Abstract
Public and private schools, colleges and universities are increasingly spending much resources implementing technology for use in the teaching and learning processes in their institutions. Indeed, the proliferation of technology in the daily lives of people is spurring increased adoption of education technologies in these institutions. However, despite its wide acceptance in the private lives of many people, and evidence of easing daily tasks, adoption of technology in the teaching and learning experiences in schools remains challenging, with the full extent of its achievement still debatable. The advocates of integration of technology in the classroom acclaim that once technology is well aligned to the curriculum, and teachers are fully conversant with the technologies, then the benefits to the teachers and students are enormous. However, skeptics suggest that the younger generation has already been overexposed to technology due to the proliferation of mobile gadgets and internet connectivity, which may have helped develop habits that are not beneficial in an education setting. Because, technology is extremely dynamic, evidence-based research that informs of the nature of the attitudes that teachers have regarding technology over time is scarce. As such, this research intends to interrogate the perceptions of teachers regarding the contribution of technology to the quality of education. Indeed, qualitative data was obtained using interviews, questionnaires and artifact reviews as the data collection tools. Thereafter, the data obtained used to perform descriptive, inferential, and thematic analysis that would help answer the research question and consequently contribute to the body of knowledge in educational technology.
Keywords: educational technology, student-centered learning, technology-enabled classroom
Introduction
I am amazed by the proliferation of technology in people’s lives particularly in the 21st century such that life without it is already unimaginable. Information and communication technologies have recently undergone rapid evolution and massive adoption particularly in the education sector.
Indeed, many aspects of lives of adults and even children as young as toddlers gravitate around technological devices, particularly mobile devices such as laptops, Smartphone, pads, and notebooks. Surprisingly, people of all lifestyles appear to be uniquely fascinated by technology, particularly when it is easy to use. The younger generation is particularly susceptible to excessive usage of and time spent with mobile devices. Indeed, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010), within five years, due to the proliferation of cell phones and iPods, young people between the age of 8 years and 18 years spent approximately 7 hours and 38 minutes per day on entertainment media. This could be contributing to the deterioration of school grades, particularly among the African American and Hispanic youths, who are known to the heavier media users that their white counterparts (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010).
Incidentally, technological innovators often assess the quality of innovation using its ease of application by its end-users and the amount of tasks that can be automated in the process. Actually, the mantra behind Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive innovations, as was illustrated with the Ipod in 2001, was that if a toddler could operate a piece of technology with ease, or without a manual, then anybody could, and that was what drove the adoption of technology pioneered by Apple Inc. ubiquitously (Fleming, 2015). Indeed, the ease of use of technology has made its adoption in various aspects of people’s life skyrocket, including its uptake in education (Kuang, 2011).
Personal Interest
I have noticed the proliferation of technology in the classroom ranging from use of laptops and interactive whiteboards to institutionally provided Ipads and electronic readers. Indeed, teachers and lecturers are gradually phasing out the traditional chalk-and-board instructional approach and adopting technologically enabled practices. These range from the use of simple technologies such as PowerPoint presentations, overhead projection, and videos to more sophisticated technologies such as discussion boards, interactive white boards (IWBs), blogs and use of specific software to facilitate specific learning processes in the classroom (Anderson & Balajthy, 2009; Baek, Jung & Kim, 2008; Ertmer, 2005). I have also noticed the upsurge of online courses in universities, which enable students to go through the coursework with minimal face-to-face interaction with their instructors. Indeed, the move towards a technology-rich classroom is desirable due to the many educational benefits its promises although many teachers and lecturers are challenged by its integration into the curriculum in a manner that derives the maximum benefits of its potential (Orton-Johnson & Prior, 2013).
Generally, many issues regarding integration of technology into education remain unaddressed while others have not been exhaustively researched by social scientists, technology reformers and educators alike (Levin & Wadmany, 2008). Even after mining information from research and using my own observation regarding the education-technology issues, I still find the need to address the perceptions of teachers regarding the effect of technology on the quality of education in terms of the quality of instruction and the quality of learning. As such, this research aims at interrogating the perspectives of teachers regarding the quality of instruction and learning across educational institutions ranging from elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and university, particularly in the level of engagement in the social studies’ classes.
The problem being addressed by this research emanates from the proliferation of technology among learners, early exposure to technology, and diminished instructions regarding technology use at home by parents, who may be contributing to the perception that technology may not have any meaningful contribution towards education. In turn, excessive use of digital technology for leisure use may interfere with the adoption of technology for education of learners at an early age, a process that becomes difficult to reverse as the learners grow up and mature along their education paths. On the other hand, educators often experience challenges when implementing a technology-enabled classroom, which might influence the effectiveness of the technology employed in such classes. Despite conflicting findings, there lacks sufficient evidence how the effectiveness of integration of technology in schools varies across grades and even across levels.
As such, this research intends to address the following questions:
What are the perceptions of teachers regarding the contribution of technology to the quality of instruction and learning, particularly regarding the level of student engagement?
How do these perceptions compare across different levels of educational institutions in order to determine whether there is any direction in the level of student engagement.
Research Approach
I plan to use qualitative research methodology, using the survey approach, which will involve triangulation of the data obtained to strengthen reliability. The triangulation approach leverages multiplicity of data collection approaches and tools, which provide the researcher with prior warning regarding the quality of data and consequently, sharpens the research findings in the end.
Sampling of schools and respondents were performed using convenience sampling to identify participants who are willing to participate in the study conveniently, using a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, a range of data collection tools such as interviews and questionnaires were employed. In addition, artifacts such as curricula, schemes of work and lesson plans were reviewed to interrogate the extent of integration of technology in the learning and teaching experience in class, at least from the planning perspective.
The approach that was employed in the study incorporated the teachers’ perspectives in order to decipher both instructional and learning experiences that are influenced by integration of technology in the teaching and learning processes, the level of appreciation, and the perception about their effectiveness. Two large public and two large rural schools were involved in the research because they are likely to have a large number of both students and teachers, and are likely to have implemented some form of educational technologies as well. In choosing of the four schools to be used in the research, the inclusion criteria was that the schools should have a student population of at least 1200 students, should have the whole range of classes starting from elementary school up to high school. In addition, the schools should have used educational technologies for at least four years regularly and continuously and should have a multicultural teacher and student population. In addition, purposive sampling shall be done to ensure that the teachers all educational levels are equally distributed and represented.
Participation Selection
This research has been motivated the increased recognition that student engagement enhances learning and may influence learning outcomes of students regardless of the institutional level in which the students are (Junco, Elavsky & Heiberger, 2013; Smith, Sheppard, Johnson & Johnson, 2005). In addition, overexposure to and overreliance on technology has been touted to contribute to the deterioration of cognitive capacity and learning skills, which may therefore make students poor learners and teachers poor instructors (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). However, these concerns conflict with those of other researchers, who indicate that technology is beneficial to the education process and improves educational outcomes (Baek, Jung & Kim, 2008).
Based on this dilemma, the research targets policy makers in the education industry who may be interested in developing a regulatory framework regarding the integration of technology in education, a process that is still in its infancy in many countries. It also targets parents who may be interested on the effects that technology has on the educational journey of their children in the long term. The research findings may inform the teachers and instructors on how best to incorporate technology in their teaching and learning processes in order to enhance student engagement and ultimately, the quality of education. My primary questions are how do teachers use education technology to make the classroom engaging and how effective are these technology implementation approaches?
Literature Review
In this section, the available literature on education technologies shall be reviewed with a view to understanding the history and development of technology and it application in the education sector. Specifically, after a brief overview of educational technologies shall be provided with focus being on the advancements in technology approaches particularly the evolution of information and communication technologies, advancements in technological gadgets and the educational transformation these have occasioned. Thereafter, a brief on the benefits and detriments of the employment of technology in the classroom, and the challenges that have been encountered while implementing technologies in the classroom shall be provided. Lastly, the available information regarding the application of technology and teaching approaches using technology in the social studies class shall be interrogated as well.
As a preliminary review, it is evident that there is no shortage of technologies that can be employed in the classroom for educational purposes. Indeed, technology, from the educational perspective, is a broad terminology that encompasses the tools, gadgets, equipment and software then may be employed to enhance the teaching learning experience of face-to-face interaction between teachers and their students (Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Glazewski, Newby & Ertmer, 2010). Indeed, new technologies are emerging ever so often, thus adding up to the already existing ones or even disruptive those already extant. The personal computer and internet have pervaded many learning institutions in the recent past and are often perceived as the least of the modern technologies being employed in the education setting, commonly known as information and communication technologies. More recently, iPads, interactive whiteboards, e-readers, and Smartphone have been added to the array of technologies available for the classroom. In fact, some schools and colleges are distributing these gadgets to all students in order to ensure equal access to educational technology and materials to all students (Laster, 2010). In addition, at the university level, podcasts and video lessons are becoming commonplace particularly in online courses where the face-to-face interaction between the teacher and the student is diminished compared to that in traditional education settings. Indeed, students can now take lessons from a remote location, which can be even beyond national borders. Indeed, videoconferencing enables students to interact with each other and with their teachers as if they were seated face-to-face in a room. Another educational technology that is catching on fast in educational institutions is the digital library, which is a collection of digital books and articles place in a database.
Evidently, educational technologies are emerging and transforming promptly. These phenomenal trends have been spurred by the advent of the internet and Web 2.0 technologies which have facilitated interactivity, advancement of connectivity to bring about wireless local area networks (WLAN or Wi-Fi), and drastic reduction in communication costs (Sulivan, 2015). Indeed, many educational institutions are awash with Wi-Fi hotspots, which facilitate access of educational materials from anywhere within the institution’s premises, and while students are on the move using digital devices. Indeed, the continued adoption of 4G networks and proliferation of internet-enabled television may easily be the next frontier for educational technology (Laster, 2010).
Data Collection
The strategy that was employed in this survey to collect data was include three data collections tools with the intentions of determining the attitudes among teachers regarding the effectiveness of technology use in the social studies classroom. As illustrated in appendix 1, section 1 of the interviews and the questionnaires shall reveal the demographics of the participants including age, education level, experience of teaching, level(s) of class(es) taught, and location and kind of school. This will help determine whether the way teachers use technology varies across the demographics captured. In addition, variances of the effectiveness of technology across the demographics can be deciphered as well. Section 2 of the two tools aspired the level of technology employment and the kinds of technologies were employed in class. The information derived from this section is the prevalence of technology use and the technology competence levels of the teachers. Section 3 interrogated the perceptions of teachers regarding use of technology in their classes. Overall, these information was related to identify whether technology enhances student engagement and whether such engagement is influenced my demographics. In addition, a review of artifacts intends to determine the level of planning for employment of technology in class by the teachers and the school as well. Indeed, the intention to employ technology is an indicator of the school policy regarding integration of technology in class and the competence of the teacher regarding technology use as elucidated by the approaches and technological tools planned for, which is illustrated in appendix 2.
Interview: The first data collection tool is the interview. Interviews were administered to selected respondents in order to have a representative perspective of the issues at hand. The interviews contained semi-structured items, which shall be administered to teachers in order to obtain general and in-depth perceptions of the participants regarding issues surrounding the research question.
Questionnaire: The second tool that was employed is questionnaires, which like the interviews, were administered to teachers. Similarly, the questionnaires contained both structures and open-ended questions in order to capture a wide range of attributes of the research question as possible. These questions aspired to find out which technologies were employed in classroom and which one was not used, and the justification for technology choices. In addition, the benefits and challenges faced by the teachers while employing these technologies were identified by the questions. Further, the perceptions of the technologies were employed and their effectiveness in the classroom setup were interrogated by the questions. Moreover, the questions also helped identify the competencies of the teachers regarding educational technologies.
Review of artifacts: The third data collection tool to be employed was reviewing of artifacts such as curricula, schemes of work and lesson plans. These artifacts were expected to reveal the incorporation of educational technologies particularly at the planning level, that were employed by teachers in their classes and schools.
Research Plan
The research commenced in the spring semester in January 2016. In the first month, the participants were interviewed alongside reviewing of curricula documents. In the second month, the questionnaires were administered, and schemes of work and lesson plans were reviewed. In the third month, the data collected was cleaned and analyzed, and the research report written and presented as well.
Benefits of Technologies in the Classroom
Technology, when well integrated to the educational process can yield desirable benefits to both teachers and learners, while enriching the learning environment alongside. According to Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Glazewski, Newby and Ertmer (2010), technology can help make the classroom atmosphere student-centered, thus enhancing the quality of teaching and learning occurring therein.
Specifically, to the teacher, technology can make the delivery of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches better. Indeed, technology can make the planning and preparation of lessons easier and faster, can make delivery of the curriculum more effective, and can enrich the pedagogical approaches employed by the teacher, which would, in turn, enhance and sustain the interest of the students in the subject. As such, teachers can leverage technology to cater for individual differences in their students by developing teaching materials appropriate for a class with diverse learning abilities and interests (Drijvers, et al., 2010).
On the other hand, technologies enables students to engage in learning activities through an array of formats and approaches, thus enriching their learning experience. In addition, students are able to pace their learning according to their abilities and preferences, use technology to enhance retention, develop problem-solving skills, and generally improve their cognitive performance. However, teachers should be conversant with how and why to utilize technology meaningfully if the integration processes it to be effective (Gorder, 2008).
Detriments of Technologies in the Classroom
The employment of technology in the classroom, when left unchecked, may be retrogressive to the students and even outright detrimental. Research has shown that how children interact with technology in their early days influenced how they interact with technology as adults and beyond (Carr, 2008). Already, the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) asserts that, heavy media use among youths aged 8-18 years may be causing deterioration of their school grades, particularly when rules on media use were nonexistent or poorly enforced by parents and teachers alike. In addition, according to Fleming (2015), there were concerns that technology devices could be having negative influences on the attention spans, physical health, and social development of children, which good education generally sought to achieve. Indeed, the concerns regarding when children should be introduced to technology is very controversial among parents and technology experts, and remains unresolved to date. Interestingly, people working in high technology companies did not encourage excessive use of technology by their children, exercised strict sanctions regarding use of technology at home, and often used these communication technologies with their children or closely supervised them instead (Fleming, 2015). Evidently, this was indicative that these technologically sophisticated people were aware of the detrimental effects that technology could have on their children and therefore, their wish not to overexpose their children particularly at an early age.
Challenges of Implementing Technologies in the Classroom
Integrating technology in the classroom effectively is extremely challenging to the designers and implementers of the curriculum (Drijvers, et al., 2010). Indeed, educational policy makers may herald the advantages and benefits of incorporating technology into the teaching and learning process. However, when they do not provide specific guidelines or approaches of how this should be done, ineffective employment of technology in the classroom ensues. Indeed, many teachers are left without guidance on how they should actuate technology in their classes, which leads to the employment of disjointed approaches all over the education systems, which are not supported by evidence or good practices.
In addition, teachers and lecturers themselves experience enormous challenges with technology implementation. Indeed, the biggest challenge that is experienced by these educators across all levels of educational institutions is enabling a student-centered environment. Indeed, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Glazewski, Newby and Ertmer (2010), defines the best educational practices as those that promote learning that is student-centered because they emphasize on authenticity of experiences, encouragement of active learning and creation of new products. As such, educational technology should enhance the development of lifelong learning skills in students, notably self-regulation and problem solving, which in turn increase information and communication technology skill and improve academic performance in the end. However, in practice, those educational institutions that employ educational technologies hardly derive these benefits despite the overwhelming evidence in support of increased adoption of such technologies. Associated with inability to leverage educational technologies to create a student centered learning atmosphere in class is specifically, low usage of technology in the classroom perhaps due to poorly designed curriculum-technology integration, low technology skill level of the teachers, technophobia ingrained beliefs of the teachers (Drijvers, et al., 2010; Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Glazewski, Newby & Ertmer, 2010; Wood, et al., 2005). As such, the employment of technology is often misaligned to the curriculum and tends to focus more on administrative and communication tasks such as preparation and storage of student records, digitization of leaning materials such as schemes of work and lesson plans, communicating with other colleagues and parents. Ultimately, indeed, teachers tended to employ technology to support and enhance their existing educational practices, while in fact; technology should help reconfigure the overall teaching and learning experience.
Social Studies and Technology
The social studies class is most suited for integrating technology with classroom practices because it enables the teacher to introduce technology not only in class but also in everyday life of the students. The social studies class enables the teacher to instruct with technology, get feedback using technology, interact with students using technology and e assessing the effectiveness of the technology in the class while have an open conversation about it with students from a social perspective (Stacey, 2013). For instance, teachers use email to send and receive assignments, use Twitter to send alerts to students and manage blogs to interact with students as well (Hepplestone, 2011).
Implications
The completion of this study is fundamentally vital since it will provide insight on the importance of integrating technology in classroom. In addition, it will also seek to provide information regarding the manner in which such technology would be incorporated. Importantly, the fact that the use of already-owned devices can be used to provide more utility to the students in regard to their education is also critical. As such, the daily lives of the students will be integrated in their academics. As a result, it is evident that the benefits of the research override its complication and hence necessary to conduct it. This means that the findings of the research will be useful to the real classroom experience.
Strengths
The strength of the research is based on the data collection methods applied in the process of research. In this case, the research seeks to collect data through interviews where questionnaires are administered physically. This provides an opportunity to collect detailed data for analysis because it allows follow-up questions as compared to cases in which the questionnaires would be sent online. In addition to this, the review of artifacts reinforces this data by providing yet additional information to contribute to the information obtained at the end. Limitation of the research
The research takes a limited scope into the inquiry where it seeks to research on the perception of teachers towards the technology. Evidently, it does not seek to understand the perception of students towards the technology in order to contrast the two perception with a view to determine how they can be harmonized to ensure that it is effectively integrated into the education system.
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