edet 780 research project


2/18

WHERE NOW? 2

Where Do We Go Now? Focusing Faculty Development

on Second-Order Barriers to Technology Integration

Introduction

Many researchers have investigated the barriers to true technology integration in

K-12 instructional settings. Notably, Ertmer (1999) identified first and second order

barriers to technology integration and conducted extensive research to identify ways to

overcome both types of barriers for pre-service and practicing teachers. Why, then, the

divide between the fully integrated learning experience hailed as the future of education

and the seeming reality that classrooms are the last place to see innovative educationaluse of new technology?

Current educational practice strongly trends to constructivist theory, most notably

associated with Vygotsky, as the prevailing view of learning design. This is especially

true in the era of 21st century skills and college and career readiness. The term

constructivist may also be associated with learner-centered practice and learning

environments, however the constructivism, for the purposes of this research, relates to

creating environments in which teachers and students interact in ways that encourage

learners to construct their own understandings and knowledge based on past learning

and new experience through social interactive processes.

This research will ask and attempt to answer questions designed to identify the

cognitive dissonance between the good intentions to fully integrate technology into

varied learning experiences and the seemingly common practice of perfunctory

technology usage that wave after wave of mandated and voluntary professional


3/18

WHERE NOW? 3

development on technology and integration of educational technology attempts to

correct or remove. Such questions and barriers often include the teacher and

administrator perceptions of second-order barriers are intrinsic to teachers and include

beliefs about teaching, beliefs about computers, established classroom practices, and

unwillingness to change, as identified by Ertmer (1999).

Additionally, this research will focus on a state identified as consistently failing

in education for more than a decade. Looking at the diverse teachers and leaders in

districts that are representative of the social, cultural, and technological diversity found

in South Carolina, a state undergoing a technology upgrade in all of its major economiccenters, it is time for these diverse teachers and leaders to also upgrade their

pedagogy.

Primarily, the study will ask: Does professional development assist in overcoming

the challenge of educators hesitating to embrace a constructivist pedagogy in order to

integrate technology in the classroom? Specifically, the study will survey a

significant segment of the certified teaching population in the state to answer three

necessary research questions: (1) Does professional development that focuses on

learner-centered technology pedagogy encourage teachers to use technology-enabled

authentic learning activities? (2) Does professional development that focuses on

learner-centered technology pedagogy change teachers' pedagogical attitudes and

beliefs? (3) How do administrators and instructional leader and teacher-practitioner

perceptions of barriers to Technology Integration differ?


4/18

WHERE NOW? 4

Review of Literature

Many districts across the nation are attempting to make progress in integrating

technology into the daily practice of instruction in order to provide career and college

ready instruction. Most indicators continue to point out the lack of technology use in

applications beyond drill-and-practice or research via the internet which, in themselves,

have limited benefit in improving student outcomes or achievement (Ross, Smith,

Alberg, & Lowther, 2004 as cited in Lowther, Inan, Strahl, & Ross, 2008). Furthermore,

this trend continues to follow in settings where teachers have greater amounts of

experience in the classroom (Inan & Lowther, 2009) . This may be owing to the fact thatthese experienced teachers are less familiar with current models, which incorporate

technology efficiently into instruction. Beginning teachers, on the other hand, who are

new to the profession have received the most current training in ways to use technology

during their preservice education (Inan & Lowther, 2009).

In examining this phenomenon, in which large amounts of resources have been

expended in efforts to reform education observations of the current situation, research

leads to questions regarding teacher pedagogical beliefs and whether they are teacher-

centered or student-centered. In a relatively long line of research, Ertmer has explored

the matter of technology beginning in 1999 with a discussion regarding barriers as being

first-order, which are extrinsic barriers such as the lack of resources or infrastructure to

effectively integrate technology into instructional practice, or second-order barriers,

which are intrinsic barriers whereby the teacher is not sufficiently trained in order to

implement the requisite strategies.


5/18

WHERE NOW? 5

The point of Ertmers study (1999) was to determine if the teachers have a

central belief in the nature of pedagogical practices. More specifically, is the teacher

delivering the content for the sole purpose of the student as a vessel prepared to

receive it, or is the learner a more active participant in the process and capable of

constructing the required learning? Indeed, much has changed in some respects in the

presence of technological devices that are available to educators and even to a casual

observer. However, this only addresses the first-order barriers, and yet there are still

second-order barriers in the manner in which teachers instruct that need to be

reconciled in order for this change to occur and this is the nature of the researchquestion posed.

The idea on changes in instructional practice leading to changes in belief

systems is postulated by Ertmer in that, starting with relatively simple uses may be a

more productive path to achieving teacher change than expecting teachers to use

technology, from the outset, to achieve high-end instructional goals (2005). Over time

teachers with teacher-centered beliefs may begin to relinquish them or possibly soften

to the prospect if they can see positive outcomes evolve as the more basic technology

uses are deemed beneficial and do not conflict with their pre-existing pedagogical

principles they possess, thus opening the door to further efforts. However, unless the

focus of technology integration is explicitly on student-centered pedagogy, technology

integration may continue to support teacher-centered practice with inadequate, highly

controlled student use in the classroom (Palak, 2009).

As with other significant changes, though, additional support must be readily

available and encouraged for further advances to be realized. One of the most recently


6/18

WHERE NOW? 6

explored avenues is that of the professional learning community (PLC) to provide

additional support to the teacher transition (Sugar & Slagter Von Tryon, 2014).

Collaboration is a hallmark of technology use and can also be a vehicle for the

implementation of PLCs and it is, through this process, learners can co-construct

knowledge, share experiences, reflect on practice, seek feedback, and contribute to the

learning of others (Killion, 2013).

Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to determine if professional development assists in

overcoming the challenge of educators hesitating to embrace a constructivist pedagogyin order to integrate technology in the classroom. In order to arrive at a conclusion,

three necessary items will need to addressed. First, does professional development that

focuses on learner-centered pedagogy encourage teachers to use technology-enabled

authentic learning activities? Second, does professional development that focuses on

learner-centered pedagogy change teachers pedagogical attitudes and beliefs?

Finally, does a difference exist between administrators and teacher-practitioner

perceptions of barriers to technology integration, and if so, how?

By examining these research questions, the researchers will decide if, at all,

professional development influences a teachers pedagogical belief in regards to the

integration of technology. Earlier research confirms that once first-order barriers are

eliminated, second-order barriers develop and become present when it comes to

implementing technology in the classroom. Furthermore, these second-order barriers

interfere with how a teacher feels about technology, which is typically negative, and thus

how the teacher uses it, if at all, in the classroom (Lowther, 2008). With that, evidence


7/18

WHERE NOW? 7

also proves that when teachers are able to effectively implement technology into their

lessons and facilitate learner-centered environments, student achievement increases.

Despite these significant findings from earlier research, limited research exists in

practices that will overcome second-order barriers. This research study explores the

feasibility of professional development affecting pedagogical beliefs when integrating

technology.

The research team hypothesizes that professional development does assist in

overcoming the challenge of teachers hesitation of embracing a constructivist

pedagogy when if comes to integrating technology in the classroom.

Participants

Four socio-economically, geographically, and technologically diverse districts in

South Carolina will be specially recruited to provide the subjects for the study and

results will be shared with district leadership. For example, Beaufort, Kershaw, Richland

I, and Greenville Public School Districts may be courted. These four potential districts

will be selected because they include rural and urban sections of the states three

regions. The three regions that will be represented in our study are the Upstate,

Midlands, and Lowcountry regions. By having this variety, the study be enhanced by

the ethnic, cultural, and social diversity that South Carolina has to offer. All certified staff

members will be asked to participate in the survey via social media, email newsletter, a

website maintained for the study, and direct personal contacts at technology and

content area state conferences. Total possible respondents will be approximately 8000

certified staff in those districts, however there is strong likeliness that only a 1-11%

response rate, depending on district support, will exist.


8/18

WHERE NOW? 8

All potential participants will be sent an email with a link to the survey.

Researchers will acquire the email addresses of our participants via the information that

is available on the districts websites. Our approach attempts to ensure a statistically

significant number of participants.

The online surveys, which will be in a questionnaire and assessment format, will

ask respondents to self-report demographic information such as: gender, age, district,

the school level(high school/middle school/elementary/etc.) in which they are

employed/certified, the subject(s) that they teach, the number of years of experience

that they have in their position, and the highest degree level earned. Demographic dataof the respondents will be evaluated for relevance once data is compiled.

Design

This research study will occur over the course of one academic calendar year.

Early in the school year, within a one-months time frame, the potential participants will

be exposed to our study via email and provided with the opportunity to be an active

participator in our research study. The electronic surveys will be created using the

premium SurveyMonkey Survey tool to allow for a single survey to adapt based on the

participants responses. The survey questions are pre-established and used in

Lowthers 2008 research study, Does Technology Work When Key Barriers Are

Removed? .

Administrators and instructional leaders will receive a different sequence of

questions from practicing teachers. In addition to demographics and questions about

planned professional development topics for the school year, Teachers will be asked

questions related to their beliefs about student use of technology, integration of


9/18

WHERE NOW? 9

technology in instruction, constructivist curricular design, and perceived second order

barriers to technology integration. Administrators and instructional leaders will be asked

about their perceptions of second-order barriers to technology integration, their

perceptions of teachers beliefs, planned professional development, and the existence

of constructivist learning environments within their school and district.

Each group of participants (1. administrators and instructional leaders; 2.

practicing teachers) will take a survey at the beginning of our study and a survey at the

conclusion of our study. The Teacher Technology Questionnaire (TTQ) will form the

bulk of the questions on the surveys. Participants will be able to rate their level ofagreement according to a Likert-type scale concerning five-technology related areas:

technologys impact on classroom instruction, technologys impact on students, teacher

readiness to integrate technology, overall school support for technology, and technical

support. Questions from the Technology Skills Assessment (TSA) will also convey

teacher perceptions about their personal technology abilities. Technological abilities will

be categorized according to the following areas: basics of computers, software,

multimedia, and Internet, as well as advanced skills and the usage of technology for

learning (Lowther, 2008).

At the conclusions of the surveys, data will be collected and stored on the

SurveyMonkey survey tools website. The researchers will be able to access this

information and examine it instantly at the conclusions of the surveys. More information

regarding the results of the survey is detailed in the analysis section of this study.

Teacher Technology Questionnaire (TTQ)


10/18

WHERE NOW? 10

The researchers of this study decided to use the TTQ based on the Tennessee

EdTech Launch program that was examined and analyzed in a 2008 study by Lowther.

The findings of this study ensure that the TTQ is a valuable and reliable tool for

collecting and measuring teachers beliefs and perceptions regarding their personal use

of technology. This questionnaire is a Likert-style survey in which items are rated from

(1)=strongly disagree to (5)=strongly agree. The questionnaire itself presents twenty

questions of which our participants will reflect their personal ratings.

Technology Skills Assessment (TSA)

The TSA is another survey that our team of researchers have selected based onthe same aforementioned Tennessee EdTech Launch program. The findings of this

study also ensure that the TSA is a valuable and reliable tool for collecting and

measuring the technology abilities that the participating teachers have. Participants will

be required to rate how easy it is to complete a variety of 47 different technology

related tasks.

Professional Development

Partner districts and volunteers will agree to ensure that a minimum of twenty

percent of certified staff will complete eighty percent or more of the researcher-led

professional development throughout the course of a one-year-long research study -

this will result in a group of nearly 1600 educators across the four selected districts who

will participate in the specially designed staff development. The subjects will be

required to attend at least eighty percent of the eight one-hour professional

development sessions. Trained instructional and technology coaches or lead teachers

will be elected by school administrators and instructional leaders to provide the


11/18

WHERE NOW? 11

prescribed professional development. These coaches will be trained by, and according

to the design of, the research team. The coaches will be trained to apply constructivist

learning models to the areas of technology usage and technology skills that are

identified in the initial survey.

Each of the eight professional development sessions will focus on and develop

on the two aforementioned categories: technology usage and technology skills. The

professional development for technology usage will require four out of the eight

sessions and will focus on eliminating first-order barriers to technology usage and

integration - such as novice and intermediate level software and hardware skills that aretailored to the hardware and software present in the district.

Following the participant training of technology usage is the training for

technology skills that is the focus of the next three professional development sessions.

Continuing with the former progression, the fifth training session will model constructivist

approaches to designing technology-rich learning environments.. The sixth professional

development session will train participants in how the students might use collaborative

technologies in and across content areas. Seventh, the training will be devoted to

teacher integration of instructional technology. Finally, the eighth professional

development training will be summative in nature and provide the participants with an

opportunity to share and possibly demonstrate their experiences.

Procedure

This research study will occur over the course of one academic calendar year.

Early in the school year, within a one-months time frame, the participants will be

exposed to the Teacher Technology Questionnaire (TTQ) and the Technology Skills


12/18

WHERE NOW? 12

Assessment (TSA) inspired surveys via email and our project website. From here,

volunteers will take the initial survey. Once the first survey is closed, participants will

partake in eight mandatory professional development opportunities. These sessions for

professional development will occur once a month throughout the school year in

addition to or as a replacement of the planned and existing professional development.

During the last month of the school year the participants will then be directed to a

closing survey. All results will be analyzed for variance, significance, and correlations

between professional development offers and receives, perceived barriers, application

of constructivist methodologies, and demographics.Partner districts and volunteers with other affiliations will receive a link to the

online survey via email or on the project website. The survey that will be conducted at

the initiation of the study, which will be created using the SurveyMonkey survey tool,

begins by asking demographical information, which includes district, school, grade,

subject, male/female, years experience, highest degree level earned, etc. Again, this

self-reported information will be considered in terms of relevance to the study.

From here, all participants will engage in the actual teacher survey that will

provide the information for a thorough data analysis. As aforementioned, administrators

and instructional will respond to different questions than those that will be offered to the

practicing teachers. Data from the surveys will be analyzed and evaluated as discussed

in the analysis section of this study.

After the initial survey, the participants will partake in professional development.

The professional development will be offered once a month for the duration of the year-

long study. This means that partner districts and volunteers will be required to attend


13/18

WHERE NOW? 13

eight mandatory sessions of professional development. The focus of the professional

development will be relevant to technology by offering training in technology usage and

technology skills indicated in the initial study. Each professional development session

will be approximately one to three hours in length and recertification credit may be

offered, though the amount of time spent in professional development or credit offered

will not be analyzed as a possible contributing factor in whether or not professional

development influences a shift in teachers beliefs and practices towards technology

integration and learner-centeredness.

The final portion of the research will be conducted during the last month of theacademic calendar. Again, participants will be sent an email directing them to the post-

survey. The demographic, TTQ, and TSA, portions of the survey will be identical to the

initial survey in order to maintain a controlled tool for measurement. However, questions

will also be included to gather data about any professional development received in

addition to that provided by the researchers.

Analysis

Results will from the surveys will be instantly available to researchers in

summary and individual response format. Researchers will be able to access the

results via the SurveyMonkey survey tools website. The results will be calculated,

analyzed, and prepared after the closings of the initial and concluding surveys. Results

from each will be compared and examined in order to determine whether professional

development assists in overcoming the challenge of educators hesitating to embrace a

constructivist pedagogy in order to integrate technology in the classroom.


14/18

WHERE NOW? 14

Data Analysis

Once data has been collected after the initial completion of the Teacher

Technology Questionnaire (TTQ) and the Technology Skills Assessment, the data will

be systematically analyzed. First researchers will examine the self-reported

demographic figures by identifying the breakdown of gender, age, district, the school

level(high school/middle school/elementary/etc.) in which they are employed/certified,

the subject(s) that they teach, the number of years of experience that they have in their

position, and the highest degree level earned. This data is necessary and will be

tracked in order to determine whether it influences or determines any correlationsbetween the initial and final rounds of results collected from the TTQ and the TSA.

When analyzing the TTQ data, researchers will acquire how teachers feel about

the technology. Based on the breakdown of the five technology-related areas (impact

on students, teacher readiness, teacher readiness to integrate technology, overall

school support for technology, and technical support), the research team intends on the

data being able to reveal two things: how teachers feel about technology prior to

receiving the professional development and how they feel about technology after

receiving the training. At the conclusion of the research, comparisons, trends, and

relationships will be examined to determine whether the professional development

promoted an overcoming of the second-barrier constraints in order to integrate

technology effectively.

Teacher Technology Questionnaire (TTQ)

Responses from each district and each job function (administrators/instructional

leaders and practicing teachers) will be compared for statistically significant variances


15/18

WHERE NOW? 15

using a multiple univariate analysis of variables or MANOVA. The five categories on the

TTQ survey are impact on classroom instruction, impact on students, teacher readiness

to integrate technology, overall support, and technical support. Since this study

requires the comparison of more than three dependent variables, the MANOVA is used

to avoid a Type I error. This will be followed by a series of univariate analysis of

variables (ANOVA) comparing the surveys done at the first of the year to those done at

the end of the year, after professional development has taken place. Effect size will

also be examined. T-tests will be used to compare the means for teachers and

administrators in each category.

Technology Skills Assessment (TSA)

As with the TTQ, the TSA responses from each district and each job function

(administrators/instructional leaders and practicing teachers) will be compared for

statistically significant variances. The early survey means will be compared to the later

survey means using a MANOVA, with the six categories treated as dependent

measures. Those categories are computer basics, software basics, multimedia basics,

Internet basics, advanced skills, and using technology for learning. Again like the TTQ,

an ANOVA (using the Bonferroni method with a P value of .007) will also be done on

each of the categories to see if it yields any significant differences in the early year and

late year means. Effect Size will also be examined. T-tests will be used to compare the

means for teachers and administrators in each category.

Conclusion

The data that will be collected from the proposed research study will bring

researchers closer to eliminating second-order barriers that exist within the context of


16/18

WHERE NOW? 16

integrating technology in the classroom. Considering how technology implementation is

effective in a constructivist learning environment and overcoming the aforementioned

barriers will make learner-centeredness more obtainable for educators. Research

determining whether professional development assists in or hinders overcoming the

challenge of educators hesitating to embrace a constructivist pedagogy in order to

integrate technology in the classroom has the potential of causing a significant impact in

the institution of education. If the results confirm the researchers prediction, then the

research is valuable and reliable. The partnered districts and volunteers would benefit

from this research as they will be able to continue their learned skills and methods. Thenext step would then be to continue research by exploring what correlations between

student-centered technology integration and students academic success.


17/18

WHERE NOW? 17

References

Albion, P. R., & Ertmer, P. A. (2002). Beyond the foundations: The role of vision and

belief in teachers preparation for integration of technology. TechTrends: Linking

Research & Practice to Improve Learning , 46 (5), 3438.

Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first-and second-order barriers to change: Strategies

for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development ,

47 (4), 4761.

Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for

technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development ,

53 (4), 2539.

Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2013). Removing obstacles to the pedagogical

changes required by Jonassens vision of authentic technology-enabled learning.

Computers & Education , 64 , 175182. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.008

Inan, F. A., & Lowther, D. L. (2009). Factors affecting technology integration in K-12

classrooms: A path model. Educational Technology Research and Development ,

58 (2), 137154. doi:10.1007/s11423-009-9132-y

Killion, J. (2013). Tapping technologys potential. Journal of Staff Development , 34 (1),

1014.

Lawless, K. A., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2007). Professional development in integrating

technology into teaching and learning: Knowns, unknowns, and ways to pursue

better questions and answers. Review of Educational Research , 77 (4), 575614.

doi:10.3102/0034654307309921


18/18

WHERE NOW? 18

Lowther, D. L., Inan, F. A., Daniel Strahl, J., & Ross, S. M. (2008). Does technology

integration work when key barriers are removed? Educational Media

International , 45 (3), 195213.

Palak, D., & Walls, R. T. (2009). Teachers beliefs and technology practices: A mixed-

methods approach. Journal of Research on Technology in Education , 41 (4).

Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&aut

htype=crawler&jrnl=15391523&AN=41563960&h=w%2B56%2BCFcNC3pd8kMxyP

Sx7ac2dfZkYKH1hrX8mApGakVRH5HSN5jb94vNPIwJcObH2WvT%2BlengwDr%2BGDm%2BfiIg%3D%3D&crl=c

Sugar, W., & van Tryon, P. J. S. (2014). Development of a Virtual Technology

Coach to Support Technology Integration for K-12 Educators. TechTrends , 58 (3),

5462.

edet 780 research project

Documents