Running head: Technology in the Classroom !

Technology in the Classroom

Kelleth Chinn

California State University, Monterey Bay

September 12, 2017

IST522 Instructional Design

Dr. Jeanne Farrington


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Technology in the Classroom

Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, California has 22 classroom teachers and

approximately 570 students, grades K through 5. The school leadership, including the principal

(Jessica Cannon) and the Parent Teacher Association, has endeavored to increase the use of

technology is the classroom, with the goal of enhancing personalized learning. The underlying

philosophy behind this endeavor is that technology can help differentiate learning for students of

varying abilities and skills, and can also help teachers quickly identify learning gaps, with the

end goal of improving outcomes for all students. I am a 2nd grade teacher at Chabot, and I am

part of the technology leadership team, along with two other teachers.

The current use of technology in the classroom at Chabot is sporadic, and varies

from teacher to teacher. The initiative to increase the use of technology is not intended to set

requirements for how teachers implement it, but rather to increase it in a meaningful way school-

wide, and to provide support and resources for teachers to do so.

According to recent research and surveys of classroom teachers in the U.S., the

lack of training and support is a significant barrier to implementing technology in the classroom.

Approximately 60 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed feel that they do not have adequate training

to successfully use technology in their classrooms. (Roland, 2015) Up until now, there had been

no formal assessment at Chabot to determine the factors behind the current level of technology

use in the classroom, or the barriers preventing its growth. The technology leadership team

decided to use a needs and usage assessment for this purpose. I was tasked with creating a survey

to find out how teachers currently use technology in their classrooms, and why they use

technology to the extent that they do.

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I created a Google Form called “Teacher Tech Survey” and we asked all teachers

to complete the survey during a staff meeting. One question asked teachers to identify which

programs or apps they currently use in the classroom. A series of questions asked teachers to rate,

on a scale of 1 to 5, how much they agree with the following statements:

• I feel comfortable using technology in the classroom.

• I have adequate technical support and training to effectively implement technology in the

classroom.

• I have adequate hardware to effectively implement technology in the classroom.

• I have adequate software or apps to effectively implement technology in the classroom.

• I believe that technology can improve equitable outcomes for all students.

The results of the Teacher Tech Survey provided very useful data to help understand the

needs of teachers, with the goal of improving and increasing the use of technology in the

classroom. Fully 64 percent of teachers said that they somewhat disagree or strongly agree with

the statement “I have adequate technical support and training to effectively implement

technology in the classroom.”

The technology leadership team felt that it was important to dig deeper for more information

from to teachers who felt that they needed more support, so we followed up to personally

interview these teachers. Many expressed that they lack the time to learn to use new technology.

Two of them said that they feel intimidated by technology. Two others said that they are

interested in using technology, but that the logistics are too complex to use while teaching and

managing a large class of elementary school students.

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Twelve of the teachers responded that one of the conditions that makes it less desirable to use

more technology is the lack of hardware. Typically at Chabot, each grade level shares a cart of

Chromebooks, which houses enough computers for one class. So each teacher must share a cart

with two to three other teachers. While this sharing situation ostensibly provides enough access

for the needs of every teacher, the reality is that scheduling and the logistics of rolling the cart

from location to location impede access. While no teacher said that this was the only barrier to

increased use of technology, it definitely appears to be a mitigating factor. So this lack of

hardware is an issue that cannot be solved by training.

Another important consideration highlighted by the results of the survey is that not all grade

levels have a genuine need for technology in the classroom. In a follow-up interview, a

kindergarten teacher commented, “I feel that I simply have a lack of any vision at all for how

technology would enhance the learning and teaching in K. I don't want flashy/snazzy/exciting

tech - I want to know if tech can be gracefully incorporated in to the classroom to support K

curriculum.” Other kindergarten teachers also expressed this sentiment, and two 1st grade

teachers expressed it as well. It appears that the specific needs of K-1 teachers necessitates a

discussion about whether these teachers need a different kind of support/training, or whether

support/training is needed at all.

Nevertheless, the overwhelming evidence gathered from the survey and the follow-up

interviews indicated that the majority of teachers need and want more support and training.

Several teachers that we interviewed expressed the need for personalized training. One teacher

said “I just need someone to sit down with me and walk me through how it all works.” Others

echoed this sentiment. Many teachers said that online help documents or how-to videos don’t
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work for them, that they prefer small group or one-on-one training to help them learn how to do

something on a computer.

Perhaps very telling is the fact that 76 percent of teachers responded that they somewhat or

strongly agree with the statement. “I believe that technology can improve equitable outcomes for

all students.” Only one teacher indicated any degree of disagreement with this statement. While

this result indicates widespread support for the use of technology in the classroom, many of these

teachers felt that they are not receiving adequate training to use technology. Thus, one of the

central problems is not that teachers are unwilling or unenthusiastic about using technology, but

that they lack the support and training to use it. It would appear that we have very favorable

conditions at Chabot for successful training: a clearly defined objective, a lack of knowledge and

skills, and a willing, enthusiastic group of learners.

The directive to increase and improve the use of technology at Chabot, combined with the

need articulated by teachers for more support, makes a compelling case for offering a training

program. An important caveat is that not all teachers need training, and there is not a one-size-

fits-all training that will be useful to every teacher. As a result, our leadership team has decided

to start our training program with a professional development training session that features

breakout groups. Individual teachers can choose these breakout groups, and each group will

focus on one technology platform, such as Google Classroom, Khan Academy, or Flocabulary.

Teachers can also sign up for one-on-one or small group training sessions tailored to their

specific needs. We will follow up with additional group training sessions, subject to teacher

feedback. Our hope is that the focus on individual, personalized needs of teachers will help

make this training program a success. 


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References

Roland, J. “ISTE.” Empowering Teachers to Implement Technology-Driven Educational

Programs. 10 Jul. 2015. Web https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=569