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The importance of integrating technology across the curriculum has been prominent in educational literature for the past decade. Numerous obstacles have been identified and documented surrounding the successful integration of technology in public schools. Access to hardware, appropriate software, professional training for educators, technical and financial support to sustain meaningful uses of technology in schools are the primary areas to be addressed when designing a comprehensive information technology implementation strategy for educational environments. The obstacles are clear, but many educational leaders have failed to develop a model which successfully addresses the challenge of integrating the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning and as a means of constructing new knowledge for and by students. This paper will explore how technology facilitates learning through inquiry and how inquiry supports a constructivist/constructionist approach to teaching and learning for students and professional staff. This will lead to an examination of how inquiry and constructivism advance the integration of technology in education and how it provides a venue for developing communities of inquiry in schools. A framework for two initiatives developed for Yukon schools will be presented which address many of the challenges common to the successful integration of technology in public schools today. Both initiatives, the Computer Resource Teacher Model (CRTM) and Technology Learning Communities (TLC), promote integrative and constructive uses of technology through an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning with computers.

abstract: A recorded tutorial dialogue can produce positive learning gains, when observed and used to promote discussion between a pair of learners; however, this same effect does not typically occur when an leaner observes a tutorial dialogue by himself or herself. One potential approach to enhancing learning in the latter situation is by incorporating self-explanation prompts, a proven technique for encouraging students to engage in active learning and attend to the material in a meaningful way. This study examined whether learning from observing recorded tutorial dialogues could be made more effective by adding self-explanation prompts in computer-based learning environment. The research questions in this two-experiment study were (a) Do self-explanation prompts help support student learning while watching a recorded dialogue? and (b) Does collaboratively observing (in dyads) a tutorial dialogue with self-explanation prompts help support student learning while watching a recorded dialogue? In Experiment 1, 66 participants were randomly assigned as individuals to a physics lesson (a) with self-explanation prompts (Condition 1) or (b) without self-explanation prompts (Condition 2). In Experiment 2, 20 participants were randomly assigned in 10 pairs to the same physics lesson (a) with self-explanation prompts (Condition 1) or (b) without self-explanation prompts (Condition 2). Pretests and posttests were administered, as well as other surveys that measured motivation and system usability. Although supplemental analyses showed some significant differences among individual scale items or factors, neither primary results for Experiment 1 or Experiment 2 were significant for changes in posttest scores from pretest scores for learning, motivation, or system usability assessments. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2018

The importance of integrating technology across the curriculum has been prominent in educational literature for the past decade. Numerous obstacles have been identified and documented surrounding the successful integration of technology in public schools. Access to hardware, appropriate software, professional training for educators, technical and financial support to sustain meaningful uses of technology in schools are the primary areas to be addressed when designing a comprehensive information technology implementation strategy for educational environments. The obstacles are clear, but many educational leaders have failed to develop a model which successfully addresses the challenge of integrating the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning and as a means of constructing new knowledge for and by students. This paper will explore how technology facilitates learning through inquiry and how inquiry supports a constructivist/constructionist approach to teaching and learning for students and professional staff. This will lead to an examination of how inquiry and constructivism advance the integration of technology in education and how it provides a venue for developing communities of inquiry in schools. A framework for two initiatives developed for Yukon schools will be presented which address many of the challenges common to the successful integration of technology in public schools today. Both initiatives, the Computer Resource Teacher Model (CRTM) and Technology Learning Communities (TLC), promote integrative and constructive uses of technology through an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning with computers. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

<p> With millions invested in educational technology, what is its impact on student achievement and engagement? This question formed the basis for a review of the current literature on the impact of iPads and other instructional technology on student academic growth and motivation in public schools. The research supports technology&rsquo;s positive impact on student achievement and engagement, but more research is needed in order to better understand how iPad use impacts students in the early elementary mathematics classroom. </p><p> This dissertation study examines the effects of an iPad-based math intervention, as compared to a traditional paper-pencil approach, on second graders&rsquo; achievement and engagement in mathematics. The students were assigned to treatment and control groups in matched pairs based on sex and pre-test scores. Then students engaged in a four-week math intervention, using either the iPad or paper-pencil. At the end of each intervention, students completed quantitative posttests given by their classroom teachers. Students then switched treatment and control groups for a second four-week math intervention. Quantitative pre-post assessments include Bridges math unit tests, easyCBM math tests, and a Likert-scale engagement measure. After the two interventions were completed, qualitative focus group data were collected from the teachers involved in the study, giving a more complete view of student engagement.</p><p> With finite intervention time and resources, schools need to know how to best improve student achievement and engagement in mathematics. This study fills a documented research gap and will help inform school decisions regarding instructional technology in the early elementary math classroom. </p>

<p> Although there is a large investment made in technology in our public and private schools each year, there has been comparatively little effort made into understanding the impact of that technology on our students. This study examines the relationship between student boredom, media multitasking, and distraction in an effort to understand the impact of media multitasking on our students. To examine this, a mixed methods design was utilized, consisting of a memory recall experiment, student interviews, and a survey instrument. This study found that laptops are preferred over iPads for both focus and academic reasons, and it discovered classroom environments and teaching methodologies that caused distraction to occur as well as strategies employed by students to attempt to overcome distraction. Ultimately, this study did not find an impact on academic performance as assessed by a memory recall experiment. As a result, this study contributes significant knowledge into technology distraction at the high school level as well as modifications that can help improve student focus.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to look at how teachers use micro-blogging, in this case Twitter (www.twitter.com), for their own personalized professional learning and how effective Twitter is as a professional development (PD) tool. In order to measure the effectiveness of the tool, the researcher first gleaned nine essential characteristics of effective PD from the literature. This list was validated by experts in the PD community. The significance of this study was to reveal how participants actually used Twitter for PD, what their perspectives on the tool were, and how effective their experiences were with Twitter as a PD tool. Results of this study can be used to improve current practice, and provide a low cost, accessible, and available mechanism to foster an on-going, learner-centered, approach to PD, thus allowing teachers to become more involved in their own professional growth. For the 4 participants in this study, Twitter use for PD and its effectiveness varied greatly. The effectiveness of the tool depended on the participant&rsquo;s fluency with the technology and attitude towards social media. For the most fluent participant, Twitter met most of the requirements for effectiveness; however, Twitter use did not automatically provide a mechanism for reflection or self-assessment; nor did Twitter use provide an evaluation of the experience, both requirements of effective PD. With added evaluation and self-assessment processes, and with a fluent practitioner, Twitter does have the potential to be a very effective PD tool with its low cost, accessibility, and availability.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine Kuwaiti mathematical elementary teachers&rsquo; perceptions about their ability to integrate M-learning (mobile learning) into their current teaching practices and the major barriers hindering teachers&rsquo; ability to create an M-learning environment. Furthermore, this study sought to understand teachers&rsquo; perceptions about their ability to create a collaborative cloud-computing learning environment that corresponds with the 21st century skills and possibly explain their readiness for future reformation of education in Kuwait. </p><p> Using an Internet-based format to this study quantitative and qualitative data, the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and barriers survey gleaned quantitative information about how mathematics teachers and a head of a mathematics department (n = 562) viewed use of technology as well as the barriers they faced in integrating it into the classroom. Also, qualitative data were collected using a survey of open-ended questions to provide context to survey answers and better understand the barriers and affordance experienced by the participants. Moreover, a 21st century open-ended questionnaire was employed to collect qualitative information from mathematics teachers and head of the departments (n = 21) in regard the their ability to construct a 21st century learning environment based on collaboration and constructivist perspective utilizing a cloud-computing technology. </p><p> Quantitative analysis was utilized to examine elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo; perceptions using the TPACK survey, and the validity and reliability of the TPACK subscales were computed by administering the confirmatory factor analysis. Factors that were elicited were specified as: all seven subscales encompassed in the TPACK survey significantly fit model of factor structures, and the TPACK survey was reliable and valid. In addition, descriptive analysis such as the TPACK subscale means and standard deviations were computed via the SPSS software. </p><p> Qualitative content analysis was used to understand teachers&rsquo; perceptions about their ability to integrate mobile technology, perceptions of the primary barriers and affordance that limited their ability, and their perceptions of their ability to integrate collaborative cloud computing and create a 21st century learning environment based on the constructivist perspective. When analyzed, the self-reported open-ended survey yielded the following specific themes: (a) teachers perceived themselves high in their ability to integrate mobile technology; (b) the primary barriers based on teachers&rsquo; perceptions were budget constraints, IT limitations, time constraints, and administrative support; and (c) teachers perceived themselves high in their ability to integrate collaborative cloud computing to construct a 21st century learning environment based on the constructivist perspective. This study finding could be implemented to create a new modern mathematics elementary curriculum that resolves the current curriculum issues. Future research is recommended in the direction of creating a new mathematical curriculum based on administrators&rsquo;, parents&rsquo;, and students&rsquo; perspectives.</p>

Effective educational agents should accomplish four essential goals during a student's learning process: 1) monitor engagement, 2) re-engage when appropriate, 3) teach novel tasks, and 4) improve retention. In this dissertation, we focus on all of these objectives through use of a teaching device (computer, tablet, or virtual reality game) and a robotic educational agent. We begin by developing and validating an engagement model based on the interactions between the student and the teaching device. This model uses time, performance, and/or eye gaze to determine the student's level of engagement. We then create a framework for implementing verbal and nonverbal, or gestural, behaviors on a humanoid robot and evaluate its perception and effectiveness for social interaction. These verbal and nonverbal behaviors are applied throughout the learning scenario to re-engage the students when the engagement model deems it necessary. Finally, we describe and validate the entire educational system that uses the engagement model to activate the behavioral strategies embedded on the robot when learning a new task. We then follow-up this study to evaluate student retention when using this system. The outcome of this research is the development of an educational system that effectively monitors student engagement, applies behavioral strategies, teaches novel tasks, and improves student retention to achieve individualized learning.