Does Technology Influence Teaching Practices in the Classroom

1
Does Technology Influence Teaching Practices in
the Classroom?

• April O. Di Benedetto
• NECC 2005
• Philadelphia, PA

2
Purpose of the Study

• The purpose of the study was to determine
  whether a state-supported staff development
  program influenced teachers to shift their
  teaching practices from teacher-centered to
  student-centered learning.

3
Limitations

• The participants were limited to teachers
  employed with the select school district
  participating in the study where their
  administrator granted time for InTech training.
• The sample group was limited to 200 InTech
  trained and 200 Non InTech trained teachers.
• The InTech trained sample group was limited to
  teachers who had participated in an InTech
  workshop in the state of Louisiana.
• The variables were limited to student-centered
  learning, utilization of a variety of technology
  skills, teaching pedagogy, and attitudes toward
  technology use in the classroom.

4
Population

• A convenience sample of certified elementary
  (K-6) teachers employed by the selected school
  district was identified for this study. A total
  of 400 subjects (200 InTech and 200 Non-InTech
  trained teachers) were invited to complete the
  survey.

5
Research Design

• Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was
  used to address the five research questions.
• If the test was statistically significant,
  multivariate univariate follow-up tests were
  conducted.

6
Data Collection Procedures

• The participants for this study consisted of the
  elementary grade teachers (K-6) in the target
  district.
• This study was conducted using online data
  collection via a survey.
• Subjects were also given the option to complete a
  paper and pencil survey.
• The 400 subjects were selected from a data base
  that maintains professional development records
  for all teachers within the parish under study.

7
Variables

• Student-Centered Learning Activities
• that provide the use of technology.
• Use of technology skills Experience
• level.
• Teaching pedagogy Instructional
• strategies.
• Attitude Use of technology in the
• classroom.

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Description of Sample

• Return Rates of Technology Survey for Each Group
• Training Type Requested
  Online Paper Returned Return
  rate
• InTech Trained 200 109
  3 112 56
• Non-InTech Trained 200
  41 15 56
  28
• Total 400 150
  18 168 42

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Reliability
Reliability Analyses for the InTech Summative
Evaluation
10
Univariate Follow-Up Tests for Manova
Student-Centered Learning

• The study did not report a shift toward
  student-centered learning. In this study,
  student-centered learning was found to be not
  statistically significant
• F (4, 163) 1.70, p .20, ?² .01.

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Univariate Follow-Up Tests for Manova
Utilization of a Variety of Technology Skills
The study did not report a statistically
significant difference between the training
groups with respect to utilization of a variety
of technology skills. F (4, 163) 1.70, p
.20, ?² .56
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Univariate Follow-Up Tests for Manova
Teaching Pedagogy
In this current study, InTech trained
teachers reported a significant difference from
Non-InTech trained teachers in regards to
teaching pedagogy. F (4, 163) 31.20, p lt
.001, ?² .16
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Univariate Follow-Up Tests for Manova Attitudes
of Teachers Toward Technology
In the present study, the reported attitudes
of InTech trained teachers toward technology use
in the classroom was supported by other research
conducted into the correlation of positive
attitudes towards technology and the amount of
technology training. F (4, 163) 9.56, p
.002, ?² .05
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Recommendations for Practice

• Conduct a needs assessment to determine preferred
  training method. Offer a variety of trainings
  that encourage teachers to integrate technology
  into the classroom.
• Provide technology facilitators for educators as
  a means for providing support at the school level
  by demonstrating in teachers classrooms
  student-centered lessons. Also, the technology
  facilitator could serve as a mentor to assist
  teachers with planning of student-centered
  lessons because teachers reported in this study
  that they were not practicing methods that they
  believed were student-centered learning.
• Increase training hours previous studies reported
  a statically significant increase in technology
  integration when training spanned a three to four
  year time frame.
• Request evaluation feedback on every training
  session in order to continue to improve the
  training.

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Conclusion

• According to this study, educators believed
  that student- centered learning was the most
  appropriate method to integrate technology.
  However, technology trained teachers reported
  that student-centered technology activities were
  not taking place in the classrooms.