Teachers Technology in education

Link to article

Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in Technology-based classrooms: A Developmental View
Levin, Tamar and Wadmany, Rivka
Journal of Research on Technology in Education 39 (2) 157-181 2006

This three year study aimed to analyze how teacher's beliefs contribute to the level technology is incorporated in their classrooms. Those that beleive in a more student-centered and constructivist classroom are more supportive and try to implement technology in their class. However teachers that are more traditional and have a teacher-centered classroom are less likely to incorporate multiple levels of technologyin the classroom. One thing this study did touch upon was that a teachers belief system does not dictate the different levels of technology they use. For instance, teachers who believe in student-centered classrooms, while they may be more supportive of using different technology, may not employ this in practice. This study found that teachers can benefit from new experiences with technology and this can ultimately change how technology is used in the classroom no matter what the belief system is for that educator. Based on this article, I would pose the following 10 quesitons to a teacher about technology in the classroom.

1.What type of teaching style to you employ most of the time? (student-centered, constructivist etc)

2. What are your past experiences with technology?

3. Are their any workshops in the past that have contributed to your using technology in the classroom?

4. In an ideal situation, how would you want to use technology in the education setting?

5. How much access do you and your students have to computers?

6. Do you think you would benefit, or do you think it would be worthwhile, for teachers to have a professional development day where they get to gain practice with incorporating technology in their respective discipline and age groups?

7. Have you had any negative experiences with technology that may have inhibited your willingness to try new things?

8. If you were to use a class website, how do you picture it being used?

9. What are some negative things you have seen come from parents being able to access students grades and the like within hours of them being posted?

10. What are some of your goals for incorporating technology in the future?