Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between teachers’
perceptions and integration of educational technology and various teacher characteristics. The
section will summarize the findings from the data collected from the quantitative technology
survey. The findings will be presented according to the order of the research questions that were
previously presented.
Research Question 1
What are teachers’ perceptions about educational technology?
Despite some positive and negative perceptions about the various educational technology
statements, participants’ overall feeling was close to agreement (3.80). Therefore, participants’
had a general positive feeling about educational technology.
They also had a very positive perception (4.4 / 5) of their willingness to learn about ways
to integrate educational technology. his average score indicates that teachers are willing to learn
about integrating educational technology. Nonetheless, without adequately training teacher on
technology and integration, technology can only play a limited role in student learning and
success (Overbay et al., 2010). Researchers have found that effective technology integration
cannot occur without administrative support (Keengwe et al., 2008; Lu & Overbaugh, 2009;
Pierce & Ball, 2009; Schrum et al., 2011). Technology integration can only be as strong as
strong as the professional development support and leadership provided by the administration
(Brown-Joseph, 2010; Schaffhauser, 2009).
Indeed, participants felt as if technology integration was a not as a high priority for
administrators. The lack of technology integration being a high priority for administrators may
stem from inadequate training. Lu and Overbaugh (2009) explained that the lack of technology
training for administration could have devastating effect because administrative support and
knowledge is vital for teachers’ success.
Additionally, teachers need to be included in decisions about technology because teachers
are at the forefront of educational reform (Wachira & Keengwe, 2011). Nonetheless,
participants were willing to integrate technology into classroom instruction. The adoption of
classroom technology largely depends on teachers’ beliefs and perceptions about personal
benefits and the ability to extend learning (Project Tomorrow, 2012).
Research Question 2
What are teachers’ current levels of educational technology integration?
The data of technology integration is indicating that participants do not integrate
technology often. The overall average score for technology was a 1.95/4, which is rated as
rarely. The data also indicated that when participants do utilize educational technology, with
their student learning activities, technology resources are used with low-level applications.
Researchers have indicated that inadequate access will causes teacher to become reluctant for
integration and occasionally give-up on integration all together (Hutchison & Reinking, 2011;
Keengwe et al., 2008; Lu & Overbaugh, 2009; Martin, 2011; Pac, 2008; Wachira & Keengwe,
2011). Therefore, teachers must be able to overcome these barriers before they are able to use
technology resources effectively (An & Reigeluth, 2011).
Access is important, but not a guarantee of effective use of educational technology. When
compared previously in Table 13 it was clear that NCES participants do a much better job
integrating technology resources for student learning even though my participants have
technology resources readily available. Previous literature indicated that inadequate training is a
major barrier for teachers trying to integrate technology into classroom instruction (An &
Reigeluth, 2011). Additionally, when teachers face perceived barriers in technology integration
they are more likely to become frustrated and stop trying to utilize the technology (Miranda &
Russell, 2011; Wachira & Keengwe, 2011).
Using low level activities instead of authentic learning collaborations has a small impact
on individual classrooms; however, when applied to the whole district, it creates a huge impact
on student learning and achievement (Miranda & Russell, 2011). Teachers need to shift their
instructional practices to include authentic learning experience such as constructivism because
researchers are discussing that constructivism is the best learning theory for students (Overbay,
Patterson, Vasu, & Grable, 2010; Powell & Kalina, 2009). Constructivist learning approaches
provides students with deep, rich, and authentic learning experiences (Fox-Turnbull & Snape,
2011), which make information easier to apply and recall (Powell & Kalina, 2009).
Research Question 3
What is the relationship between a teacher’s gender and their perceptions of educational
technology?
Each gender score highest on various statements. However, male participants scored
higher than female participants (3.73 vs. 3.59, respectively). In other words, male participants
had a better/higher overall perception of educational technology than female participants.
Research Question 4
What is the relationship between a teacher’s gender and their educational technology
integration?
The data on gender and integration revealed that male participants have more technology
available and the integrated these resources more so than female participants did. Male
participants scored higher on about 65% of the available resources and integration pieces than
female participants did.
Research Question 5
What is the relationship between a teacher’s age and their perceptions of educational
technology?
This question can be answered using patterns or trends and Spearman rank-order
correlation coefficients. This information was verified both by patterns and trends and
mathematically. While the data yielded an encouraging finding that the four oldest participants
had an overall positive view of technology, the trends observed in the descriptive statistics were
confirmed by the correlation. There was a negative correlation between participants’ age and
how they perceived educational technology. In other words, the older the participant, the less
favorable feeling they have about technology.
Research Question 6
What is the relationship between a teacher’s age and their educational technology
integration?
Technology integration and participant age does not seem have a dominate age group for
integration. This conclusion was established from the patterns, trends, and a Spearman rankorder correlation coefficient. Berry (2011), Brunk (2008), and Inan and Lowther (2010)
conducted technology experiments and they found that age did not seem to play a role in
determining the amount of technology integration, which verified the results of this study.
Research Question 7
What is the relationship between years of teaching experience and a teacher’s perceptions
of educational technology?
Even though there were no distinct patterns or trends, using a Spearman rank-order
correlation coefficient, mathematically there is a negative relationship between years of teaching
experience and perception. In other words, the more years of teaching experience a teacher has,
the less favorable their perception of educational technology. Other researchers have also found
that there is a negative correlation between age and technology integration (Lee & Tsai, 2010;
Inan & Lowther, 2010).
Research Question 8
What is the relationship between years of teaching experience and a teacher’s educational
technology integration?
Coupled with the fact there were no distinct patterns and the Spearman rank-order
correlation coefficient indicated no relationship: there is no relationship between teachers’ years
of teaching experience and technology integration.
Research Question 9
What is the relationship between a teacher’s subject area and their perceptions of
educational technology?
Participants who teach core subjects have a slightly higher average overall perception of
educational technology than participants who teach non-core subjects (3.62 and 3.59,
respectively). Additionally, core teachers were 17% more passionate about not wanting
educational technology to go away than non-core teachers.
Research Question 10
What is the relationship between a teacher’s subject area and their educational technology
integration?
The closeness of scores that existed in perception between core and non-core subjects
continued to be present regarding integration. If we view technology integration as a whole,
there is no relationship between the subject being taught and the amount of technology
integration. In other words, there is not a relationship between the subjects teachers teach and
the amount of technology integration.
Research Question 11
What is the relationship between a teacher’s grade level and their perceptions of
educational technology?
The overall technology perception scores indicated a positive association between grade
level and perceived educational technology. In other words, teachers who teach higher-grade
levels, tend to have a more positive perception of educational technology than participants who
teach lower grade levels. These findings align with the information found in Pac’s (2008) study.
Pac’s study showed that 90% of high school teachers had a strong positive perception of
educational technology and that technology plays an important role promoting student learning
within the classroom.
Research Question 12
What is the relationship between a teacher’s grade level and their educational technology
integration?
Overall technology integration scores were calculated to help provide an overall answer
for research question 12. The overall integration scores also indicated a positive association
between grade level and technology integration. In other words, the higher the grade level for
participants, the more technology integration the participants used. Therefore, this data reveals
that the higher the grade level, the more technology students use to perform various activities.
These findings align with Lu and Overbaugh’s (2009) study of 177 K-12 teachers. In contrast,
this was contradicting Pac’s (2008) study. Pac’s study indicated that availability and access
seemed to be more of a problem with teachers from upper grade levels than lower grade level
teachers. Different samples will often yield different findings, and that is why it is important to
make data-driven decisions based on local research such as this study.
Research Question 13
What is the relationship between a teacher’s highest level of college attainment and their
perceptions of educational technology?
A negative relationship was determined between educational level and perception. In
other words, higher technology perceptions are from participants with bachelor’s degrees and
lower perceptions are from participants with professional degrees.
In other words, participants with the lowest level of degree (bachelor) had the best perceptions of
educational technology. These findings contradict Brunk’s (2008) study of 148 participants.
The study indicated that educational level and other factors do not play a role in determining the
level of technology integration.
Research Question 14
What is the relationship between a teacher’s highest level of college attainment and their
educational technology integration?
The data showed a positive relationship between integration and education level. In other
words, the higher the participant’s degree, the more technology he or she integrated.
Summary
In general, teachers perceptions are primarily positive with little to no differences on the
characteristics of age, experience, subject, grade-level, nor educational attainment. Teacher
perceptions were somewhat more positive for higher grade-level and male teachers. In terms of
actual integration of technology, the overall sentiment was negative with again no differences for
age, experience, and subject. Again teacher integration was somewhat more positive for higher
grade-level and male teachers. In addition, more educational attainment was positively
correlated with integration. This is surprising given the above finding that perception was
negatively correlated with educational attainment. In conclusion, the findings show that teachers
have positive perceptions of technology, negative levels of integration, and very few
characteristics have minimal influence on this situation. The research findings cited also note that
there is slight to no influence, sometimes with results that are opposite for different samples.
This makes sense because of the wide variability across the United States and points to the
importance of research-based decisions. It will be a pleasure to tell administrators that everyone,
regardless of their demographic categories, have a positive perception of educational technology
and want assistance to integrate it into their classrooms more.
Overall Technology Perception
Participants had a general positive perception of educational technology (3.80). The data
revealed negative trends between age, experience, and the level of educational attainment. The
data also revealed a positive trend between perception and teachers grade level. Lastly, male
participants and teachers from core subjects had higher perceptions. Therefore, male teachers
who are 20-29 years old, have 1-9 years of teaching experience, have bachelor’s degree, and
teach high school core classes have the best perception of educational technology. In other
words, these characteristics are potential predictors of positive educational technology
perception.
Overall Technology Integration
The data indicated that teachers do not integrate educational technology, regardless of the
different ways we looked at the data. However, the only relationship that existed was a positive
relationship with grade level. The only other standout teacher characteristic was gender. Male
participants used educational technology resources considerably more than female participants.
However, the other teacher characteristics of age, years of teaching experience, educational level,
and teaching subject did not have any standout results. Therefore, age, years of teaching
experience, educational level, and teaching subject are not considered potential predictors for
demonstrative technology integration in this sample of teachers from this county at this time.
In terms of moving forward from this data analyses, there are two primary themes: teachers are
eager to learn about technology and teachers are not using technology that they have to its
greatest potential. These are both good findings because teachers will be receptive to my
professional development project and I know exactly what to help them with. While Table 46
above did an excellent job of bringing together the findings from the study, many of which found
no or slight differences between groups of subjects. While this may be perceived as a drawback
of the study, indeed it is a great success. The data showed that age, education level, years of
teaching experience, and level of educational attainment were not barriers to teachers learning of
technology. Differences in gender and grade level indicate that works needs to be completed to
reduce the gap between these two characteristics.
In conclusion, the overall perception of educational technology within this particular
county during the fall of 2013 was positive. Teachers indicated being very willing to further
their knowledge and understanding of technology integration by enrolling in professional
development. The fact that teachers are willing to further their technology knowledge is crucial
because the participants do not use technology, as they should. Additionally, when teacher do
use technology for student learning, the data indicated that students were presented with lowlevel applications instead of authentic learning experiences. This provided a very clear direction
for creating a professional development project for this country. It has a great likelihood of
being a rousing success.