JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department

Name: ISMAIL UZUN

Date: 09/20/2016
Dogan, B., & Almus, K. (2014). School Administrators Use of iPads: Impact of Training and Attitudes
Toward School Use. Computers in the Schools, 31(3), 233250. doi:10.1080/07380569.2014.932660

INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically
mentioned, what is the theoretical background or overarching
theme):

1. What is the impact of the training process on school administrators use of iPads
for administrative tasks and personal organization in their professional duties?
2. What is the impact of the training process on school administrators beliefs
regarding how teachers should use iPads in the classroom?
3. Are there any differences in school administrators survey responses based on
gender, age, years of experience in school administration and education, highest
degree attained, school classication, or school size?
Purpose of the research:

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of receiving iPad training on
school administrators attitudes towards iPad use in their professional lives and in
the classroom by teachers. In order to determine potential impacts in this area, a
research study involving a training process, which included workshops, online
resources, and ongoing support, was designed. We developed this study based on our
experiences as a faculty member in the field of educational technology and as a
faculty member in the field of educational leadershipat a small private university
located in a southwestern metropolitan city

METHODOLOGY
What is the methodology for the research or approach used to
understand the issue? Provide information regarding the following:

Participants:
In this study, there were 51 elementary and secondary administrators. They were
working in one of the largest public charter school systems in a southwestern state
were the target population for the study. 30 of these participants were male and 21 of
them were female.
Procedures:
Participants in this study were contacted by email through the school systems
central office, after securing approvals from the school district and the university.
The initial communication included information on the purpose, structure, and
schedule of the research study along with information on training and resources to
be provided throughout the spring semester of the 20122013 school year.
Participants were asked to complete consent forms prior to the study as required by
the school district and the universitys Institutional Review Board (IRB). The study
was conducted February through May 2013. As researchers, we developed two
survey instruments as a mechanism to collect data, which were administered online
through the survey submission system hosted at the universitys server. The presurvey was administered at the beginning of the spring 2013 semester and the postsurvey was given at the end of the four-month study period. Both instruments were
reviewed for face validity by two education faculty members and then were piloted
using a group of school administrators in a local school district. Surveys were
finalized after the feedback on the pilot versions. Demographic information
collected on the pre-survey included age, years of experience as a school
administrator, years of experience in education, highest degree earned, school
classification, and school size. The pre-survey also included questions measuring if
and how school administrators were currently using their iPads for their daily
school-related tasks, their beliefs about the effectiveness of iPads for administrative
tasks, and if and how school teachers should be using iPads in the classroom.
Data Collection Methods/Data Source: This study started with presurvey. After that a training section. Topics were covered in this section. Then, Postsurvey.

Data Analysis:
The data analysis of this study is categorized into five main groups: analysis of
demographic and contextual data; impacts of the training process on school
administrators use of iPad and iPad applications; impacts of the training process on
school administrators beliefs regarding how teachers should use iPads in the
classroom; differences in participants responses by their demographic and
contextual data (gender, age, years of experience in school administration and
education, highest degree attained, school classification, and school size); and
evaluation of training process.
RESULTS
Findings or Results (or main points of the article):

The average age of school administrators who participated was 34.16 years. The
average years of experience in education was 8.45, and the average years of
experience as a school administrator was 2.04.
The average school size of participants was calculated as 618.50
All participants in this study owned an iPad. While 27.45% of participants
purchased their own iPads, the majority of the iPads (72.55%) were given to school
administrators by their school district. While all participants used Microsoft
Windows Vista, 7, or 8 as their computer platform, 52.94% used the iPhone (iOS) as
their mobile platform, followed by Android (37.25%), BlackBerry OS (1.96%), and
other (7.84%).
The majority of participants schools were classified as elementary, middle, and
high school (K12) (62.75%), followed by elementary and middle school (K8)
(19.61%), middle and high school (612) (9.80%), and elementary (K5)
(7.84%). Participants were also asked in the pre-survey about the highest level of
education that they had attained. According to the results, 50.98% of school
administrators held a bachelors degree and 49.02% held a masters degree.
School administrators were asked whether they used specific iPad applications for
work-related purposes. A majority of the participants (66.67%) Downloaded by
[76.31.198.76] at 18:17 03 November 2014 School Administrators Use of iPads 239
responded affirmatively to this question. These participants were further asked to
name the specific applications that they used. According to the results, Eduphoria
an iPad application used for Eduphoria Content Management System (CMS) with
modules designed for storing student data, district curriculum, resources, lesson
planners, and teacher appraisalswas the most commonly used iPad application, as
reported by school administrators. Analysis of the question, What is the best
feature of iPad in your experience?, revealed that being mobile was the most
selected response with 21.43%, followed by touchscreen (20.88%), being able to
use various applications (15.93%), compact and light (13.74%), digital camera

feature (10.44%), connectivity (9.89%), and camcorder feature (7.69%).

Participants were asked to rate their iPad knowledge and skills prior to and after
completing the training process. While 31.37% rated themselves as a beginner in
their iPad skills and knowledge, 64.71% of participants rated themselves as
intermediate, and 3.92% of the participants rated themselves as advanced prior
to the study.
To assess the impact of training on school administrators beliefs regarding how
teachers should use iPads in the classroom they were asked before and after the
training session to report their opinions on how teachers should be using iPads in the
classroom. Virtually all participants in both the pre-survey (98.04%) and the postsurvey (97.30%) stated that they would like to see their teachers using iPads for
teaching in the classroom. When school administrators were asked whether they
thought that computers used in the course would be replaced by iPads in the future,
76.47% of the participants in the pre-survey and 86.49% in post-survey responded
yes.
A majority (81.08%) responded that they would like to continue receiving training
and resources on the use of iPads for administrative tasks and teaching. Also, a
majority of school administrators found the training process useful (92% with
combined categories of very useful and useful)
After completing the training process, the percentage of participants rating
themselves as intermediate (70.27%) and advanced (10.81%) increased and the
percentage of participants rating themselves beginner (18.92) decreased. These
results suggest that, overall, the training process had a positive effect on the
development of iPad skills and knowledge. Analysis of a question measuring what
type of applications school administrators use the most on their iPads for workrelated purposes indicated that education was the modal response (23.84%).
Other popular answers for this question were communication and books and
reference applications, both at 11.92%. A similar trend was observed for responses
to the same question in the post-survey.
The education related applications were again the most selected response
(23.62%), followed by communication (12.60%), and books and reference
(12.60%). The same trend was observed for the remaining items in the post-survey,
except that there were increases in the participants responses with productivity
(4.64% in pre-survey vs. 7.87% in post-survey) and tools (5.30% in pre-survey vs.
7.87% in post-survey) related iPad applications
DISCUSSIONS

Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

First of all, according to this study, we can indicate that administrations need to get
training in order to be successful in using iPads for their duties. Using an iPad
enhance the efficiency of their duties.
As well as administrations, teacher and students also can get benefit from iPads for
their studies.
REFLECTIONS
Students Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications
for your school/work):
This study is about using technological devices in administrations duties. And it makes
their duties easier and more effective.
As well as using iPads in their duties, other technological devices are also useful for
administrations, teachers and students. Because, electronical tools facilitates the efforts of
all people.
Before this article, I had some concerns for using electronical tools because I have not
thought that those tools are reliable. However, the article recommends a training before
using a tool. I believe that after a professional training, I will not have any concern to use
any kind of electronic devices.

References;
Dogan, B., & Almus, K. (2014). School Administrators Use of iPads: Impact of Training
and Attitudes Toward School Use. Computers in the Schools, 31(3), 233250.
doi:10.1080/07380569.2014.932660