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The focus of this study is to determine how closely self-report perceptions of technology integration skills align with the observations of an external evaluator. Participants were elementary and secondary teachers in a north Texas school district. The district is in the process of implementing a one-to-one initiative using a major vendor’s tablet devices. The study utilized both quantitative survey methodology, and a qualitative observational tool to record learning activities in the K-12 classroom. For the quantitative phase, three validated single-item self-report instruments were administered to the teachers via an online survey; the instruments utilized were the Concerns-Based Adoption Model—Levels of Use (CBAM-LoU); Stages of Adoption of Technology; and the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT). In the qualitative portion of the study, classroom teachers involved in the one-to-one innovation were observed and rated by the Technology Integration Matrix, an instrument specifically designed to observe technology integration skills and practices in K-12 instructional settings. Kendall’s tau correlations between the various self-report instruments and the external observer rating are: CBAM, r = .51 (p is not significant); Stages, r = .58 (p < .05); ACOT, r = .82 (p < .01). Additionally, regression models were run using all three self-reports as predictors of the observation score, and using only the ACOT as a predictor. The regression model for the three-predictor model is TIM = .68; Stages - .82; CBAM + 1.61; ACOT - 1.23 (R2 = .94, p < .05), while the model for the ACOT-only predictor is TIM = 1.1; ACOT - 1.1 (R2 = .80, p < .01). These results demonstrate a strong correlation between the ratings reported by the teachers and the ratings given by the external observer, indicating that these self-report measures show a strong propensity for indicating actual technology skills.

Millions of dollars have been spent to acquire educational computing tools, and many education, government, and business leaders believe that investing in these computing tools will improve teaching and learning. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether charter school educators face technological barriers hindering them from incorporating technology into their classrooms. If they experienced self-efficacy issues integrating technology in their classrooms and if they believed their students were technologically prepared as 21st century professionals. A 5-point Likert scale survey, validated by a pilot study, was completed by 61 charter high school teachers. Their responses were analyzed, scores from the individual mean responses were used to calculate the total mean; and a parametric t test used to determine if the null or alternative hypothesis could be rejected. The theoretical foundation for this study was Cubans' and Brickners' first- and second-order barriers to change. In one charter school stratum, teachers experienced barriers integrating technology into their classes, while teachers in the other charter school strata did not. There was statistical significance in teachers' beliefs about their skills integrating technology into their classes and their students being technologically prepared as 21st century professionals. The results of this research could lead to positive social change by providing valuable information to help charter school administrators identify teachers who are experiencing barriers and how they can improve teacher's professional development integrating technology into their classrooms.

In this study, three aspects of technology integration in English Language Teaching within the context of private universities in Ankara, Turkey were investigated. Firstly, preservice and in-service teachers&amp / #8217 / computer usage frequencies/types, computer competence levels, perceived barriers to technology integration and attitudes toward computers were explored. Then, factors (age, gender, work experience, institutional factors being preservice or in-service) that might potentially affect the findings of the first research question were examined. Finally, the educational value preservice and in-service teachers assigned to technology usage in their language teaching practices and their ideas on effective technology integration were scrutinized. In order to reach aforementioned goals, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The institutions sampled in this study were all private universities, the infrastructure of which varied drastically. A total of 182 questionnaires collected from the teachers (in-service N=120, preservice N=62), as well as eight in-service and four preservice teachers were interviewed. The findings indicated that teachers used computers at their schools at limited frequency. It was also found that they indicated high levels of instructional computer usage outside the school and technology competence. It was also seen that age, gender and the institutions the teachers worked at affected their technology usage and competence levels. As for the educational value assigned to technology usage in their language teaching, the teachers indicated that technology would help make their lessons more student centered. However, the teachers mainly mentioned using technology as teacher tools rather student tools which help foster higher order thinking skills and learner autonomy. Keeping the usage statistics in mind, it was concluded that the schools, even though all of them were private, lacked computer infrastructure to the point that the teachers had difficulty even to use computers for their personal purposes. It was also concluded that the schools in Turkey were still at the stage of fighting with first-order barriers, even at private institutions, indicating that a vision towards technology integration lacks. As for the educational value assigned to computer usage in ELT, it was concluded that institutional barriers were more of a concern for the teachers as they did not have a chance to delve into actual instructional usage and the ICT courses at college were not preparing the teachers for effective technology integration due to lack of proper training activities.

This study investigates the impact of CALL training on in-service language teachers&rsquo / use of CALL-based activities in their classrooms and what factors influence their use of these activities in their classroom. The participants included 35 pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers who took an undergraduate-level elective CALL course (FLE318) offered during the 2008-2009 academic year in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University and 25 of these participants who started teaching English during the Fall semester in the academic year 2009-2010 at several private and state institutions. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied. The journals kept by the participants during and after the training, the lesson plans of micro and macro teaching, the questionnaires given to the participants to determine their perceived computer knowledge, the interview sessions held with the participants&rsquo / on their practices showed that the training provided to the participants helped them infuse a variety of CALL-based materials and tools into their classroom practices. The analyses also indicated that the most paramount factors or issues that affect the infusion of CALL-based materials in language teaching and learning are the school environment, curriculum, and the national exams.

Teachers' ability to integrate technology is a topic of growing concern given the importance of technology and 21st century skills readiness in both academics and the global society of 2014. This study investigated the technology integration barriers that educators faced, the training the educators received, and support needs of educators at a large, prominent, 30-year old international school located in Central America offering grades Pre-K 3 to 12. The social learning theory of Bandura, the constructivist theories of Piaget and Dewey, and the technology constructionism of Papert provided the theoretical framework. The research questions focused on understanding technology integration by assessing key aspects of the teachers' technology proficiency and needs. A nonexperimental quantitative cross-sectional study design was used to examine the educational technology integration practices and deficiencies at the focus school. A Likert-style instrument, comprised of parts from 3 existing instruments, was completed electronically by 62 purposefully sampled certified teachers at the focus school. Descriptive statistics identified technology integration levels, training factors, and support needs of focus school educators. Correlational analyses failed to reveal any significant relationships between technology integration levels of the focus school teachers and the variables of interest: self-perceived barriers to technology integration, self-perceived confidence using technology, and participation in onsite professional development. In light of the survey findings, a 3-phase technology integration improvement plan was designed. The study yields social change for the focus school by improving their technology integration practices based on empirical evidence.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Royce Ann Collins / In an era of increasing demand for a limited budget, more universities are turning to adjunct faculty to fill the need and to address the student load. Adjunct faculty members are hired for their content knowledge and close association to the business world and industry. This study was conducted to investigate whether a relationship exists between (a) technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK); (b) pedagogical training; and (c) personal technology; and to determine which variables have the greatest influence in the willingness of adjunct faculty at a Midwestern higher education institution to choose and integrate digital technology into curriculum and expand to the discussion of TPACK into graduate level education. TPACK is both a framework and an instrument to measure the level of integration of the primary components of the TPACK framework. TPACK is a term that describes what a teacher must know to integrate technology effectively into curriculum or teacher practices and represents the combination of teacher content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technology knowledge as interrelated. TPACK allows educators to consider what knowledge is required to integrate technology into teaching and how they might develop that knowledge within themselves. The study was conducted with a sample (n=30) of adjunct faculty members from two extension campuses from a Midwestern, Tier 1 university. The data revealed significant relationships between pedagogical training and selection of appropriate technology, and between personal technology use and selection of appropriate technology. The data also revealed that TPACK was a significant predictor; however, the subdomains of TPACK masked the true impact because of the high presence of covariance.

This study examined educators' preferences for learning technology integration skills in order to provide the education community with justifiable data concerning the need for educator training alternatives. A survey was distributed to compare preservice educators, inservice educators, and professional development personnel's perceived effectiveness of eight training methods (N=759). The four research questions examined were: Do differences exist among preservice educators, inservice educators, and professional development personnel in the perceived effectiveness of different methods for learning technology integration skills? (2) Do differences exist among preservice educators, inservice educators, and professional development personnel in the perceived effectiveness of different methods for learning technology integration skills when categorized by age? (3) Do differences exist among preservice educators, inservice educators, and professional development personnel in the perceived effectiveness of different methods for learning technology integration skills when categorized by total hours of instruction? (4) Do differences exist among preservice educators, inservice educators, and professional development personnel in the perceived effectiveness of different methods for learning technology integration skills when categorized by locus of control? All groups were measured for similarities and differences in preferences on credit classes, workshops, open computer labs, technology personnel support, peer support, online help, printed documentation, and trial and error. In addition, those training preferences were cross-referenced with age, training hours, and the locus of control personality factor. MANOVAs and post-hoc analyses were performed for each major research question as well as trends in the data were examined. This study indicated that the most effective training methods were technical support, peer support, and credit courses. The least effective training methods were online help, printed documentation, workshops, and computer labs. Age, amount of training hours, and locus of control score did not provide as much information as did educator type when predicting training preference. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that educator training programs be revamped to include the methods that the educators themselves have affirmed as effective for learning technology integration skills. This assures that teachers are prepared to integrate technology into the curriculum and students are prepared for a technological society.

This study compared cooperative and individual staff development methods for planning lessons with integrated technology. Twenty-three teachers from one elementary school participated in the study. The sample was the entire population. Nine participants were assigned to the control group, and fourteen participants were assigned to the experimental group. Names of participants were randomly drawn to determine group assignment. Participants in the control group worked individually in all three staff development sessions, while participants in the experimental group chose a partner, with whom they worked cooperatively in all three staff development sessions. Each participant or pair of participants submitted a lesson plan prior to participation in three staff development sessions. Following the sessions, each participant or pair of participants submitted a lesson plan. Three independent raters rated lesson plans to determine the participants' respective levels on the Level of Technology Implementation Observation Checklist (Moersch, 2001). The ratings of the lesson plans submitted before the training were compared to those collected after the training using a two-by-two mixed model ANOVA. The occasion (pre- vs. post-test), group, and interaction variables were all statistically significant at the .1 level; however, only the occasion variable had a strong effect size. These data suggest that (1) all teachers who participated in the training, whether individually or cooperatively, were able to develop lesson plans at a higher level of technology implementation and (2) cooperative staff development methods had no advantage over individual staff development methods with respect to teachers' ability to write lessons with integrated technology.