"An Analysis of Teacher Concerns Toward Instructional Technology"

By Glenda C. Rakes and Holly B. Casey

http://www.ao.uiuc.edu/ijet/v3n1/rakes/index.html

International Journal of Educational Technology

Vol. 3, n1, November, 2002  [ISSN  1327-7308]

This article is a research study into teacher concerns toward instructional technology integration.  Its purpose is to identify teachers most pressing concerns and inhibitions toward technology use in their classrooms.  The study targets administrator and staff development trainers.  Data was collected from 659 PK-12 teachers using the Likert scale Stages of Concern Questionnaire to measure teachers' stages of concern from the "Concerns Based Adoption Model."

Major Points of the Researcher:

• Many teachers still do not integrate technology effectively into their classrooms.
• Many teachers may view technology as beneficial for simple skill acquisition.
• Teachers must not feel threatened by the technology if they are to integrate it.

Conclusions:

• Teachers tended to be more concerned with how technology would affect them or their role in the classroom (ego-centered), than they were with how technology works or wanting to learn more about it.
• The second highest concern showed that teachers are very concerned with what other teachers know and are doing in technology integration.
• The lowest level of concern was in the area of students relation to the technology integration.
• A concerns-based training model would be more effective than a skills-based training model.

This article reveals some interesting insights into why teachers have not integrated technology into their classrooms, even though the equipment, resources, and support have been provided.  I was intrigued with the notion that most teachers were more concerned with how technology integration would affect them personally rather than how it would affect their students.  Also, teachers' desire to know what is being done effectively with technology in other classrooms suggests to administrators that they begin to look at teacher fieldtrips, both on and off campus, as a method of helping teachers to overcome some of their concerns.