Technology Implementation in the Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between teachers' attitudes toward technology and its implementation while their schools are undergoing a large-scale technology infusion in the state of North Carolina. The eleven treatment schools were selected through a grant writing procedure, high technology needs and Title I status. A detailed procedure was used to identify and recruit comparison schools. Treatment schools were provided with almost $1.5 million over three years to purchase educational technology, train their teachers and staff two full-time technology related positions: Media Coordinator and Technology Facilitator. In addition, schools were required to develop and integrate a Media Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) to oversee planning and budgeting issues related to technology. Utilizing a quasi-experimental pre-post design, this study analyzed teacher attitude changes for treatment and comparison groups over year-one. Attitude and instructional practices were compared with pre-measure data to assess a baseline comparison of groups. Changes in group scores over time were conducted using RMANCOVA and differences were found between groups for two attitude subscales and for four instructional practices. The largest effect was found for technology implementation. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the predictive relationship between attitude subscales and technology implementation. Only teachers' Affective Reaction to Computers had a significant relationship with Technology Implementation.