Framing my research issue 02-05-07

Statement of the Issue

My enrollment in a graduate course about Action Research coincided perfectly with my

participation in a newly formed PLC (Professional Learning Community) at my school. The

PLC’s goal is to provide recommendations to the building committee working on ideas for

renovation of our school. As a member of this PLC and a member of the technology committee

at my school, I decided to focus on technology concerns that should be addressed in the

renovation plans. I would like to discover some of the technology related changes that have

occurred in schools that have been renovated in the last three years through this Action Research

project. This evaluation study will help me understand the up to the minute possibilities, practical

concerns and types of technology already in use and draw some relationships about what might

be appropriate for my school.

Until this point, most of our technology improvements have been tailored to our existing

structure in the form of retrofitting the old building to accommodate newer technology. Because

of the nature of the old building, many limitations are present. Now the opportunity exists to

engineer for the future. The problem is to discover what kinds of changes need to take place.

Marc Prensky (2005, p.45), in his essay for Edutopia, states, “With very few exceptions, our

schools have not been physically designed for computers.” This is most certainly the case at my

school. So how will our new design deal with computers? Prensky also contends that “For the

digital age, we need new curricula, new organization, new architecture, new teaching, new

student assessments, new parental connections, new administration procedures, and many other

elements (p. 45).” New architecture and room design may be needed because of the technology

changes. I would like to find examples of how this was accomplished in the newer buildings.

In addition to the physical attributes of the technology changes renovated schools

incorporated into their buildings, I hope to discover why those decisions were made and if they

have been evaluated in terms of the anticipated outcome. Hank Bromley (1998, p.24), in an

article written for the NEA Higher Education Journal asserts, “To gain a full understanding of

why a particular piece of technology is or is not used, or used in particular ways or has a

particular impact , we need to pay careful attention to the social context of its use: Who is using

it? Why? Under what conditions and pressures?” The social context is integrally linked with the

physical aspects of technology so must be researched hand in hand. Through a mixed method of

quantitative and qualitative action research focused on the physical and social contexts, I want to

find out about the most current technology integration in my area schools.

References

Bromley, H (1998). How to tell if you really need the latest technology. The NEA Higher Education

Journal. Spring 1998, 21-28.

Prensky, Marc (2005). Adopt and adapt. Edutopia. December, 42-45.