support student learning?
Teachers can use technology for teaching to differentiate instruction, provide hands-on practice in safe simulations, and give instant feedback. Educational technology for teachers enables self-paced pathways, formative checks, and multimedia lessons that meet diverse needs and keep students engaged.
What are examples of educational technology tools for teachers?
Examples include 3D simulations, VR/AR labs, learning management systems with dashboards, digital knowledge checks, video libraries, and gamified platforms. These tools are especially powerful in educational technology for CTE, where practice-based learning is essential.
How does educational technology improve student engagement?
It makes learning interactive, visual, and career-relevant. Gamification, instant feedback, and simulations create active learning experiences that motivate students, reduce fear of failure, and help them transfer knowledge to hands-on labs —core benefits of educational technology for teachers.
What are the benefits of using technology in lesson planning?
Technology streamlines planning with ready-made curricula, standards alignment, and multimedia resources. It saves time, supports differentiation, and ensures consistency, allowing teachers to focus on coaching and feedback — clear advantages of technology for teaching.
Empower Educators with Innovative Tech
As education evolves, the role of the teacher must too. In this challenging environment, give teachers every tool at your disposal so they can thrive in the job they love and focus on what matters most: the students.
Interplay Learning offers a suite of learning tools, including VR/AR and 3D practice simulations, aligned to your curriculum. Innovations like gamified learning and self-serve education save time and resources while creating dynamic learning environments for students to succeed. Teachers love Interplay Learning — learn more or request a demo today.
