An Issue for Further Exploration

What factors predispose a teacher to use technology?

 One of the questions that I posted in the Video Cases discussion forum was "What factors in a person's background or training make them want to incorporate technology into their science or math classroom instruction?" It was interesting that this question turned out to be highly relevant to my interview, because my interviewee uses no digital technology in his science and math classes even though he has a high level of personal interest in technology. His attitude is that technology can be useful for communication and presentation, but it doesn't help students understand concepts.

Unanswered question

If I had more time and access, I would ask several teachers if they use digital technologies in their lessons, and then ask them why or why not (even though we are not supposed to ask "why" questions in the interviews!) This is the biggest unanswered question that I have, because if we knew why teachers don't use it, we could target strategies to encourage them to do so.

Similarities and differences in interview responses

My inerviewee has a firm belief that the use of digital technologies does not enhance student learning in any way. It seems that his thoughts are, "The way I learned it (20+ years ago, without the benefit of digital technologies) is the only way that students will properly understand the concepts." However, it appears that the age of the respondent has nothing to do with it. One interviewee was in his first few years of teaching, and he also had the same attitude toward technology. However, his concern was largely based on a "second layer" argument. In this he said that the knowledge is one layer that the students have to learn, and the technology is a second layer. Time constraints and efficiency prevent this teacher from wanting to pursue teaching the students how to use the technology. Interestly enough, another interview respondent used the same "second layer" argument, but incorporated the technology anyway.

A change in understanding

When I first started taking the MET courses (although I probably would not have given it much thought), I believed that almost everyone used digital technologies in their classes, because most of my colleagues at work use them - if only peripherally - and most of the people in the MET program use them as well. The three video cases we viewed in week 3 of the ETEC 533 course reinforced this belief.

People who already have an interest in technology tend to pursue the use of it, so I am more or less surrounded by it. After reading interviews that showed some of the respondents using little or no technology in their classes, I realized that not everyone uses technology. Even though it shouldn't have been, it was somewhat of a surprise.

Of those teachers who use technology, there seem to be two groups: the ones that use it for communication and organization purposes; and the ones who may use it in this first way but also use it in the classroom during lessons as a tool to enhance student learning.

An issue to explore

I believe that people who are not exposed to the use of digital technologies in their professional training (pre-service or in-service) will only pursue it if they have a personal interest in it and a belief that using it will enhance student learning.

A broad statement of an issue that I would like to pursue is the following: How can teachers be encouraged to incorporate digital technologies into the learning opportunities in the classroom?

I would like to explore this because I believe that the use of technology is beneficial to the students in many ways: it can engage them; it encourages them to become active learners and participate in the lesson rather than expecting the teacher to give them the answers; and it can help prepare them for future learning or job opportunities, among others.