The article that I read "Technology Integration as a Transforming Teaching Stategy" was by Jerry Woodbridge. The study looked into whether teachers who participated in the Jacksonville University Master's of Arts in Teaching integrated technology into thier classrooms. The researchers analyzed teacher beleifs, perceptions and attutudes towards technology, thier teaching stategies, and their integration of technology in the classroom.
The article had a good summary of some of the challenges that teachers face when they attempt to integrate technology in the classroom. The challenges range from the lack of good models to observe, lack of adequate pre-service and inservice training, the lack of follow-up after initial professional development and the lack of communication between IT departments and teachers. Many teachers who are skilled are self-taught.
Effective integration includes combining content knowledge, pedegogical knowledge, technical knowledge and student construciton of knowledge. The researchers found that there was a strong correlation between constructivist teaching methods and those teachers that effectively integrated technology. They found that their was a difference in how teachers integrated technology based upon thier beliefs and perceptions.
4 comments:
I believe the notion that teachers who integrate technology tend to incorporate things that correspond to their beliefs and perceptions. Additionally, the idea that many of us our "self-taught" is I believe, highly accurate.
I agree with Amy. Most of us are self-taught. I did come to a point where I did not know what else to do to incorporate technology. I had all the tools at had including a SMART Board, laptops, digital cameras, and web cams. I ran out of ideas. Because there is a lack of training, the best way to learn is through peer collaboration and of course enrolling in technology classes.
Hi!
Me again...just a couple more comments. I do agree that the greatest tech users tend to be those with a constructivist philosophy as they are generally the ones who see the possibilities...more traditional teachers, I believe, tend to use the computer for very basic purposes (word processing, internet research) and so often find the technology doesn't make a large impact. On the other hand, when faced with something new it can allow teachers to branch out into new areas, so a traditional teacher may be more open to other uses of technology as it is something new to try. I believe our real challenge though is getting the wide variety of teaching styles to find ways to use technology to truly enhance student learning.
You make a great point about some of the challenges with using technology in the classroom. I think many teachers are provided with various technologies with good intentions, assuming they know how to use it because they've been trained. However, continuous support and modeling need to be provided for teachers to use the technology effectively for instruction.
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