Technology Integration in the Middle School Classroom: Exploration of Outcomes of Behavior Intentions, Self-efficacy, and District Expectations

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Educational Administration

Date of Award

Spring 2022

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine middle school teacher behavior intentions, teacher self-efficacy, and perception of the technology initiative in the district of interest as they relate to actual implementation of technology for instruction in a 1:1 middle school. Six in-service veteran middle school teachers from six content areas and displaying a wide range of technology integration in the classroom were selected for the research study. A technology integration survey, two classroom observations of instruction, a one-on-one interview, and document analysis of lesson plans for the week of and the week preceding the observations were used to address the research questions. It was found that five of the six teacher participants have a generally positive perception of the district’s technology initiative with some variation in teacher understanding of expectations and perception of available resources and supports as well as perceived usefulness of the available technology in instruction. Although all participants were proficient in technology use, when distinguishing between technology use and integration for instruction, it was found that two of the teachers had relatively lower technology self-efficacy to integrate technology when compared with the four teacher participants who had relatively higher self-efficacy to integrate technology in instruction. Finally, it was found low teacher self-efficacy to integrate technology negatively impacted teacher behavior intentions to integrate technology and ultimately negatively impacted actual technology integration in classroom instruction and high teacher self-efficacy positively impacted teacher behavior intentions to meet district technology integration expectations and positively impacted actual integration of technology for instruction. Implications for practice include the need for school district leaders to explicitly state expectations for student-centered technology integration in instruction. Additionally, professional development supporting these expectations is also needed. Finally, recommendations for future research include a repetition of this study with clarified teacher expectations for technology integration, research focused on the impact of COVID-19 on self-efficacy and technology integration, and repetition of this study in other school districts to increase the generalizability of the findings.

Advisor

Danna Beaty-Boudreaux

Subject Categories

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Technology

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS