<p> Changes in the field of education require teachers&rsquo; acquisition of specific knowledge of technology and the skills of its effective use in the classroom. With the expansion of the traditional classroom to include virtual learning environments, concern still exists regarding characteristics necessary for quality teaching and learning.</p><p> This research is an examination of pre-service teachers&rsquo; needs relevant to integrating technology in an online learning environment. It is a first step toward acknowledging the responsibility teacher preparation programs have in the formation of educators equipped to instruct in dual learning environments, thus providing pre-service teachers with opportunities and experiences to become fluent in the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) required for online learning environments as well as the traditional face-to-face instruction. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine if active engagement with content of an online instruction module would affect the attitudes, knowledge and skills, and instructional centeredness of pre-service teachers&rsquo; towards technology integration in an online learning environment. A mixed-methods concurrent triangulation design procedure was utilized to measure characteristics of pre-service teachers in a teacher preparation program. A two-way within-subjects analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate the effect of engagement with the content of the online instruction module for all three domains. Participants began the intervention with limited knowledge and skills of technology integration and online learning environments; however, they made statistically significant gains upon completion of the intervention. The implementation of an intervention such as this online instruction module may support other teacher preparation programs in identifying strengths and weaknesses of their pre-service teachers and provide valuable information necessary to guide program goals.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how instructional technology impacts teaching and learning. Specifically, in this study I show how learning analytics could be implemented to encourage student responsibility for learning and identify effective faculty course designs that help. Typically, learning analytics focuses on data mining student use of an online learning management system (LMS), the most widely used instructional technology in higher education. However, key challenges include a relative lack of empirical studies, the field&rsquo;s predisposition toward prediction vs. intervention, and a lack of understanding about the role of faculty LMS course design on student usage. Accordingly, I explore how system-generated feedback to students about their LMS use compared to peers can serve as a metacognitive &ldquo;nudge&rdquo; toward improved responsibility for learning and academic performance. I also explore how this approach might shine light on effective faculty LMS course designs. I show how analytics provides both a theoretical and methodological foundation for implementing interventions based on the learning sciences, including self-efficacy, self-regulated learning and instructional technology. Finally, my findings contribute to the dialogue about scalable institutional approaches to improving student retention, persistence and success. Learning analytics is made possible through the technology of data mining, but I believe it also serves as a mirror to reflect (if not assess) the impact of instructional technology on teaching and learning.</p>

<p> Mobile devices have become increasingly more visible within classrooms and informal learning spaces. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the impact of mobile learning (m-learning) tools to support student learning during teacher-led field trips. Specifically, the research questions for this study are: (a) What conditions affect student satisfaction within an m-learning environment? (b) What impact does an m-learning environment have on levels of motivation and engagement of students? and (c) How do m-learning tools facilitate student knowledge acquisition, participation, and collaboration? The hypothesis of this study is that mobile learning materials can improve students&rsquo; engagement and participation. This design-based research (DBR) study relied on a combination of pre- and post-assessments, teacher interviews, and behavioral observations, in two iterations. The participants for this study included three teachers and 112 students, between 11 and 12 years old, drawn from a sixth grade public middle school in San Antonio, Texas. </p>

<p> Makerspaces are fertile grounds for students to develop innovative products infused with STEAM principles and cross disciplinary content knowledge; build technological fluency; and support positive developmental growth. Yet, rarely do Makerspaces prioritize these outcomes. Rather, they tend to revolve around the creation of novel objects using cutting-edge technology; craftwork unhinged from their historical, social, political, or academically-relevant underpinnings; and/or the hacking of so-called &ldquo;black boxes&rdquo;. </p><p> What happens when an educator designs and implements a research-based and content-driven in-school Makerspace? Drawing on field observations, interviews, artifact analysis, and the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) survey, this mixed methods study explored the experiences of students from two urban middle school classes (n=51) who participated in a social action themed Makerspace called the &ldquo;Tech Caf&eacute;.&rdquo; Working from a transformative research perspective, the Tech Caf&eacute; also sought to address the &ldquo;participation divide&rdquo;&mdash; a term suggesting that higher socioeconomic status students have more opportunity to produce media creatively than students of low socioeconomic status. </p><p> Qualitative results indicated that students reported increased agency in their ability to effect positive change in their world. They engaged in powerful collaborations with diverse members of the school&rsquo;s learning community as they worked toward solutions using low- and high-technology tools. Their products included a cigarette smoke detecting shirt, an edible insect bug stand, and a stationary making kit utilizing recycled paper. Student profiles incorporated their chosen social issue; steps and challenges in product creation; and outcomes pertaining to technological fluency and sense of agency to affect change. Findings showed that students may have benefited from scaffolding to deepen their understanding of important social issues through research.</p><p> Quantitative results of the DAP were statistically analyzed according to measures of Positive Identity, Positive Values, Commitment to Learning, Empowerment, and Social Competencies and indicated that no statistically significant differences existed in the pretest-posttest survey scores of participants (n=30). However, a descriptive analysis of score improvement showed that students who successfully created products in the Tech Caf&eacute; moved to higher DAP score ranges more often than those who did not create products. The study concludes with recommendations pertaining to the implementation of Makerspaces in schools.</p>

<p> This qualitative explanatory case study documented instructional methods used and environmental conditions experienced by standard classroom teachers attempting to integrate instructional technology to support a differentiated curriculum for gifted learners. This research method was chosen as it allows for a teacher&rsquo;s understanding of educating gifted learners in the classroom as well as the effectiveness of curriculum differentiation for the gifted learner through the use of instructional technology. With minimal guidance how to successfully challenge a gifted learner in the regular classroom along with preconceived assumptions about the concept of giftedness, teachers can be overwhelmed when faced with typical gifted learners. Through the perspectives of standard classroom teachers who are attempting to use instructional technology to support the differentiated learning needs of their gifted learners, the study has the potential to support teachers who strive to ensure their gifted learners study something new every day. The study focused on two fourth- through sixth-grade schools using a qualitative explanatory case study through patterns in teacher interviews, teacher observations, and analysis of student technology work. Data sources included in-depth interviews with sixteen tenured teachers at two public fourth- through sixth-grade schools, an analysis of 183 student work samples, and nine classroom observations. Data were analyzed and coded to identify instructional technology practices standard classroom teachers use for curriculum differentiation with gifted learners. Recommendations based on the findings included school system&rsquo;s technology departments support teacher&rsquo;s efforts to appropriately challenge gifted learners through enlisting the help of the developers of sites such as MobyMax or Kahoot, classroom teachers making use of gifted education specialists expertise as well as the specialist monitoring the gifted learners in order to better support the classroom teachers, and effective professional development using teachers who successfully use instructional technology as a differentiation technique for gifted learners as well as ones who establish a cohesive classroom community. Recommendations for future research included similar studies conducted in other districts not only on the same grades but also middle and high school level gifted learners. Additional studies could focus on systems that have limited amount of technology as compared to those who have a one-to-one technology program.</p>

<p> Storytelling is an effective means of imparting knowledge, beliefs, and traditions. In its multimedia form, digital storytelling has been made popular by the digital storytelling movement led by the Center for Digital Storytelling established in 1998. While digital storytelling has existed for a few decades, its use in education has been researched relatively recently over the past fifteen years (Holtzblatt &amp; Tschakert, 2011). As a result, it is important that continued research is done in order to understand how students are learning through digital storytelling. The constructivist environments created through digital storytelling classes and workshops need to be researched in order to gain a deeper understanding of students&rsquo; learning processes and to ascertain how to continue to create effective learning environments for them. In this study, the researcher endeavored to determine how the use of digital storytelling exercises is providing quality, learning experiences for students by examining the process of creating digital stories through the lens of social learning theory. This was done by analyzing data from an in-person interview conducted with the founder of the Center for Digital Storytelling, Joseph Lambert, the examination of another published interview from Lambert&rsquo;s (2013) book, <i>Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community </i>, as well as other publications. Utilizing Honebein&rsquo;s (1996) seven pedagogical goals of constructivist learning environments to design the categories of coded data, the researcher created a set of guidelines that served as a framework of assessing to what extent digital storytelling workshops created constructivist learning environments. By analyzing the themes that emerged from the data, the researcher concluded that Lambert&rsquo;s digital storytelling work at the Center for Digital Storytelling, reflected all seven essential characteristics of constructivist learning environments in a significant manner, thereby indicating that the workshops at CDS were indeed constructivist environments.</p>

<p> This quantitative, ex post facto study examined the impact a districtwide high school one-to-one mobile technology initiative had on the number of 10^th grade students in the Forney Independent School District (ISD) (Texas) who passed their standardized TAKS tests during the 2010 academic year. The research study used annual public Forney ISD (Texas) data obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. The study compared the 2009 academic year when 10^th grade students (n=520) did not have one-to-one mobile technology and the 2010 academic year when 10^th grade students (n=530) were able to use one-to-one mobile technology as their personal school and home device. Findings from the study determined if there was a statistically significant relationship between one-to-one mobile technology and the number of 10^th grade students who passed their standardized TAKS tests during the 2010 academic year. With a chi-square critical value of 3.84 the results of the study showed a statistically significant relationship between the number of 10^th grade students who passed their TAKS tests in 2010 with one-to-one mobile technology. In 2010, the number of 10^th grade students who passed the English Language Arts test increased by 5% (92% to 97%) with a chi-square statistic of 12.86. The number of students who passed the Math test increased by 18% (65% to 83%) with a chi-square statistic of 44.39. The number of students who passed the Science test increased by 12% (70% to 82%) with a chi-square statistic of 21.04. The number of students who passed the Social Studies test increased by 6% (90% to 96%) with a chi-square statistic of 14.79. The number of 10^th grade students who passed all of their TAKS tests increased by 18% (57% to 75%) with a chi-square statistic of 38.67. The theoretical framework was constructed by the dual coding theory of Alan Pavio and the multiple intelligence theory of Howard Gardner.</p>

<p> This study examined the connection between perceptions of teacher self-efficacy, professional development, and leadership practices and attitudes as it relates to successful implementation of technology for student learning in K-12 schools. As external pressures exhort schools to transform the learning environment and to include more meaningful applications of technology in the learning experiences for all students, issues which create barriers to a successful implementation of new practices must be examined. </p><p> This study examined the responses of teachers, school and district administrators, and technology support personnel in a stratified random sample from 37 school districts in the state of Oregon to analyze the combined effects of teacher self-efficacy perceptions, leadership practices, and professional development as they relate to the implementation of classroom educational technology. </p><p> The study revealed perceptual differences between staff roles of what teachers know about technology and how they use technology. School contexts, such as percentages of disadvantaged or non-White students, and teacher factors, such as age and gender, affected participant perception of technology implementations and of professional development opportunities. </p><p> The researcher proposes a new framework for understanding school contexts and for planning successful technology implementations based upon a review of literature and original research.</p>

<p>In order to better inform and train industry professionals, as well as engineering students and new users, an electronic user's manual and comprehensive online training course for LaModel has been developed in an open online learning environment. The online user?s manual provides widespread access to detailed information on the installation, proper use, and troubleshooting procedures through a combination of: written documentation, voiced-over and captioned software simulations and slide presentations, and relevant academic articles. Some of the online LaModel material has also been organized into a set of progressive, self-paced training modules using a number of the slide presentations and software demonstrations, with the addition of pedagogically designed learning activities and proficiency quizzes. These training modules are designed such that a new user can complete the sequence of three learning tracks (novice, intermediate, and advanced) to become a proficient user of the LaModel program. This thesis reports on the development and implementation of the new LaModel user's manual and training course. Currently, the on-line material includes 84 pages of technical notes and 6 hours of slides and hands-on learning activities. In this thesis, the overall layout and format of the user's manual, training modules, and proficiency quizzes are presented along with samples from specific manual sections and classroom lessons. With an increase in operational difficulties, geologic intricacies, and regulatory review, this generation of mining engineers require complex analyzes to determine the integrity of underground mine works. Through access to the new online user's manual and training modules, novice LaModel users can be effectively trained on the correct operation and analysis techniques for using the LaModel program, while experienced users can quickly access detailed information on the newer and/or more complex LaModel functions. The development of both the user's manual and online training course will ultimately increase the effectiveness of mining engineers within the industry, leading to more productive and safer mine designs.

<p>This dissertation study examines the role of the public library in fostering digital literacies in underserved Illinois communities. Over the course of two years I collected data on the library as an institution, and as a context, by investigating people, policies, activities and infrastructure related to how individuals learn, comprehend and apply digital technologies in collaboration with and in relation to the library. The data was collected during visits to libraries in sixteen locations around the state with significant levels of poverty, including a selection of rural localities and predominantly African American and Latino communities. Research methods included several kinds of site observation as well as interviews with librarians. As a collective whole, these case studies yield a series of interesting and surprising stories that reflect some of the connections between social roles and service roles, as well as the particular innovations and challenges present in underserved communities. </p><p> These findings support a number of related theories and initiatives, including the need to reconstruct digital literacy as digital <i>literacies </i>, in the plural, and the impetus to see them primarily as a function of community engagement, especially in underserved community settings. The data suggests that library roles related to digital literacy are changing in several substantial ways. First, libraries are moving beyond merely providing internet to proactively promoting assisted public computing. Second, they are shifting their view of themselves as a community space to include leadership in community networking. Finally, they are working to cultivate information experiences that progress beyond consumption to involve a dimension of generative learning. </p><p> When considered in conversation with existing scholarship, these findings have important implications: they show new avenues for research into diversity and social inclusion, critical discourse analysis and dynamic models for learning. They also suggest new directions for the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) and offer a compelling reason for libraries to both participate in and help guide movements and initiatives to promote digital literacies. </p>