EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Many states in the United States have developed technology goals to help provide each district guidance as they struggle to effectively implement technology in primary and secondary classrooms. In Florida the goal is to “empower educators with the skills necessary to integrate technology to improve students’ rates of learning” (Florida Department of Education, 2006, para. 4). Although the goal is technology integration, this has been defined in a variety of ways and defined differently by each district. While Hew and Brush (2007) define it as the use of computing devices for instructional purposes Darling-Hammond (2000) emphasize how teachers, through their lesson planning, impact the actual technology practices and effective integration in any school.

In this session, the presenters will discuss the results of their study to explore teachers’ perceptions of educational technology and its effectiveness in primary and secondary instruction. The investigation utilized a survey format to obtain primary and secondary teachers’ feedback. Students who were also primary and secondary teachers and enrolled in classes in the graduate education department of a small private liberal arts institution in the southeast (of the United States) were invited to complete an anonymous survey about their experiences and training using educational technology. Students were emailed a link to the anonymous online Qualtrics survey. The email explained the purpose of the research and that participation was voluntary. All responses were anonymous. The study sought to investigate the frequency and type of educational technology teachers utilized. In addition the researchers investigated the impact of technology integration in the teachers’ classrooms.