Investigating How Participation In a Techonology-Based Project Has Influenced Education Faculty Members' Beliefs and Practices with Technology Integration: Factors That Influence Faculty Technology Integration and Implications for Faculty's Integration of Technology

• Main Author: Wang, Li
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2002
• Subjects: technology curriculum; faculty learning
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/5; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=td

This qualitative research study investigated the experiences of five education faculty members about their experiences with technology. These faculty members come from different areas of education. They participated in a technology-based project, the purpose of which was to help faculty members integrate technology into their classrooms and implement technology in their instructions. Before the project, all of the faculty members had experiences with technology, such as emails, Internet searches and PowerPoint applications. During the project, most of them learned web page design and more technology integration into their curriculum and instruction. The purpose of this study is to respond to the need to identify, study and disseminate examples of technology using teachers and portray a group of education faculty members after they experienced a federally funded technology-based project. Their practices, beliefs, and factors that influence their beliefs and practices with technology integration are the focus of this study. Based on the literature and the research studies, the following questions were formulated in the following: 1. How has participation in the technology-based project influenced faculty members' beliefs and practices with technology integration? 2. What are the factors that influence faculty members' practices regarding technology? The findings are the following. All participants have always believed that technology is an important tool and should be integrated into the teaching and learning. However they believe that technology is not the only tool that can be used to enhance teaching and learning. Their experienced in the grant project have increased their confidence and comfort in using technology by being exposed to presentations and having real hands-on activities within a certain time period that did not conflict their academic calendars. Factors that influence their beliefs and practices are: experiences in the project, access to technology and technical problems, Administrative support (from the department and project directors) and technical support: from the students, from faculty, from technician, technological leadership, communication within the community and outside, time, and subject Issues. Internal factors identified include personal belief, personal feelings with technology use, demand of time to learn, learning style, and classroom teaching.