The Challenges Faced By The Principals ' Perception Of Technology Integration

Technology of the past 20 years has become a focal point of teaching and learning. As a teacher, it is my job to facilitate the learning for an individual by creating an environment that not only conducive for learning, but also places the child in a position to discover and learn them for themselves. Technology has given teachers to opportunity to take learning beyond the classroom, and has begun to reshape their role in the learning process.

The use of technology in today’s time continues to develop inside and beyond the classroom. Promoting technology in classrooms gives teachers the tools they need to connect with this digital media world; however, the challenge is how and when integration is useful. Many teachers currently do not have the technological fluency to accomplish the goals of the new national standards. The Common Core standards expect teachers to include technology in their learning to increase student achievement. It is important for all educational stakeholders to work together on the common goal of preparing our youth for the future. To acquire a better understanding of teachers and administrators’ attitudes toward technology integration, the following research question is developed: How does integrating technology in the classroom increase student achievement? The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of integrating technology in middle school classroom and the benefits of integrating technology in the classroom. This research investigated the effectiveness of the usage of technology in the classroom, student achievement of the use of technology, and teacher and principals’ perspectives of technology.

Since the beginning of the school, the teachers have been a very necessary asset for a school. In today’s world technology and teachers are seen as the biggest assets for a school system. The technology is a very important tool in the school system if it is applied and used correctly. The success of the technology is based on the teacher's use of the technology. All together teachers and technology go hand in hand in the roles of the students.

This paper is a personal technology plan that includes my personal philosophy on integrating technology in the classroom as well as my professional goals concerning technology in the classroom. My Mission and Vision Statement are included as well as a plan for communications, integrating technology, software to support assessment, and technology ethics for a strong guideline in the classroom. Although this plan will need to be revised as advances in technology are made this is strong ground work that I can build on as a professional educator. Using this plan I can ensure that my students are using the latest

The first set of questions were used to see what technology teachers use and how often they use them. The seven different devices that were surveyed are computers, smart boards, mobile devices, tablets/iPads, digital cameras, clickers, and televisions/projectors. Each device was rated based on use either daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or never. Using this data we can see which devices are used most and least by teachers. These charts also show us which devises teachers and students are most familiar with in the classroom. The most significant statistic from this first set of questions is that 91% of teachers use computers daily and weekly in the classroom (Fig.

The biggest problem with today’s education is how rapid technology is advancing. So rapid, in fact, that schools are attempting to keep up, but are sadly falling short. Teachers are being required to incorporate new technology into their everyday methods of teaching. The use of IPads or laptops in classrooms can be helpful to both teachers and students(edreform online classes)”. If a teacher is not overly familiar with the new devices, then the students will lose what little time they have to learn. As a teacher is attempting to fix technical problems in one class, the class that has a tech savvy teacher will be advancing far ahead. On the other hand, if a classroom is full of students who are very unfamiliar with the technology will have to be taught how to operate it, which wastes valuable time. In today’s society technology usage is so much more widespread than it was just five years ago. The new toys can allow schools to broaden their curriculum. Since most work can be done on a single device, kids can work at their own pace and potentially reach heights they could never reach with book, pen, and paper. The benefits of this new tech greatly outweigh the downsides. The biggest problem with technology in classrooms is their lack of use. So few schools have jumped on board with these programs, and therefore are holding their kids back. These products are readily available, but “the use of new technology

The results gathered were rather varied, however some common were identified. Many of the stakeholders indicated that they were unaware a school technology vision statement. Similarly, they expressed that they felt as though they were excluded from the process of creating the shared technology vision. Almost all of the participants that answered the survey felt that they had access to connectivity and devices whenever they needed. When it came to how confident they felt in utilizing and implementing these

From my very first observation I could tell that technology played a huge role in Ms. Felder-Way’s classroom. She found ways to integrate technology into almost every lesson. All of the students were assigned Chromebooks which were purchased by the district. In the classroom there was a SMART Board, two desktop

Although teachers have been the key persons who have played the most crucial role of introducing technology into learning, school administrators who serve as instructional leaders indirectly impact students’ learning environment. The administrators could enhance the instructional technology advancement by collaborating with teachers, providing training and resources,

The article 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals was about principals and their effectiveness in changing the technology culture within the school. The article begins by telling how that schools systems need use more technology and that often there are teachers on staff that want to do new initiative things in their classrooms but are being held back by school policy or staff that don’t want to change. Students are technology oriented and as school we need to reach the students and communicate the lessons to them on their terms. The article talked about how so many schools do not allow students to use their phones in the school. I understand the liability issues but are we truly preparing them students for the real world.

Demski, J. (2012, June; 2013/11). The seven habits of highly effective tech-leading principals: Un wrapping the key attributes that transform principals into effective technology leaders in their schools and in their districts. T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 39 (5), 48-55Dexter, S. (2011). School technology leadership: Artifacts in systems of practice. Journal of School Leadership, 21,

In “Technology in Today’s Classroom: Are You a Tech-Savvy Teacher?”, Stephanie Hicks successfully argues, using primarily logical evidence, that teachers should integrate technology into education. Hicks begins by stating, “In today’s classroom technology abounds and students are extremely tech savvy,” using this claim to justify the need for teachers to implement the use of technology (188). Her statement regarding students and their technological knowledge logically introduces the argument because of its easily observable nature. In addition, because students have a sense of familiarity and experience with computers, it follows that the use of such technology would suit their educational needs. Hicks begins her argument by countering the

The Paradise Valley Unified School District uses Chromebooks throughout all its schools K-12. The IT department has recently created Google Classrooms for all the teachers in the district to help with creating a more 21st century learning environment for students. However, the district is lacking in professional development around technology integration. This training

This year, Rancho Minerva Middle School who has 827 students and 40 teachers was granted the Digital Promise grant in which all the students were given an iPad and the opportunity to have internet data for their iPads at home through Verizon Wireless. That is when the thinking started, after hearing about all the amazing ideas and apps that Rancho Minerva was using to demonstrate that this new type of technology is actually the path to the future. It was quoted in Newman’s book “Sociology” that “we should recognize that we’re on a technological roller coaster and things are changing fast” (as cited in Belson, 2004, p. 14). Digital Promise has given this opportunity in Vista, CA to Rancho Minerva Middle School and the Vista Innovation and Design Academy, in Levittown, PA to FDR Middle School and Armstrong Middle School, in Raleigh NC to Carroll Leadership in Technology Magnet Middle School, in Evanston, IL to Chute Middle School and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School, and in Raleigh, NC to PreEminent Charter School. In Beeler’s article “Every School Has a Story” it is explained that this opportunity was given to the previously mentioned schools so that with the help of a coach certain goals can be set and then with their help an online guidebook will be made to show the victories, challenges, strategies and the lessons that have been taught and learned.

In order to implement an action plan that integrates technology and accommodates diverse student populations, I first create a shared vision using data gathered from observations, surveys, and interviews and researched literature and a Current Reality Report/SWOT Analysis report. The Current Reality Report/SWOT Analysis report demonstrates my ability to facilitate the design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology-infused strategic plans because I was able to design and develop a report using data from surveys and interviews from various stakeholders after evaluating the School District’s Three Year Technology plan as well as my school’s School Improvement Plan. Using the ISTE’s Essential Conditions for successful technology integration and the ISTE Lead & Transform Diagnostic Tool as a guide, I was able to determine that my school has weakness and threats that need to be