Where are we with technology integration?

In 2019, pre-pandemic shutdown, I delivered a conference session on integrating technology. I had previously conducted a study on this and published it later in 2019. I noted current studies at that time identified barriers to technology integration that were impacting teachers. My study revealed how administrators could get teachers over these barriers.

In a nutshell, I conducted a qualitative multiple case study in which I interviewed 3 groups of educators to determine how some teachers successfully overcame barriers to technology integration. Each case contained 2 or 3 teachers, 1 administrator, and 1 technology support person in one school in a rural northeastern district. The literature noted the use of technology engaged students and increased academic achievement.

Tamin et al. (2011) observed that the use of technology enhanced academic achievement in K-5 students, but the K-5 teachers faced attitudinal, social/cultural, and pedagogical barriers when they integrated technology for student learning. Although some teachers could overcome these barriers, it remains unclear how. It is known that barriers prevented teachers from integrating technology. These barriers can be described as two kinds of barriers. Ertmer (1999) claimed that first-order barriers were overcome in the USA, but second-order barriers were more tenacious. In hindsight from a safe social distance from pandemic learning, I think it is okay to say that first-order barriers persisted in 2020 in the USA.

The first-order barriers Ertmer (1999) identified were those external ones, or the availability of devices and connectivity. The second-order barriers were internal ones, or those attitudes that prevent teachers from integrating technology into their lessons. Now that most schools are back face-to-face, I wonder if those second-order barriers are rearing their proverbial heads? We are certainly not where we were in early 2019. Much has been done to bring devices and connectivity to all students across our nation. Do teachers still face barriers to technology integration? What do you think?

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.

Durff, L., & Carter, M. (2019). Overcoming second-order barriers to technology integration in K–5 schools. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 9(1), 17

Elliot, S., & Mikulas, C. (2012). Improving student learning through teacher technology training: A study of the effectiveness of technology integration training on student achievement. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, 1759–1766.

Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first-and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47-61. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02299597 ?

Saxena, A. (2017). Issues and Impediments Faced by Canadian Teachers while Integrating ICT in Pedagogical Practice. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 58–70

Tamim, R. M., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Abrami, P. C., & Schmid, R. F. (2011). What forty years of research says about the impact of technology on learning: A second-order meta-analysis and validation study.?Review of Educational Research,?81(1), 4-28.