Abstract:

Several barriers, both extrinsic and intrinsic, have been identified and these must be addressed by teachers in order to effectively integrate technology into their lessons. Ertmer (1999) described first order barriers (extrinsic) as those which are external to the teacher, i.e. hardware, software, administration and support. Second order barriers, are the intrinsic barriers specific to each teacher and these are related to their beliefs and attitudes towards technology and pedagogy. First order barriers are more easily tackled with appropriate administration and financial support. The main barriers for effective integration need to be addressed through professional develop (CPD) with an emphasis on authentic learning situations (Ertmer et al., 2012). In Ireland, there has been a deployment of 100Mb broadband to all secondary level schools since 2012. However, this has not been supported by a national strategy for the professional development of teachers to develop their technological pedagogical skills.

This research focusses on the integration of 1:1 technology in a lower secondary school in Ireland whom won a prize to receive devices for an entire year cohort of lower secondary students (102) and their teachers (51). As part of this prize, the school were supported in upgrading their infrastructure, devices were pre-loaded with appropriate software and e-books and a full-time IT technician was employed in the school.

Data has been collected from these teachers and students at several key stages during the deployment of these devices using questionnaires, classroom observations, interviews and work groups. All of the participating teachers have received professional development training on the classroom management software. In addition, all teachers identified the key needs and learning outcomes for their curricula (11 subjects) and received training on specific software and applications relevant to their subject.

However, despite the concerted efforts to address all of the key barriers, the actual level of integration in the school was quite low. An overview of all of the teacher’s beliefs and attitudes to 1:1 technology will be given. Only four teachers were identified as early adapters and collaborated with the researchers to develop pilot lessons. These lessons were observed by a researcher and the findings from these classroom observations will be discussed. Follow up focus groups discussions were conducted with the participating students and their opinions will also be presented.

References:
[1] ERTMER, P. 1999. Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47, 47-61.
[2] ERTMER, P. A., OTTENBREIT-LEFTWICH, A. T., SADIK, O., SENDURUR, E. & SENDURUR, P. 2012. Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59, 423-435.

Keywords:

1:1 Technology, Technology Integration, Case Study.