This study explores uses of educational technology as echoed in teachers' beliefs and classroom practices. The research is situated in Cyprus, where integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in schools remains in its infancy. The literature reveals that the 'impact' of ICT use on education has been limited; the overall scene is one of teachers unable to make advanced use of the range of possible applications and tools. This thesis is premised on the argument that these limited uses can be explained by the lack of incorporation of an effective pedagogy. On the basis that understanding teachers' pedagogical rationales and responses in depth is crucial for the successful implementation of an ICT initiative, especially when this is still at an early stage, as in Cyprus, I investigate teachers' philosophies and practices of ICT integration. In particular, my research is devoted to identifying the relationship between their beliefs and actual practices with technology in the classroom and the factors that influence this relationship. In view of the overabundance of survey studies measuring self-reported attitudes and practices, and taking into account that practice does not always reflect beliefs, direct evidence of practice beyond self-reports expecting to bridge research with school reality became an imperative. Moreover, the nature of my focus required in-depth understanding and exploration. Therefore a multi-case design was conducted, involving 11 primary school teachers serving in a unique, in terms of technological infrastructure, state school in Cyprus. A questionnaire, pre-lesson interviews, direct classroom observations, and post-lesson interviews cowprised the data collection methods. The Activity Theory model was employed as an analytical tool. Within- and cross-case thematic analyses indicated four main types of response which led to sample grouping; the responses and the groups which emerged were differentiated on the basis of teachers' beliefs about technology in education, their practice with ICT in the classroom, the level of (in)consistency between reported a; d observed practices, and the impact of the external factors on their practice. Following the analyses, an additional round of interviews with three Ministry officials, involved in the educational technology sector, was undertaken to shed more light on the main study findings. Moreover, most teachers encountered considerable difficulty in articulating and explaining the reasons behind their choices with ICT. This indicates that their reported acknowledgement of its benefits for teaching and learning might not have necessarily been informed by their personal experience but more by their inclination to respond 'properly'. The last point is also corroborated by the inconsistency identified in most of the cases between reported and observed practices, in terms of the frequency and sophistication of teacher and student interaction with technology. Several contextual factors, both school- and system-related, appear to have provoked this inconsistency; inadequate technical support and maintenance, lack of pedagogical support rn using ICT, time and curriculum constraints, and problematic communication between the involved agents, constitute the main ones. However, these external factors, which were the same for all participants, had varying impact on the four emerging groups, highlighting the influence of additional, teacher-related factors. These include teachers' limited ICT competence, lack of awareness of tools and support available to them, attachment to traditional teaching styles which enhanced existing (rather than resulting in a changed) pedagogy 'behind' ICT use, and perception of their role and professional responsibilities. The findings highlight the requirement for teachers to understand fully the affordances of a technology, which would encourage their engagement in pedagogical reason.ing with it, not necessarily aiming for higher, but, for more purposeful and 'integrational' technology uptake. The tensions, identified within the teachers' activity systems with the help of the Activity Theory model, have implications for change with ICT. These not only concern practitioners but also policy-makers who, having to inform and set the framework for classroom practice, need to justify a new national ICT initiative by clearly relating it to specific pedagogical aims and the curriculum. Implications also arise for the educational technology officials, who orchestrate the policy implementation, and who need to establish effective communication and cooperation between the agents involved. As for the ICT district coordinators, who are responsible for supporting teachers' classroom uses of technology, the findings suggest that they should tackle technical and maintenance issues promptly. Mo reover, 1�t 1� s i�m portant that they encourage teachers to make informed decisions by indicating the p~dagogical ~otential of the available tools to them. It would also be useful if, when possible, they situated the use of technology in specific lesson settings to encourage meaningful integration. Finally, the study offers recommendations to JCT t ram� m� g orgam�s ers and instructors to design and conduct training programmes in association with pedagogical approaches. Teachers need support not in advancing their isolated technology uses but in improving the quality of their teaching through integrating technology in their pedagogical practice.

Sammanfattning Syftet med den här undersökningen har varit att undersöka hur ämnet teknik har etablerats i förskolan jämfört med hur det har etablerats i grundskolan. Studien har genomförts genom att ta del av litteratur och tidigare undersökningar som belyser hur ämnet teknik har etablerats i grundskolan, och till viss del i förskolan, samt genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sex stycken pedagoger som arbetar i förskolan. Därefter har jämförelser gällande ämnet tekniks etablering gjorts mellan förskolans och grundskolans verksamheter. Undersökningen visar att arbetssättet skiljer sig mycket åt mellan pedagogerna och mellan olika förskolor, vilket är fallet även i grundskolan där nationell likhet gällande teknikämnet saknas. Liksom i grundskolan får inte heller teknik som ämne speciellt stort utrymme i förskolan. Det finns många likheter mellan de båda verksamheternas sätt att behandla ämnet teknik samt mellan förskolans pedagogers och grundskollärarnas syn på teknik. Graden av kompetensutveckling inom teknik bland förskolans pedagoger är det som allra mest påverkar pedagogernas syn på teknik, vilket sätt man arbetar med teknik samt vilket utrymme ämnet teknik ges. / Abstract The purpose of this work has been to study in what way technology as a subject has been established in preschool compared to in primary school. The comparison has been accomplished by taking part of literature and studies of technology as a subject in primary school, and to some extent in preschool, and through qualitative interviews of six teachers in preschool. Finally a comparison has been done between the establishment of technology in preschool and in primary school. This study shows that teachers work with technology in many different ways and that there are differences between different kinds of preschools, as well as they are in primary school there a national similarity is missing. In preschool, as well as in primary school, technology as a subject doesn’t get much space. There are a lots of similarities between preschool and primary school in the way technology as a subject is been treated and of teacher’s view of technology. It is the teacher’s educational level in technology that has most effects of the teachers view of technology, in what way they work with technology and how much space technology get as a subject

Syftet med undersökningen är att undersöka hur lärare ser på teknikämnets innehåll och syfte. Det leder till frågeställningar kring teknikämnets syfte, genomförande och möjligheter och vad som prioriteras och värdesätts. För att få svar på frågorna genomförde jag en fallstudie. Jag valde att göra en induktiv kvalitativ undersökning med hjälp av en diskussion med ett tekniklärararbetslag och en skriftlig enkät. Informationen från diskussionen bearbetade jag med hjälp av en tematisk analys. En tematisk analys för att identifiera, analysera och rapportera mönster (teman) i information. Enkätsvaren bearbetade jag genom att göra en klassificering. Mina svar på hur tekniklärare inom ett arbetslag ser på skolämnet teknik är rätt och slätt att det varierar och att lärare gör som de brukar. Lärarna prioriterar NO-ämnen till förmån för ämnet teknik. Men att det finns en ambition och uttryck att undervisa teknik utifrån perspektivet Teknik som mänsklig tillämpning. / The purpose of the study is to investigate how teachers view the content and purpose of the technical subject. This leads to questions about the purpose, implementation and opportunities of the technology subject and what is prioritized and valued. To answer the questions, I conducted a case study. I chose to do an inductive qualitative study with the help of a discussion with a technology teacher work team and a written questionnaire. I processed the information from the discussion using a thematic analysis. A thematic analysis to identify, analyze and report patterns (themes) in information. I processed the survey responses by doing a classification. My answers to how technology teachers in a team view the school subject technology is simply that it varies and that teachers do as they usually do. The teachers prioritize NO substances in favor of the subject technology. But there is an ambition and expression to teach technology from the perspective of Technology as a human application.