Being an educator that primarily teaches about technology I find it interesting that some schools and teachers are not using the tools that are available to them.  I recently went shopping at the IKEA store and picked up some furniture for my daughters. If you have bought any furniture there you know that you have to assemble everything when you get home.  They key tool to assemble almost all of their furniture is the Allen wrench. I compare not using technology in the classroom to be like not having an Allen wrench to put together the IKEA furniture. It would be almost impossible to complete the project.

Unfortunately, I realize that it is not just teacher refusal that becomes a factor that influences technology use in classroom.  If it was just that I think we could show enough evidence to help a teacher understand its importance. The journal of Technology of Education did a study in 2007 that cited some specific reasons why technology adaptation was not happening in the classroom.  One of the biggest reasons they found was a lack of funding for technology education. Another reason was less people are being trained on how to integrate technology in the schools to assist other teachers along the way. The International Journal of Education and Development Information and Communication Technology found that unfortunately teacher attitude and personal characteristics also become a major factor that influences the use of technology as well.  A teacher's own experience with technology will have a direct effect on the implementation in the classroom.

Wylie Wong wrote a great article for EdTech online magazine that states the best practices of using technology.  His five ideas are #1 Seek student input in technology decision making. I think this is an idea we need to implement.  This is an area where our students might have an advantage. They are living in the world of technology and probably have a lot of input into for you to glean from.  #2 Implement Technology in Phases, sometimes we try to bite off too much and overwhelm everyone around us. Stick to one thing at a time and then you will begin to build your repertoire. #3 Experiment with new approaches, then you can decide if something work or doesn’t and not be afraid to say this is not working and walk away from it. #4 Offer “on demand” professional development, this may be hard unless you have technology directors in your building or district.  #5 Consider a bring your own device program, Students have computers in the palm of their hands. Let them begin to use the things they already own. By implementing some of these ideas in the classroom it can lead to student achievement.

The Stanford graduate school of education published an article about student achievement and technology.  The 2014 study found “that technology—when implemented properly—can produce significant gains in student achievement and boost engagement, particularly among students most at risk.”  This report was done based on a survey of over 70 other studies that were conducted about the implementation of technology in the classroom and student achievement. Technology provided students with engaged learning, interactive and student lead learning, and had the ability to adjust to specific learning levels.  All of these factor led to students doing better in their test scores. One warning that the study did say though is that you have to implement technology with adequate training and learning opportunities for the teachers. Just having technology did not improve the scores but proper implementation was the attributing factor.

Sources:

Buabeng-Andoh, Charles. “Factors influencing teachers’ adoption and integration of information and communication technology into teaching: A review of the literature.” International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2012, Vol. 8, Issue 1, pp. 136-155.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1084227.pdf.

“New Report Shows Technology Can Close Achievement Gaps and Improve Learning Outcomes for at-Risk Students.” Criteria for High-Quality Assessment | Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, 26 June 2017, edpolicy.stanford.edu/news/articles/1249.

Stenkie, Luke and Putnam, Alvin. “Why Should I Stay? Factors Influencing Technology Education Teachers to Stay in Teaching Positions.”  Journal of Technology Education. Vol 19 No 1, Fall 2007. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v19n1/pdf/steinke.pdf.

Wong, Wylie, and CDW. “5 Best Practices for Classroom Technology Implementation.” Technology Solutions That Drive Education, 1 Nov. 2011, edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2011/11/5-best-practices-classroom-technology-implementation.