Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-2000

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

E. Dale Doak

Committee Members

Colleen Gilrane, Gretchen Whitney, Mary Jane Connelly

Abstract

This study uses grounded theory methodology to develop a model of how a group of teachers integrate technology into their teaching practice. Unlike other studies that have looked only at exemplary examples of technology integration or at teachers in technology-rich schools, this study is concerned with how teachers in a single elementary school with typical technology resources make technology part of their teaching practice.

The study addresses the absence of the teacher's perspective in the literature on teaching with technology. It describes the experiences of a group of teachers working to integrate computer-related technology into the curriculum. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of how the teachers negotiate the discontinuities inherent in working to integrate technology in the classroom. The study examines the attitudes, knowledge, skills, dispositions, barriers and events, which shape and give meaning to their teaching experiences.

Teachers have historically been overlooked as knowledge producers; their perspectives have been deemed irrelevant. As a result, school reform often becomes a case of the outsiders telling the insiders (teachers) what to do. Within a qualitative/interpretive framework, this study privileges the teachersperspectiveIt assumes that teachers with experience teaching with technology have much to offer to an understanding of teaching with computer-related technology.

For the teachers at Blue Hills Elementary, the computer is part of their classroom environmentTheir experiences are characterized by four themes: resources or how each teacher sees the equipment available to them, scheduling or how each teacher creates room for technology in the classroom, support or how each teacher defines the assistance available to them, and teacher productivity or how each teacher addresses technology integration vs. time requirements.

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