Even as education budgets tighten and burnout deepens, educators aren’t rejecting technology. They’re leaning into it—especially AI. The problem isn’t whether tools work. It’s that they don’t work together.

That’s one of the clearest takeaways from Jotform’s newly released report, EdTech Trends 2026: A Survey of What’s Working, What’s Not, and Where AI Is Heading. Based on responses from 50 K–12 and higher education professionals, the study paints a picture of a resilient but overextended workforce trying to do more with less—and increasingly turning to AI to bridge the gap.

The respondents, split roughly evenly between K–12 and higher education, include teachers, instructors, and professors navigating an increasingly complex digital ecosystem under growing financial pressure.

Budget Cuts, Burnout—and a Turn Toward AI

The backdrop to the report is sobering. More than half of educators surveyed (56%) say they are very concerned about recent cuts to U.S. education infrastructure. At the same time, burnout remains a persistent challenge as workloads expand and resources contract.

Yet rather than retreat from technology, educators appear to be embracing AI faster than many might expect.

According to the report, 65% of respondents are actively using AI. Nearly half of those users (48%) apply AI across both student-facing activities and administrative work—ranging from supporting learning experiences to summarizing long documents and automating feedback.

This dual use underscores a key shift in EdTech adoption: AI isn’t viewed solely as a teaching aid. It’s increasingly a productivity layer, helping educators reclaim time in an environment where time is in short supply.

The Integration Gap: Tools That Work—But Not Together

Ironically, the biggest frustration educators report isn’t poor technology. It’s fragmentation.

While 77% of respondents say their digital tools work well individually, 73% cite lack of integration between systems as their primary challenge. In practice, that means jumping between platforms just to complete basic tasks—grading, communications, reporting, and content management.

One respondent summed it up bluntly: “The No. 1 thing I would like for my digital tools to do is to talk to each other.”

This disconnect reflects a familiar MarTech and EdTech problem: point solutions proliferate faster than ecosystems mature. The result is operational drag, even when the tools themselves are well-designed.

Platform Fatigue Is Becoming the Norm

That drag adds up quickly.

Educators report using an average of eight different digital tools, with half saying they feel overwhelmed by “too many platforms.” Instead of simplifying workflows, technology often adds cognitive load—forcing educators to remember logins, workflows, and data silos across systems.

Despite widespread digitization, respondents still spend an average of seven hours per week on manual tasks, highlighting a gap between digital adoption and actual automation.

This is where expectations around AI are rising. Educators aren’t just looking for smarter tools—they’re looking for fewer steps.

AI’s Primary Role: Productivity First, Pedagogy Second

While AI is often discussed in the context of student learning, the report suggests its most immediate value lies elsewhere.

Among respondents using AI, 58% say they use it most frequently for productivity tasks such as research, brainstorming, and writing. These use cases are low-risk, high-impact, and directly tied to reducing workload—making them easier to justify amid ethical and institutional scrutiny.

That doesn’t mean teaching applications are off the table. But it does suggest AI adoption in education is following a pragmatic path: start where efficiency gains are clear, then expand cautiously.

Ethics and Data Security Remain Top of Mind

Caution is still very much part of the equation.

Educators cite ethical implications and data security as their top concerns when implementing AI. This reflects broader anxieties across regulated and people-centric sectors, where misuse of data or opaque AI behavior can erode trust quickly.

For EdTech providers, that concern raises the bar. It’s no longer enough to ship AI features. Platforms must clearly communicate how data is handled, how models are used, and how institutions remain in control.

As Lainie Johnson, Director of Enterprise Marketing at Jotform, noted, the surprise wasn’t dissatisfaction with tools—but the friction between them. “While the tools themselves are great, their inability to work together causes a problem.”

The Bigger Picture: Less Tech, Better Systems

The EdTech Trends 2026 report mirrors what’s happening across MarTech, HRTech, and RevOps: users don’t want more software. They want systems that reduce complexity.

AI, in this context, isn’t a silver bullet. But it’s increasingly seen as a connective layer—one that can automate handoffs, reduce manual work, and make fragmented ecosystems feel cohesive.

For educators navigating budget constraints and burnout, that promise may matter more than any individual feature.

The message from the field is clear: technology adoption in education isn’t slowing down—but tolerance for friction is.

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts.