This article reports on a study of the complex and messy process of classroom technology integration. The main purpose of the study was to empirically address the large question of “why don’t teachers innovate when they are given computers?” rather than whether computers can improve student learning. Specifically, we were interested in understanding the conditions under which technology innovation can take place in classrooms. For a year, we followed a group of K–12 teachers who attempted to carry out technology-rich projects in their classrooms. These teachers were selected from more than 100 recipients of a technology grant program for teachers. The study found 11 salient factors that significantly impact the degree of success of classroom technology innovations. Some of these factors have been commonly mentioned in the literature, but our study found new dimensions to them. Others have not been identified in the literature. Each factor can be placed in one of three interactive domains, the teacher, the innovation, and the context. The article discusses the 11 factors in detail and proposes a model of the relationship among the different factors and their domains.

Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations

Introduction Will instructional technology (IT) ever be integrated into public schools? An interesting question—or rather a series of related questions of interest to educators and parents: What do we mean by “instructional technology”? What is integration? What is the current status of IT in classrooms? Are there constraints or barriers to integration? What are the effects of preservice teacher preparation and inservice professional development? How does one proceed with technology integration? How do we apply the lessons learned from “older” technologies to the “newer” technologies of the last two decades? This article will address each of these questions in order to help us to grasp the prospects for the integration of instructional technology into public education as well as to consider the promises and challenges of such a venture.

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The Integration of Instructional Technology into Public Education: Promises and Challenges

This article reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study, which examined six teachers' views on the factors that affect technology use in classrooms. The research examined teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6—for three years, studying the teachers both as a group and as individual case studies. Three case studies were selected for analysis, with the aim of exploring the relation between the changes that occurred in the teach-ers' educational views and practices as a result of their exposure to teaching and learning with the aid of rich technology and their views on factors affecting technology integration. The findings point to two developmental patterns in teach-ers' views on the factors affecting technology use in the classroom: the first is concerned with the source of influence on technology adoption, and focuses mainly on the human factor; the second is concerned with the nature of the influence when using technology in the classroom, ranging from technical to cognitive transformation. The three case studies reveal three different profiles of change and demonstrate the complex relations between teachers' orientations concerning the conditions affecting technology use, and the changes that occur in teachers' views and practices.

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Teachers’ Views on Factors Affecting Effective Integration of Information Technology in the Classroom: Developmental Scenery

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED462924.pdf

The Learning Return on Our Educational Technology Investment: A Review of Findings from Research.

Creating effective learning environments with technology remains a challenge for teachers. Despite the tremendous push for educators to integrate technology into their classrooms, many have yet to do so and struggle to find consistent success with technology-based instruction. The challenges to effective technology integration have been welldocumented in the literature. In this article we present a comprehensive review of the literature on the challenges associated with effective technology integration in the classroom and the ways in which they interact with one another. Based on this review we have developed a framework, the Individualized Inventory for Integrating Instructional Innovations (i5), to help teachers predict the likelihood of success of technology-based projects in the classroom and identify potential barriers that can hinder their technology integration efforts. Identifying potential barriers upfront can empower teachers to seek solutions early in the process, thereby increasing the likelihood of experiencing success with technology integration.

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A Framework for Addressing Challenges to Classroom Technology Use

This paper looks back on the past three decades of educational technology research as a basis for discussing where this field of research is heading, and identifying some of the most promising directions for the future development of technology's role in education. The collaborative efforts of the Center for Children and Technology and the Union City, New Jersey, school district are discussed to illustrate many of the lessons learned about how educational technology research and systemic school improvement efforts can best be coordinated with one another.

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Fred Carrigg

Papers

Perspectives on Technology and Education Research: Lessons from the Past and Present