Modern technology has changed education, both in and out of the classroom. This study examines not only how teachers utilize technology in the classroom, but also how technology creates new issues within the classroom, such as potentially creating wider disparities between students of different socio-economic statuses. Although this study does not encapsulate the issues of every school, it does provide interesting insight in how the field of education is shifting thanks to technology.
The intended audience of this report includes a wide range of personnel, including educators, school board members and other policy makers. This study covers quite a range of information, making it useful to a variety of professions. The intention of this study was to gather data from teachers regarding their views on technology. This study examined teachers' confidence in incorporating technology into their teaching, utilizing technology for assignments and research methods and also explored how technology may create greater disparities between students of different socio-economic statuses. The main research question of this study examines the impacts of technology on the research and writing habits of secondary students. The main research question of this study was then broken down into more specific research questions regarding the educators' perceptions on challenges and disparities that technology creates, as well as how confident educators were in their ability to integrate technology into their classrooms. The data for this study was collected first through focus groups comprised of middle and high school AP teachers. Then, a survey of 2,462 teachers in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands was administered over the internet. The data measured a multitude of variables, including the educators' perceived impact technology had on education, perceived disparities between students, self-reported proficiency with technology, the perceived role technology plays in networking and lesson preparation and the educators' observations about their students proficiency with technology. The data collected in this study was valuable as it provided insight into educators' views on technology. The survey examined the use of technology across the nation and included public school teachers from rural, urban, low-income and middle class schools. Since technology is a wide-reaching topic, it was important that the questions covered a wide variety of topics relating to the role of technology in and out of the classroom.
The report was well organized and easy to follow. The headings for each sub-section, along with the data charts made it easy to identify the main points of the study. The methodology and limitations of the study were also clearly outlined. It would have been helpful to have an interactive table of contents at the beginning of the report to make skipping between sections of the report easier. The overall tone of the report was academic, yet accessible. The report was clearly written by professionals, for professionals but refrained from the use of jargon or acronyms, which made the report easy to follow.
Works Consulted
Pucell, K., Heaps, A., Buchanan, J., & Friedrich, L. How Teachers are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms. Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. 28 Feb. 2013. http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teachers-and-technology/Summary-of- Findings.aspx?view=all. accessed on 27 Jan. 2014.
