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Discussion 5

This article addresses something very important that we often leave out of the equation when we are discussing technology integration—teachers’ beliefs about its value. The article looks at how teacher-centered low level technology, such as word processing and internet searches, is being used in the classroom, and student-centered higher level technology is not. Etrmer is arguing that integrating technology into the classroom for the sake of saying that we as teachers are using technology is not enough. Ertmer references the Cuban et al. (2001) article in which the authors look at the high-tech schools California that have the resources, but the teachers approach to teaching through these resources is still teacher-centered and therefore not exercising best practices. Ertmer is hinting at the fact that resources are not the real issue with integrating technology in a way that improves the students’ educational experience by pinpointing teachers’ use of methods that are incapatable with technology integration. Ertmer says that “beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems” which according to Ertmer, “makes them stronger predictors of behavior.” When I think about my educational experiences, I can definitely see now how important technology beliefs are in regards to how much and in what way it is used in a classroom. One of my former English professors at Auburn, a self-proclaimed Luddite, completely refused to use any technology inside or outside of the class. I took his class during the time following email becoming the official form of communication at Auburn. Still, he refused to use email and made us write our names and phone numbers on an index card on the first day of class. This was how we were to communicate, but I cannot say that his refusal to use technology as a tool in his classroom took away from my educational experience. He was the best English professor I ever had, and my belief in that will probably influence me as I enter the profession.

Post on Teacher Beliefs article

This was a very interesting article. I agree with the point the author makes about how teachers may be unwilling to change their technology use because that would require a change to their fundamental approach to the classroom, and this change in attitudes may be irreversible. This would be especially strong for more veteran teachers whose beliefs are far more entrenched. I also think that a lack of professional development is a significant contributor to teachers not moving from low-level technology tasks (word processing, email) to higher-level ones. I also think that if this study was done several years after the initial adoption of technology, you would see more teachers adopting high-level tasks because those teachers will have had more time to become comfortable with the technology and will have had more time to "play around" with it and discover ways to use it.

Emmy's Comments on the week 7 article

Comments on the article: Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs: The final Frontier in Our Quest for Technology Integration (Peggy E. Ertmer)

After reading this article, I have some reflection as follows:
I agree with some point views presented in the article:
- Education authorities are more and more committed to support the expansion and use of computers in K-12 classrooms. However, majority teachers tend to use technology for numerous low-level tasks, rather than higher level uses. I also shared the opinion of Becker cited in the article that low level technology uses tend to be associated with teacher-centered practices while high-level uses tend to be associated with student-centered.
- I also see the relationship between teacher’s pedagogical beliefs and their technology practices. However, personally, I think, this relationship should be 2 way. One one hand, teachers must have pedagogical beliefs because this will enable them to translate those beliefs into classroom practice. On the other hand, I think, if teachers are given technology practices, specifically, through professional development events, for example, they can change their awareness and their pedagogical belief will be developing. Therefore, we can not only say that pedagogical belief is the only pre condition for technology integration. How we can help teachers “grow” their belief is a big question for education leaders.
I really like the paragraph which provided suggestions for designing professional development experiences to effectively initiate and support teachers’ uses of technology which was indicated on page 35. After reading this I have some ideas for school principals:

1. Since in the article, they believed that it might take 5 or 6 years for teachers to accumulate enough expertise to effectively integrate technology in teaching and learning activities. To overcome this barrier, why we don’t create a position of Technology Integration Teacher Aid to hire in each school. Like the case of Special Education Teacher in each school to help classroom teachers with children with special needs. Technology Integration Teacher Aid will help classroom teachers to design lessons with technology integrated. They will learn a lot from that.

2. If it is hard to have budget to hire staff for this person, another solution is to appoint 1 teacher in charge for each level grade who will take the responsibility to collaborate with other teachers in her grade level to work in team to design lessons with technology integrated. I think for the first period,it make cost time and energy to do this, but as the time goes on, the teachers can learn a lot from this process and there will come a time, when they do not need much help. The teacher in charge will not have to spend too much time with them, the responsibility of teachers in charge then will be just keep people up to date to technology events and provide on the job training through professional development events.

Ertmer Article

I agree with most everyone else. This was a well-organized article and I agreed with most of the author's viewpoints. I especially liked the section of the article devoted to professional development on page 32. I found it interested that the author quoted Guskey who said,"change in belief follows, rather than precedes practice, and that by helping teachers adopt new practices that are successful, the associated beliefs will also change." I think it is important when planning professional development that teachers are provided with hands-on experience with the new technology. The more the teachers get used to having the technology in their hands the more their attitudes will change. Bandura's self-efficacy concept is also evident in this practice. I believe as a future media specialist it will be very important to to build teachers' confidence by providing with successful technology experiences.

~Danielle

Discussion 5

I enjoyed reading this article because the author came up with explainations for the reason high-level technology use is low in schools today. the authour focused on the teachers beliefs and mentioned that, changing the teachers perceptions and beliefs about integrating technology into their classroom may not necessarily start with changing the teachers beliefs. The change may begin with showing teachers examples of the positive effects of integrating technology. It is also important to find out the nature of the teachers beliefs, where their ideas about technology steam from, and what experiences concerning techonology in their life caused them to formulate their beliefs.teacher beliefs are the most imporant factor in there being maximum use of equipment in the school. The teachers have to believe that the technology is going to benefit their students learning. If the teacher is integrating technology to meet requirements that they will do the minimum and the students will not reach their maximum potential.

Discussion 5

The main thing that stood out to me from this article is that we don't need to be trying to change the way the teacher works and their beliefs. We need to be focusing on informing them on the new ways to integrate technology. Since technology is always changing, they will need to be continually updated with that is going on and how to better integrate the new technologies or current technologies in the classroom. Just as we do not change the way our students work and instead teach to the student, the same should go for teachers. All that should be focused on, based on this article and my beliefs, is informing the teachers to the best of our ability and allowing the teachers make the technology work with how they Very good article and enjoyed reading it. I like that it is an updated article so it seems more relevant.

Ertmer Article

I really enjoyed reading this article. Having a psychology background, it was really cool to see how they were trying to break down how different teachers teach and their beliefs about teaching. On pg. 31, he refers to a Rokeach study and he quotes that teacher's beliefs are central to their individual identity. Thus, teachers teach based on past experiences whether it be when they were in school, this is how their teacher taught this concept or my teacher did it this way and I didn't learn the concept well. The same goes for technology integration. If teachers had negative experiences with technology in the past, they are going to be less likely to engage technology in their own classrooms. But as the law mandates, they have to integrate it somehow but I am sure that they may not enjoy doing it. But for teachers that have had positive experiences with technology in the classroom, they will embrace it with open arms. Whatever the case, the teacher chooses to teacher his or her classroom in a certain manner because they believe that it had success especially in their personal experiences so they will try to give those positive experiences to their students as well.

Teacher beliefs: the final frontier

I enjoyed reading this article because:
1- It is current
2- has updated statistics
3- well organized
4- has a clear purpose
As an administrator I appreciated the way Ertmer presented the issue looking as the whole current picture; "although the the conditions for technology integration finally appear to be in place........high level technology use is still surprisingly low." (p.25). She then zooms in on the one factor that could be the reason for holding back the integration of technology into instruction which is teachers' beliefs.
Helpful definitions explanation and categorization of the set of different teacher beliefs are given. Beliefs can be core, built over time and developed through powerful experiences and those are harder to question or change. By understanding how teachers form their educational beliefs and the beliefs they hold about using technology the author then proposes very practical, real life suggestions to help school communities and teachers state, examine revise and modify some of their beliefs. The proposed strategies require the collaboration of the entire school community (professional learning communities). I liked that all the proposed strategies are simple to execute, practical and could inform gradual change in attitudes and beliefs. This article shows the progress that happened till now and the steps that still need to be taken on the long and complex road of IT integration.

Discussion 5

I like how Ertmer points out that most of the beliefs teachers hold about technology have been based off of previous experiences and beliefs about teaching (p.30). I think this passage connects to our discussions over the past few weeks regarding the need for professional development focusing on technology integration. You cannot teach what you do not know, so it makes sense that teachers would base their ideas of technology integration off of previous teaching experiences. I am not surprised that a teacher who uses teacher-centered practices in the classroom would integrate technology by having his or her students complete drill practices. Professional development could train such a teacher to design student-centered activities that would promote higher order thinking skills. While it is difficult to change one's beliefs, it is not impossible (p. 32) and should be attempted. The article also discusses self-efficacy and the need to boost teacher confidence in the use of technology. Exposure to technology and hands-on practice during ongoing workshops could aid in making teachers feel more comfortable with using it in their classrooms. The NCES discovered that 80% of the teachers they polled are interested in receiving training on how to integrate technology into the curriculum(p. 25), suggesting that many teachers already have a positive outlook towards technology in the classroom and that ongoing professional development could be quite successful.

Discussion 5

I really enjoyed Etmer's article, particularly because it stated the problem as well as ways to address the problem. One statement I found helpful was from Becker (1994), in which he states technology should be "employed in order that students grow intellectually and not merely develop isolated skills" (p. 26). I believe this is an idea that has not been explored much in our class discussions. I think making technology integration connected to the big ideas or goals of our individual subjects will be helpful in changing the beliefs of those teachers against the use of technology in the classrom. I think the skills we teach students using technology should be connected and transferable to our areas of study. Teaching isolated skills seems to be using technology for technology's sake, such as only using technology to meet state requirements. I think making this connection apparent to the teachers who are against technology might one way in developing a good argument for technology use.

I was also very glad the article brought up Bandura's self-efficacy. I was thinking of this throughout the beginning pages of the article. I believe this is directly related to teachers' beliefs. I also thought the ways the article suggested for addressing this area was great. I think the most important way for teachers to see the benefit of technology use in the classroom is to first observe a teacher's classroom in which technology is used effectively. The teacher should also have a chance to inquire into the process at this step. I did not agree with this being done through electronic means, however (i.e. watching tapes of classrooms). I don't think the experience is the same. Then allowing these teachers to have their own chance at integrating technology in front of those going through the same process seems beneficial for increasing self-efficacy. I did agree also that belief change follows implementing practice so I can see this at work here. Finally, having a support group, or professional learning community, seems to very effective in increasing the belief change in these teachers. Having other teachers going through the same process, as well as teachers that are comfortable with technology in the classroom and use it effectively, to talk to would be a great way to ensure these teachers their change of beliefs is beneficial and working.

Teacher Beliefs

Peggy Etmer's article provides a need to examine teacher pedagogical relationships with their technological practices. Though much research has been done on the attitudes and perceptions of teachers, there seems to be a link missing in the way some researchers define teacher beliefs. I found it "strange" for Pajares to define the term as a "messy construct".

Interestingly, I found skepticism in the way that some researchers labeled teacher beliefs. On the other hand, I found it relatively easy to confer with Calderhead (1996) in that teacher perception is not only based on the knowledge they may possess but also suppositions, commitments and ideologies. In essence, we do practice and teach from those practices. This provides a paradigm for us to base our premises on for theorectical research. And though true, I found it also alerting that teacher perception can (and mostly is) influenced by judgments and perceptions of their own, creating a more teacher-centered classroom.

It is evident that teacher beliefs are based on their personal experiences. Social and cultural ifluences are esential to pedagogy, however, becoming more diversified allows students to see from more than one angle and allow students show value to other cultures.

I do agree that is important not to change teache rbeliefs before introduing them to new technology. The most important thing to do (in my view is to alow teachers to use technology and incorporate learning from those processes. In return, it allow the teachers to implement technology as they wish.

This article was used to see how beliefs influence a teacher's use of technology in the classroom. It stated that a teacher's beliefs usually related to the way their class was structured and taught. Being a Business Ed. teacher, I do believe technology is the basis of most all my classes. If it is not a technology based class, we still usually have some technologies and use those to teach because it is what we are comfortable with. However, the article did mention that the No Child Left Behind Act stated, "Technology is now considered by most educators and parents to be an integral part of providing a high-quality education." I don't necessarily agree that using technology in the classroom provides "high-quality" education. I think the teachers and the mastery of their subject knowledge and they way they convey and teach it to their students makes "high-quality" education. Yes, technology gives an edge and a new way to teach things, but like I said in class before, a teacher has to teach their standards regardless...with or without technology. I know there are technology standards to integrate now, but you don't have to use it everyday to be a successful teacher.
I also thought is was interesting that this article said 85% of teachers felt they were somewhat well prepared to use technology. In many other articles we have read, it seemed to me that teachers were somewhat scared of the technology and in some cases didn't know how to use it in their classrooms. This is a more recent article, so maybe this 85% were students like us who are coming out of college with some technology training.

Discussion Questions Feb. 16

The discussion questions for today are listed below. The PowerPoint presentation is posted under Team Wiki Address.

1. The authors define technology integration as the use of computing devices for instructional purposes. Other definitions mentioned are:
a. Technology integration is examined as types of teacher's computer use in the classroom.
b. Technology integration is examined in how teachers use technology to carry out familiar activities more reliably and productively.
c. Technology integration is examined in how teachers use technology to develop students' thinking skills.
Why do we have to clarify the definition of technology integration? What is technology's purpose in your classroom?

2. All of us agree with the barriers listed in the article with the barriers of resources, knowledge/skills, and institution as the top barriers:
resources (40%), knowledge/skills (23%), attitudes/beliefs (13%), institution(14%), subject culture (2%), assessment (5%)
Do you agree with the listed frequency order? Are there any barriers you would add to this list? What is the most influential barrier for you and your technology use?

3. Why have many teachers not been exposed to transformative technology-supported pedagogy? What are the preconditions for a successful transformative technology-supported pedagogy?

4. As a principal, what strategies do you think you can apply to overcome the barriers for technology integration in your school setting? As a teacher, what strategies do you think you can apply to be able to integrate technology in your class?

5. Although not listed explicitly in the article, do you think lack of proper training in technology pedagogy is a huge barrier for all teachers? If you were a pre-service training designer, what would you think you can do to design pre-service training?

6. People complain a lot about lack of funding and technology as a couple of the biggest barriers. Do you think the strategies suggested in the article are feasible solutions to overcoming these barriers (hybrid cheaper computer system, introducing technology into 1 or 2 subject areas at a time, using laptops with wireless connections to save building and maintenance costs of computer labs)?

7. Based on your own experience, share some of your own strategies in overcoming the barriers listed in the article (resources, knowledge/skills, institution, attitude/beliefs, assessment, subject culture.)

Wrap Up Questions (time allowing):

• What are some examples of "bad" technology integration and "good" technology integration you have witnessed firsthand?
• Think about your own subject culture. How you do realistically see yourself using technology in the classroom?

Discussion 4

"The lack of technology-related classroom management knowledge and skill is another barrier to technology integration into the curriculum." After reading this article, this sentence seemed to stay with me. I feel like we all know how we would integrate technology into the classroom; but as stated in class, most of us are not sure we know how to manage the students while they are on the computer or while we are presenting a powerpoint. For example, I will be demonstrating how to manipulate text in a word document and the students will be following along on their own computers. It is a difficult task to monitor and make sure the students are not on the internet instead of following along. It is however easier to monitor and manage computer usage when the students are working individually or in groups because I am able to be mobile. The reason this sentence stood out to me instead of anything else in the article is because it should be a focal point in teacher preparation. I know I only had one class on classroom management and know that most things are to be learned from experience; but it would be nice to be able to get some scenario experience at the undergraduate level. These are just some thoughts.

In the Hew article, I found the section on the 123 barriers to be interesting. We all know by now through our class discussions that there are plenty of barriers with using and integrating technology in classrooms. These barriers listed were resources (40%), knowledge and skills (23%), institution (14), attitudes and beliefs (13%), assessment (5%), and subject culture (2%).
I can say that I was not shocked about resources and knowledge and skills being the top two. I feel that the lack of funds to buy new equipment causes resources to be so high in the percentages. Knowledge and skills still relates back to all the professional development and information that school systems must provide to their employees so that they can learn, keep up with, and use new technologies in their classrooms. I also liked the sections that gave information about how to overcome these barriers. I think that could be very helpful to teachers or school systems who are dealing with these problems.

Discussion 4 - Week 6 Hew Article

I really liked the paragraph about teacher knowledge as a barrier.
"Technology-supported-pedagogy may be classified
into three categories in which technology functions as: (a) replacement, (b)
amplification, or (c) transformation (Hughes, 2005)."
We are often told that we should integrate technology, but this article defined three ways that technology can be used. Also, examples were given to clearly express how we can use technology (replacement, amplification, and transformation). I wish that some of these researchers would to more articles along these lines. Instead of telling us what we should do, or the reasons why we are not doing, they could give specific examples of what we can do and how to do it. We keep reading articles over and over again saying that we don't integrate technology because of funds, knowledge, etc., but this is the first one that ever explicitly gave an idea of how to use the technology. The ideas that were presented weren't even ones that need tons of training for teachers to be able to do. Giving three specific ways that we can use the technology in our teaching is already giving me ideas for when I am back in the classroom. We are all trained to give specific, explicit instruction, yet we are not given any for what we need to do! I also think that telling teachers the ways that technology can be used may also change attitudes and beliefs, which was another point in the article. People are not going to use something, no matter how cool it is, if they are not shown that it can be useful.

Hew article discussion

I thought the article was interesting and brought forth good ideads as to how teachers can get over the obstacles that come along with the demands on integrating technology into the classroom. There were twon paragraphs in the article that I noticed and agreed with.
“Without adequate hardware and software, there is little opportunity for teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum. Even in cases where technology is abundant, there is no guarantee that teachers have easy access to those resources. Access to technology is more than merely the availability of technology in a school; it involves providing the proper amount and right types of technology in locations where teachers and students can use them (Fabry & Higgs, 1997).” I agree with this statement because teacher and students need more than the equipment to integrate technology into their classrooms. The teachers need support from the administrators and fellow students in their school. The teachers also need to be educated on how to use technology and on ways to integrate technology effectively. There needs to be a network that teacher’s can use to build confidence and knowledge about technology, because technology changes constantly and the teachers need to be able to keep up.


“The lack of specific technology knowledge and skills, technology-supported pedagogical knowledge and skills, and technology-related-classroom management knowledge and skills has been identified as a major barrier to technology integration. Lack of specific technology knowledge and skills is one of the common reasons given by teachers for not using technology.” I also agree with this statement. The schools should support the teachers in the efforts to learn more about technology and incorporating it into their classrooms, but teachers also have to take the initiative to learn more and come up with new ideas to allow their students to learn as much as they can in their classrooms. It is some of the teacher’s responsibility to make sure the students has the resources that they need in the classroom and if the administration does not support the teacher they should do their best to integrate technology.

In the Hew and Brush article, I wanted to address an issue that I noticed involving the lack of technical support catalogued under resource-type barriers. We all know that the student to computer ratio has dropped considerably, but what happens when the computers that we have available are not working properly? I think this is what Hew and Brush are trying to emphasize in the paragraph found on page 227 of the article. During my internship, my cooperating teacher and I frequently had problems implementing technology into the classroom because the two computers—her desktop and her laptop—frequently malfunctioned. For the majority of the semester we could not use any content on the internet with the students because we only had internet connection on the desktop computer. We complained to whoever would listen for the first two months before finally reconciling that the problem was not to be fixed. The desktop printer was hardly reliable either, and as it was much more necessary to getting worksheets printed, we went in search of technologically savvy teachers that would not mind helping. In the last month of the semester, we were finally able to get a reliable internet connection on the laptop. The issue was this—the school has a technical support person, but she was quite overwhelmed with her work load. Our issues went on a waiting list, and though they were eventually acknowledged and rectified, we had to find other means to teach a lesson that could have been more intriguing and engaging with the use of our available and properly-functioning technology.

Discussion 4

The topic from this article that really stuck out to me was the barriers to technology integration in the classroom. The one that I strongly agreed with is time. The article stated that, teachers that put in extra time for searching the internet for images and to produce multimedia projects often suffered from burn out. Sadly, these over-achieving teachers often leave the field. There are times when I feel like I have spent a whole day putting together a very interactive, technology rich lesson, and the fact of the matter is that I cannot do that everyday. The lack of skills is not a huge barrier for me put I do see this as a major problem for veteran teachers. They get easily frustrated, then time is twice a big as a barrier for them as it is for more tech-friendly teachers. It takes these teachers 2 or 3 times as long to prepare a powerpoint presenation, much less an interactive lesson where their students are using the internet effectively. These teachers who are less technologically savvy also have poor attitudes and beliefs when it comes to integrating technology. This serves as an enormous barrier when trying to encourage technology use in the classroom.

~Danielle

Discussion 4

The section that I found to be most interesting was the part that discussed the Barriers of technology Integration (p.226-232). I found this section intriguing because I basically agree with most of the information mentioned in it and I had first hand concrete experiences confirming most of the findings during my work as a school administrator, however this section organized the thoughts for me and formed relations in a new and direct way.
A couple of facts I found to be new, first that the empirical studies found 123 barriers to technology!! I guess some of them are just different names for the same barrier (terminology). The second piece of information which I found especially beneficial was the classification of technology-supported-pedagogy into (a)replacement (b)amplification or (c)transformation and I agree that most teachers have not been exposed to transformation technology-supported-pedagogy. Most teachers use replacement or amplification pedagogues without even knowing the difference.
During my work as an administrator I found all the relationships between barriers represented by Fig 2 to be true, Assessment and the pressure of high stakes exams influence the institution and the time tabling, some times because of the large content the limited time and the pressure of the assessment we had to shorten or at times cancel periods allocated for classes in the computer lab. That in tern influence the teachers' beliefs and attitudes thus affecting their knowledge skills and the Technology integration.
Even though the figure has no relationship between teachers' beliefs' attitudes and the availability of resources, I tend to disagree with that. I think the relationship exists, it might not be as strong as some of the other relations but there still is a relationship between resources and teachers' attitudes.
As for the Subject culture barrier, I agree with the Art teacher's arguments about being more in tune with ones artwork without the interference of the computer. Computer usage has produced new models of art like graphic design, animation etc.. but it does not fit with the classical idea of Art as we know it.

Discussion 4

I like the paragraphs detailing teachers' complaints about lack of training, especially in regards to technology pedagogy. We have talked a great deal about this problem in class and it seems to have existed for a while. Yet, it seems few districts seem to be providing adequate training. In the district I worked for last year, I was expected to integrate technology into every lesson yet I never received any training on how to do so. The only technology workshop I was offered during this time was on how to use STI. I can definitely see the lack of proper training as a huge barrier for all teachers, even those who feel comfortable using technology.

I also liked the paragraph about subject culture. While I do not necessarily agree with the art teachers' excuses, I can see a point in them. Sometimes technology is not the appropriate tool for learning. While I can see the value of using technology in a middle school or high school art class, I do not think it would be appropriate for a kindergarten class. Using a mouse and a simple program like Paint may be well beyond their abilities. Activities like finger painting is much more appropriate for their level of motor skills and learning. There is so much pressure from districts and states to always use technology that it seems like no one is considering whether or not technology even relates to the learning goal.

Discussion 4

I thought the paragraph that introduced the barriers to integrating technology was very interesting in this article. Personally, I think it would have been easy enough to figure out that resources would be the number one barrier to integrating technology into the classroom. In what limited experience I have, I have noticed that those schools with the most resources do offer the most technological opportunities for their students. Although I think that part of the problem with these barriers goes back to an earlier paragraph within this article that could not provide a definite definition of what constitutes integrating technology into the classroom. If there was a more concrete definition, then I also think that it would be easier to pinpoint the barriers to using technology. One problem I do have with this paragraph is what it considers as the only resources. What I mean is that during this discussion of resources, the authors didn't mention funding as a resource. I would almost place this as the top resource, because without it, nothing else can occur.

Discussion 4

I found one of the beginning paragraphs in the article to be very interesting. I dislike that the article states that "There is no clear standard definition of technology integration in K-12 schools" (p. 224). This section goes on to talk about the many deviations that result from this inconclusiveness. I believe this to be the number one problem when disucussing technology integration in the classroom. If we could start out with a clear definition for teachers then we could develop a strategy for how integration will occur and the means for it to happen. Because of the ambiguity of the overall definition, then results questions about what technology to use, how long to use it, etc. Then there are questions that involve the carrying out of the procedure, or how to train the teachers. I believe if we could be provided with a clear definition from the beginning, then some of the other questions could be answered. One way to start this would be to offer a definition about the level of computer use in classrooms, as is discussed in the article. For me, I would not consider the teacher using a personal computer to send emails, prepare lessons, and input grades to be technology integration into the classroom. This type of low-level use was previously discussed in Russell's (2003) article. I could not believe that this use was even put under the category of technology integrating. To me, integrating technology into the classroom means using technology, in addition to other materials such as their textbooks, to enhance students' learning and skills. This definition then needs to be developed more by including what technologies are included in this process, as well as the amount of time one needs to spend integrating such technologies. I believe by developing a standard definition to be used throughout all K-12 schools, this would cut down on the confusion and many problems with integrating technology in the classroom. First and foremost, teachers need to know what this exactly means. It might help veteran teachers develop an understanding of the reasons why such integration would be helpful. It would also help these teachers as well as preservice teachers know want is expected of them.

Discussion 4

Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning

One of the paragraphs in this article discussed how knowledge and skills is a barrier for technology integration; I completely agree with this. Not many people adapt well to change, and technology is constantly changing. I know of a situation where a business department had the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 2007 this year. As a department, they chose to stick with Windows 2003. There were many excuses and reasons of why they chose to continue to teach 2003 this year, but I believe it was because they were all afraid of change. In order to upgrade, they would have to teach themselves the new software, possibly change their classroom activities/handouts, etc. Many teachers are not comfortable with teaching or using technology they have never used before. Even though it may be an uncomfortable situation, all teachers must have an open-mind to change. As long as the teacher implements it in an effective manner, technology integration can be very beneficially in the classroom.

Next week's blog idea

While you are reading Hew and Brush(2007)'s article, find one or two paragraphs (or findings) that you particularly like (dislike, agree, or disagree) and explain why. Your explanations should include your personal (concrete) experiences, previous readings, or what you have learned from this class.

I liked the Lowther et. al article because the authors realized that there was not enough research going on that measured the performance differences between classrooms in which all students have a computer with classrooms that did not. I think that this article was more of a study than the others we have looked at, and while others have speculated about the effects of technology, these researchers sought to get authentic data to back up their claims. I liked that Lowther et. al. recognized "whether there are many or few computers at a school, the key factor influencing teaching and learning is how computers are used." This revelation reminded of Piro's observations in the Cuban article. Another thing that I saw this article touch on that we have discussed before is teacher technology usage. The article talks about how a lack of technology usage by teachers at home translates to a lack of technology usage for the students in the classroom. The article also touches on location and availability of computers. Of course, when teachers feel more comfortable with technology and the technology is available, it will likely benefit the students. We knew that, but this article delved into something that we only skimmed the surface of in recent weeks. I wondered about the teacher training. In the study, teachers in the all laptop classrooms were given extensive training. According to the study, students in the laptop classroom scored higher on several key areas than the students in the classroom without laptops. What might have happened in the laptop classroom if their teachers were sent in with only their prior technological experience? In my view, professional development for teachers rose on the list of how technology can be made more effective in the classroom.

When Each One has One: Questions

— After reading the article and the discussions online, what do you feel are the benefits of a one-one laptop program? What problems, if any, do you see from such a program?

— How accurate was this study?

◦ Do you feel that this accurately depicted all students in the United States or do more studies need to be done?

◦ If you felt that the study could have been improved, how would you have conducted it (e.g. sampling, methods, etc.)?

— The study suggests that the laptop students had greater achievements and advantages over the control group. Do you agree with this conclusion? Why or why not?

— What role do you feel one-one laptop programs play in the digital divide?

Activity/Small Group Discussion:

Dell has created a collaborative program with educators in which teachers can design functions for their students’ laptops. In the example pictured above, the teacher asked for a light to indicate internet activity. If your school was to enter a one-one laptop program, what features would you like to add to the laptops in order to help with instruction, classroom management, etc.? In groups of two or three, brainstorm possible functions.