~Interview
Interview: Barriers to Technology Integration
Interviewer: Diana Wilkes January 21st, 2012
Interviewee 1: Technology /Secondary Maths Advisor
Interviewee 2: Primary Advisor
When: 9am and 2pm Sunday 22nd January, 2012
Where: Kuwait, Kuwait
Media: Audio recorded f2f interview on iPhone
Context of Interviewee 1- Technology/Maths Advisor
UK trained- teacher for 16 years and advisor for 6 years (secondary) teaching and advisory maths, IT and ICT. Early adapter of technology/computers and believes in the power of ET to engage. Currently working with 14 Maths and ICT teachers from Y5-12 (across three schools) who use the British National Curriculum.
Context of Interviewee 2- Primary Advisor
NZ trained at the Dunedin College of Education- teacher for 16 years (ages 4-9 years) and advisor for 3 years (ages 4-11 years) in all curriculum areas. Enjoys integrating IT although recognizes the challenges. Currently working with 18 primary teachers Years 1-4 in an International School using the UK National curriculum.
| Context of Interviewee 1- Technology/Maths AdvisorUK trained- teacher for 16 years and advisor for 6 years (secondary) teaching and advisory maths, IT and ICT. Early adapter of technology/computers and believes in the power of ET to engage. Currently working with 14 Maths and ICT teachers from Y5-12 (across three schools) who use the British National Curriculum. | |
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Context of Interviewee 2- Primary Advisor NZ trained at the Dunedin College of Education- teacher for 16 years (ages 4-9 years) and advisor for 3 years (ages 4-11 years) in all curriculum areas. Enjoys integrating IT although recognizes the challenges. Currently working with 18 primary teachers Years 1-4 in an International School using the UK National curriculum. |
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| Setting the tone…“technology like the IWB is not a magic carpet that will solve classroom management problems”“Technology is an absolute necessity because everything that the students do for the rest of their lives will be impacted by technology, you know the kind of mobile phones that they have, you know it’s constantly evolving, and they need to be up with the play so the sooner we introduce it into classrooms in an interactive way the quicker they can get their hands on it and function with it later on in life… they are at a disadvantage if they are not exposed in terms of readiness, for further study and out in society”“the teachers are very keen, one teacher today used her personal laptop for a group rotation activity in Science, they may be tentative in terms of not being quite so tech savvy perhaps as some students in the class are but I think they can see the benefit of it”
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Although there are many barriers which are elaborated on below, most of the teachers are keen in these schools but they are lacking equipment and training. The advisors though hired for subject expertise and pedagogical skills are also tech savvy and one of the deliverables is to increase the integration of technology schoolwide. |
| Equipment and Resources- don’t have=can’t do and some wishful thinking…“Integrating IT is always a challenge, especially with lack of resources but the students enjoy it, they find it active and interactive”“Most challenges are to do with hardware, one laptop for 30 students just won’t do! and internet access, reliability of internet and also the teacher’s knowledge. It has been a discrete subject not viewed as something to integrate….”
‘we need an IWB to interface with a computer, using appropriate software, great for measuring angles, we don’t need laptops or computers as much as we need the IWB…my second priority would be a number of laptops/PCs, the more the better but it can become a distraction and hand out only as needed’ ‘technology isn’t a necessity but it is a benefit for sure, lack of technology is the barrier- there is a limited number of projectors, personal computers, some graphic calculators in older grades, discrete labs have at least one computer for two’
“I think I’d have a pod of laptops/iPads, though kids still need to be able to use a PC, a Smartboard, some Beebots to apply skills and knowledge, and internet connectivity… this contextualizes learning, allows learning in a range of ways, seeing things, hearing things, doing things and experiencing more which lends itself to group work and collaboration”
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Both advisors acknowledged that the school is not equipped to integrate ICT. There is a general sense that the students and teachers enjoy teaching and learning with technology but how much of this is novelty?There is still this aura that teaching with technology will revolutionize the teaching and learning.
Scared of the technology breaking- what is Plan B?! Reliability of the internet is always a worry.
The wishful thinking wasn’t extravagant- which highlights how little there is- as the advisors both believe than a pod of computers and an IWB are the minimum requirements for good IT integration but there was little mention of using the technology that a lot of the students have already (perhaps that is because mobile phones are banned in the schools). The general sense is that technology will heighten exposure of the 5 senses and ENGAGE the learners. |
| Rate of Change- the tortoise or the hare?‘the rate of change is too slow. We know students learn better because they are more engaged with it… the engagement and the task specific software and the teacher using different programs and putting the preparation in, since that is key to quality teaching’“we must be careful not to put the equipment in to quickly with great expectations of integration, the teachers need exploration time and training to feel comfortable- we are talking about some ladies who didn’t email until Technology Day! … if it is used well the students are more focused and learn better, I mean if there is a teacher at the front holding a laptop it isn’t effective but with good and sufficient quantities of hardware/software the potential is huge, students will learn in a more contextual way and the scope is broader and online resources are great motivators”
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The pace of change is too slow but Interviewee 2 cautions that we can’t rush into technology either. Time to train and explore is essential to teachers desire to integrate. |
| Teacher Turnover=lost resources, the question of Teacher Training“no teacher training is provided and any skills they do have, and some of them are quite tech savvy, come from their own exploration or husbands leading them down that path”“new teachers should definitely be trained and they should have at least the basics MS, being able to find their way around the internet, searching effectively and finding age-appropriate resources, wider range of technology not just PPT, some enjoy taking photos to make learning stories or using a sequence of pictures to show students the life cycle of plants- kind of like a slowmation… some would cope really well and the recent Technology Day of workshops was useful but the teachers need to practice what they learned before they forget!”‘we (advisors) have to make it relevant and current to motivate the teachers to want to learn it’
‘teachers must be trained to integrate whatever is there or willingness to learn and then we train them up and they move on to another school- but that’s the international school cycle isn’t it?’
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Whose responsibility is teaching training? Is it the school or the individual teacher? What to do about teachers who are afraid of the change? Some teachers still fear that the technology may one day replace the human teacher and blended learning is the first step in that eventuality. Teacher training institutions have an obligation to emphasize the importance of integration and staying current- not just teaching student teachers one cool new technology.Without training the technology is used as an add-in rather than as part of a learning process.
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| Pedagogy- changing the way we think about teaching (student centered)“technology has to change the pedagogical approach to teaching because it has gone from a teacher at the front telling students where to find stuff, and that is still there to a point as the teacher needs to be there to guide the use of that technology but it is becoming more student centered as the students apply these skills to use the programs”‘students are disadvantaged without it and it does promote student centered learning but it has the unfortunate effect of reducing the pace of the lesson while it encourages teamwork…the danger is it can become the teacher show, but if used right, in a good learning environment the technology allows exploration and celebration of successes… it will be a different avenue to approach the lesson’ | Teachers fear they need to throw everything else out ‘baby with the bathwater’ but it is about using technology to enhance not replace. The big triumph is when teachers realize that when they integrate IT effectively they are also often moving towards a more learner centered classroom. The advisors caution against the ‘teacher show’ where the IWB becomes a teacher toy and the students die by PPT. Training on how to use IT the ‘right’ way is critical to success and student achievement gains. |
| Leveller“it does because it caters to those who aren’t pen n paper kids and gives them the opportunity to explore a range of different avenues‘something I don’t like about that, levelling, it almost appears that we want to bring down the tops ones and bringing up the bottom ones and put them all in the same place and everything’s peachy, I don’t think it is as simple as that at all it is more about giving the students the opportunity to experience success where they might not do so before and may engage students in a different way’ | Opportunity to differentiate but more importantly for some student to achieve successes. |
Interview Questions used:
Context…
1. How long have you been teaching for?
2. What courses have you taught that involve technology?
3. Do you enjoy integrating technology? Why or why not?
Technology & Education…
1. Regardless of your current situation do you think technology is a necessity in education?
2. What are some challenges you face when integrating technology your classroom(s)?
3. When you use/have used technology do you feel that students are more engaged/focused? Do they learn more or better? Elaborate.
4. Did you receive technology PD in your teacher training? If so what?
5. Do you think new teachers coming into the profession should be technologically trained? Why or why not?
6. Does the use of technology change your pedagogical approach to your lessons? How so?
Your technological vision…
1. What technology upgrades does your classroom need and explain your choices.
2. What would your ideal classroom technologically look like?
3. How does this ideal classroom enhance learning and increase student achievement?
4. How do these choices enhance scientific learning and development of skills?
5. Does technology level the playing field in terms of student needs/successes?