Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Effects of Technology Integration Educat
Effects of Technology Integration Educat
Effects of Technology Integration Educat
Abstract
Major findings regarding the effects of technology integration education on elementary school
teachers are presented. A study of a K–5 treatment site versus two comparison schools over
one academic year indicates that teachers progress one stage in a six-stage technology adop-
tion model as a result of focused, needs-based technology integration education delivered
throughout the school year. Needs-based technology integration education is shown to have
a rapid, positive effect on teacher attitudes, such as computer anxiety, perceived importance
of computers, and computer enjoyment. This type of education is shown to have a time-
lagged positive effect on the attitudes of students as well. (Keywords: attitudes, computers,
students, teachers, technology integration, training.)
LITERATURE REVIEW
Teacher Attitudes toward Technology
Loyd and Gressard (1986) showed that positive attitudes toward computers
are positively correlated with teachers’ extent of experience with computer tech-
nology. With familiarity, anxieties and fears tend to decrease, and confidence in-
creases. T he amount of confidence a teacher possesses in using computers and
related information technologies (often referred to as simply “technology”) may
greatly influence his or her effective implementation of technology methods in
the classroom. Positive teacher attitudes toward computers are widely recog-
nized as a necessary condition for effective use of information technology in the
classroom (Woodrow, 1992).
Pelgrum and Plomp (as cited in Collis et al., 1996) also found that the “de-
gree of classroom computer use was closely tied to extent of training in integra-
tion techniques” (p. 32).
Other studies have shown that students’ attitudes about school and learning
are likely to affect student achievement (OTA, 1995) and that appropriate
teacher training in classroom computer use can be associated with higher stu-
dent achievement (Educational Testing Service [ET S], 1998, as reported in
Pierce, 1998). In the words of Pierce, “Not surprisingly, the [ETS] study found
that students whose teachers had been trained to teach with computers scored
RESEARCH RATIONALE
In the United States, significant resources have been expended to place com-
puters in the schools over the past two decades. According to a study by the
ETS, the total cost of technology in U.S. schools as of the late 1990s was ap-
proximately $3 billion, or $70 per pupil (Coley, Cradler, & Engal, 1998).
Many educators have reported their expert opinions of the effects of this influx
of technology on student learning; especially since the early 1990s, scholars in
the field have pointed out the need to address the issue of accountability in a
systematic sense. As plans are made for the increased use of technology, it is
important for policy makers, educators, and researchers to understand how
teachers and children relate to this technology (Martin, Heeler, & Mahmoud,
1992).
A major corollary of the accountability issue has to do with the proportion for
technology funds that should be spent on training. Data from a 1995 national
survey of school district technology budget allocations revealed that approxi-
mately 55% of technology money was being spent on hardware and 30% on
software. Teacher education accounted for only 15% of the allocated funds
(OTA, 1995). T he U.S. Department of Education has recommend that districts
allocate 30% of their technology budgets to staff development activities (OTA),
but a recent CEO Forum (1999) report suggests that progress toward this goal
has been slow:
Available data on computer training, which is only the most basic com-
ponent of overall technology training and education for educators,
suggests that the news is not good. In 1998–1999, schools project
they will spend $5.65 per student on computer training of teachers. In
comparison, schools expect to spend $88 on instructional hardware,
software, and connectivity in 1998–1999. Matched against the U.S.
Department of Education’s recommendation that schools allocate at
T he 1999 CEO Forum study also estimated that the $3 billion spent on tech-
nology in U.S. schools to date represents slightly more than 1% of total educa-
tion spending and that it will cost approximately $15 billion to make all our
schools “technology rich.” T his is approximately $300 per student, or approxi-
mately 5% of total education spending, and approximately five times what we
now spend on technology (CEO Forum). If the recommended 30% of this
$300 per student is allocated to teacher training, then approximately $90 per
pupil, or $1,800 per elementary school teacher with a class of 20, should be
budgeted for training. Such a large projected increase in funds allocated to tech-
nology staff development necessitates studies to determine what types of teacher
education and re-education lead to effective use of technology in the classroom.
What are the relationships among technology integration education of teach-
ers, their attitudes toward information technology, and their students’ attitudes?
Previous research has shown that positive attitudes are a precursor to effective
utilization. Verification of a positive effects of needs-based technology integra-
tion education on the attitudes of teachers and their students could influence
the way teachers are educated to use computers in the classroom. T he result
could be more effective use of funds for teacher education.
METHOD
Subjects
Sixty teachers in a suburban, public elementary school in north Texas received
needs-based instruction in the integration of computers into classroom learning
activities during the school year. T he education consisted of two days of inten-
sive training at the beginning of the school year with follow-up training
throughout the year (approximately once every six weeks). Two similar public
elementary schools in the same school district were used as comparison groups.
Educators at these schools received the normal district-level technology inser-
vice training, but not the needs-based technology integration education deliv-
ered at the treatment school.
T he treatment elementary school provided education for approximately 900
PK–5 students at the time of the study. T he population was 82% minority:
65% Hispanic, 10% African American, and 7% from other ethnic groups.
Among these students, 76.8% were eligible for free or reduced lunches under
U.S. Government Title I funding. Comparison group schools drew their stu-
dent populations from the same district. T he primary comparison group had
similar ethnic and socioeconomic demographics, while the secondary compari-
son group, which was closer in proximity, had a student population that was ap-
proximately 65% white, 17% Hispanic, 12% African American, and 6% from
other ethnic groups. T he secondary comparison site did not qualify as a Title I–
funded school because only 44.2% of their students were eligible for free or re-
duced lunches.
F1 (Enthusiasm) .96 15
F2 (Anxiety) .98 15
F3 (Acceptance) .75 4
F4 (E-mail) .95 11
F5 (Negative Effect on Society) .84 10
F6 (Classroom Learning Productivity) .90 14
F7 (Kay Semantic) .94 10
F8 (Vocation) .92 13
F9 (Prestige) .75 7
F10 (Teacher Productivity) .94 14
F11 (Aversion) .74 6
F12 (Gender Bias) .81 6
F13 (K& M Importance) .83 8
F14 (L& G Confidence) .83 6
F15 (Relevance) .89 10
F16 (P& P Enjoyment) .90 9
CASA (CAS Anxiety) .91 9
CASC (CAS Confidence) .81 10
CASL (CAS Liking) .89 10
CASU (CAS Understanding) .85 10
K& M Importance .81 7
K& M Enjoyment .84 9
K& M Anxiety .91 8
perimental items aimed at gathering teacher attitudes toward teaching with tech-
nology (see Appendix C online at www.iste.org/jrte). A training needs-assess-
ment instrument was also administered to the teachers at the beginning of the
study. Information from this survey was used to design the appropriate technol-
ogy instruction for these teachers. Teacher attitudes were gathered during three
testing periods for the study: time 1, September; time 2, January; time 3, May.
Students completed the YCCI during the first and third testing periods of the
school year. T he YCCI is a 59-item Likert scale with 18 paired comparison
items also included. T he Likert items measure six learning dispositions: Com-
puter Importance, Computer Enjoyment, Motivation/Persistence, Study Hab-
its, Empathy, and Creative Tendencies (Knezek & Miyashita, 1993). An addi-
tional subscale was added to measure students’ attitudes toward school. A more
complete description of the YCCI can be obtained online at www.iittl.unt.edu/.
RESULTS
T hree major hypotheses were explored in this study:
Analysis of Hypothesis 1
All teacher subjects from the three schools were combined for the initial
analysis of the data regarding Hypothesis 1. Teachers were divided into two cat-
egories: those who reported having received integration training (IT ) and those
who reported having received no integration training (No-IT ).
A one-way analysis of variance was performed using January data for the
treatment school and the two comparison schools combined and separating IT
and N-IT teachers. Teachers in the IT group scored significantly higher, p < .05,
than the No-IT group on 13 of 22 factors. T hese data are provided in Table 2
(p. 418).
A one-way analysis of variance comparing IT and No-IT teacher attitudes was
also performed using May data. Teachers who reported they had received inte-
gration training (IT ) had significantly more positive, p < .05, attitudes on all of
the teacher attitude subscales measured. T hese data are provided in Table 3 (pp.
419–420).
Table 2. Treatment Group and Comparison Group Teachers: Integration Training Versus No Integration Training, January 1997
& Canada) or 541.302.3777 (Int’l), iste@iste.org, www.iste.org. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 800.336.5191 (U.S.
418
Table 3. Treatment Group and Comparison Group Teachers: Integration Training Versus No Integration Training, May 1997
* Two-tailed.
jrte_344_guts.p65
Table 3, cont.
* Two-tailed.
jrte_344_guts.p65
Table 4. Treatment Group Teachers January to May on Integration Training Versus No Integration Training
Teacher subscale Time Means IT Means No-IT Difference between IT and No-IT Difference between January and May p
continued on p. 422
Table 4, cont.
Teacher subscale Time Means IT Means No-IT Difference between IT and No-IT Difference between January and May p
Teacher subscale Time Means IT Means No-IT Difference between IT and No-IT Difference between January and May p
Table 5, cont.
Teacher subscale Time Means IT Means No-IT Difference between IT and No-IT Difference between January and May p
Acceptance of Hypothesis 1
Data gathered in this study indicate that:
1. Teachers at the treatment and comparison sites who reported having received
computer integration education tended to exhibit more positive attitudes to-
ward information technology than their non-integration counterparts.
2. Teachers at the treatment site changed to a greater extent in the direction of
more positive attitudes than did their comparison group peers.
3. T he integration education delivered at the treatment site had a significant
effect on perceived computer importance (after controlling for frequency of
use), while the effects of training at the comparison site was negligible.
1
Currently I use the computer approximately __ hours per week in the classroom.
2
I use computers for instruction in the classroom: __ Daily, __Weekly, or __Occasionally
Analysis of Hypothesis 2
Trends in Classroom Use of Computers
A background question in May asked the teachers how many hours per week
they currently used computers and how many hours they had used computers
at the beginning of the school year.
For the treatment group teachers, 18 reported an increase in use, and 1 re-
ported a decrease in use. Out of the 10 teachers in Comparison Group 1 with
complete data, 9 reported an increase in computer use, whereas 1 reported a de-
crease. Out of the 12 teachers in comparison group 2 with complete data, 4 re-
ported an increase in computer use, 1 reported a decrease, and 7 reported no
change. Combining Comparison Group 1 and 2 subjects, the number of teach-
ers who increased in their use of technology for the comparison time period was
13 out of 22, as compared to 18 out of 19 teachers in the treatment group re-
porting an increase in use. Treatment group teachers were more likely than
comparison group teachers to report an increase in use of technology over the
course of the study.
Regression Analysis of Student and Teacher Attitudes Because of Training and Use
A regression analysis was used to examine the effects of computer use and
technology integration education on student attitudes. T he rationale for this
procedure was to take advantage of the ordered nature of computer use and in-
tegration education for added precision in measurement. Student Computer
Importance (I) and Enjoyment (J) were assessed as a function of teacher train-
ing and classroom use in May 1997. As shown in Table 7, only the amount of
teacher use (usenow and howoft) significantly influenced student Importance
(I) and Enjoyment (J) in a positive direction, p < .05.
Analysis of Hypothesis 3
Panel Analysis for Directional Effects of Student and Teacher Attitudes
Panel analysis (Markus, 1979) was used to determine probable causal relations
among student and teacher attitudes. Panel analysis is a form of time-lag regres-
sion analysis in which attitudes at one time are used to predict attitudes at a
Acceptance of Hypothesis 3
A series of panel analyses using time-lag regression analyses, similar to the
one diagrammed in Figure 1, confirmed the following with respect to probable
directional influences for teacher and student attitudes toward information
technology:
January May
(time 2) (time 3)
Teacher Teacher
(p
0. 02
<
10 9
Importance Importance
)
(TchI) (TchI2)
 = 1.65 (p < .00)
Figure 1. Panel analysis for directional effects of teacher and student Computer
Importance.
T hese findings, taken as a whole, led to the acceptance of the hypothesis that
positive teacher attitudes toward information technology foster positive atti-
tudes in their students. However, further research is needed to determine why
certain Likert scales (such as teacher anxiety) are in the opposite direction of
what might have been anticipated.
DISCUSSION
Directional Effects of Teacher and Student Attitudes
Students’ attitudes were affected by teacher attitudes toward information
technology in this study. Some of the linkages are direct, while other student at-
tributes appear to be indirectly impacted by teachers’ attitudes. For example,
there is a strong positive path from teacher training to teacher use,  = .20,
p < .02, and from teacher use to student Computer Importance,  = .32,
p < .003 (Figure 2). T hough some effects are not directly measured, there is
little doubt that the way teachers view technology affects the attitudes of their
students.
T here were also instances in which it appeared that student attitudes affected
their teacher’s attitudes. For example in the area of anxiety, higher Computer
Importance on the part of the students in January apparently fostered higher
levels of teacher anxiety in May. T his finding deserves to be studied in more de-
tail with a larger sample of teachers and students.
Stages of Adoption
Rubinyi (1989) reported the importance of a well thought-out training pro-
gram and the availability of follow-up support are crucial for successful adop-
tion. Russell (1995) developed a classification scheme that was used as the basis
of the Stages of Adoption form constructed for the current research.
Figure 2. Probable causal path from Teacher Training to Teacher Use to Stu-
dent Computer Importance.
Figure 3. Probable causal path from Teacher Training to Student Computer Im-
portance via Stage of Adoption and Teacher Computer Use.
3
Of the 17 skills measured, 13 were selected to analyze because they were introduced in the staff
development sessions delivered at the treatment school. Of those 13 skills, 10 were significantly
higher at the posttest than the pretest. Two of the non-significant skills were only mentioned and
not thoroughly covered. When looking at all 17 skills, 12 were significant. All 17 of the skills
moved toward more competence.
Contributor
Before earning her doctorate in information science at the University of
North Texas (UNT ), Rhonda Walker Christensen earned her BS in elementary
curriculum and instruction from Texas A & M University and her MS in com-
puter education and cognitive systems from UNT. She was previously an el-
ementary school teacher and is interested in technology integration develop-
ment of inservice and preservice teachers. Dr. Christensen is currently an
instructor of preservice educators in the Department of Technology and Cogni-
tion at the UNT. She is currently an evaluator for a U.S. Department of Educa-
tion Technology Innovation Challenge grant and also a U.S. Department of
Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT 3) grant. (Ad-
dress: Rhonda Christensen, University of North Texas, PO Box 311337,
Denton, T X 76203; rhondac@tenet.edu.)
References
Beasley, W., & Sutton, R. (1993). Integration of computers in schools: Three lev-
els of teacher expertise. Journal on Computing in Teacher Education, 9(4), 11–15.
Burkholder, J. (1995). An annotated bibliography of the literature dealing with
teacher training in the uses of the computer in education. (ERIC No. ED 260 696)
CEO Forum. (1999). Professional development: A link to better learning [On-
line document]. Available: www.ceoforum.org/reports.cfm?RID=2.
Christensen, R. (1997). Effect of technology integration education on the at-
titudes of teachers and their students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Uni-
versity of North Texas. Available: http://courseweb.tac.unt.edu/rhondac/.
Christensen, R., & Knezek, G. (1996, January). Constructing the Teachers’ At-
titudes toward Computers (TAC) questionnaire. Paper presented to the Southwest
Educational Research Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Christensen, R., & Knezek, G. (1999). Stages of adoption for technology in
education. Computers in NZ Schools, 11 (3), 25–29.