Technology in the Classroom

Only limited quantitative, pre-experimental studies are available on integrating wireless computing through the use of wireless laptops into rural public school curriculums (Moore, 2009). The research problem in this study will focuses on some reasons teachers do not widely use wireless laptops (Skevakis, 2010) in the institutional and learning setting effectively. Available technology remains an unused resource because many teachers feel that viewing intensely at their pedagogy and inquiring whether the existing curriculum is engaging enough to teach with wireless laptops effectively (Teo, 2009; Skevakis, 2010; Weston &ump; Bain, 2010). By and large, teachers, students, and stakeholders can benefit from this technology through collaborative measures, advancing teacher-students literacy development (Suhr, Hernandez, Grimes, &ump; Warschauer, 2010), using data driven tasks, administering cross curriculum running records, promoting explorations, and facilitating assessments. Teachers can use wireless laptops to teach students to generate and analyze their own data during inquiry learning (Kervin &ump; Mantei, 2010; Skevakis, 2010). Students with access to wireless laptops also have added aids at hand for creating products that illustrate mastery of introduced concepts (Zucker &ump; King 2009). To determine teachers need for ongoing training to incorporate wireless computing, I will use the teachers responses from the TAS. Nature of the Study Teachers' overall attitude toward adapting a set method with applying wireless laptops in the instructional practices will hypothesize a key determinant of the nature of this quantitative, preexperimental study. In this study, the reason why teachers do not widely and effectively use available technology such as wireless laptops in K12 classrooms will be examined. I will investigate whether the selected rural K12 school district and teachers are curious and eager to learn new ways to incorporate wireless technology that provide additional teaching opportunities. The researcher will use a pre experimental, quantitative study, which has a cross-sectional web-based, five point Likert-scale survey entitled the Technology Attitude Scale (TAS). The TAS will be administered to collect data during the course of this study. Subsequently, the TAS questionnaire is an adapted version of Swan and Dixons (2006) model. The results of the TAS will be analyzed using an experimental and non experimental sample to establish teachers attitudes about wireless technology in the instructional practice. The survey provides and shows the reliability of .92 and showed a proven validity tested through statistical analysis. Swan and Dixon (2006) used the TAS to examine any correlation between teachers attitudes towards technology and the use of such technology in their study. In this study a convenience sample instead of a random sample of teachers in a rural southeast Georgia school district will be used because teachers are both accessible and willing to participate.

Accessibility and willingness to participate are characteristics of a convenience sample (Leedy &ump; Ormrod, 2010). The use of a convenience sample also ensures that individuals who might be left out of a random sampling will be included; thereby avoiding a situation that creates unrepresented minorities (Smith &ump; Ganju, 2007; Straus, 2009). In addition, the study will apply quantitative measures to generate numeric quantifiable concrete analyses (Deeptee and Roshan, 2008; Leedy and Ormrod, 2010) of the findings. This study will sort to distinguish a concrete analysis between the measurements found and the natural abilities of teachers using available technology during instruction. From those measurements and descriptions, the researcher will design an online support network (Snider, 2009) as an instructional resource. A professional learning network will assist K12 teachers with integrating available technology effectively in the classroom. Access to professional learning resources will encourage teachers confidence through the use of available technology and help with any possible technophobia. Research Questions and Hypotheses In this study, the proposed research question is: Do teachers' attitudes towards technology, including their eagerness and curiosity to use it in their teaching, impact the integration of wireless laptops into their instructional practices? The hypotheses are: H01: Teachers attitudes towards technology, including their eagerness and curiosity to use it in their teaching, do not impact the integration of wireless laptops into their instructional practices. HA1: Teachers attitudes towards technology, including their eagerness and curiosity to use it in their teaching, impacts the integration of wireless laptops into their instructional practices. Teachers attitudes towards technology, including their eagerness and curiosity to use it in their teaching, are the independent variable; impacts the integration of wireless laptops into their instructional practices is the dependent variable. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this quantitative, pre-experimental study is to investigate whether XYZ teachers are curious and eager to learn new skills in using wireless technology that provide additional teaching opportunities during the 2010- 2011 school term in a south Georgia rural school district. The available classroom technology includes inquiry-based software, online learning activities, software management systems, shareware programs, learning networks and wireless laptops. As noted previously, in the school that will be the study site, wireless laptops are not used in the classroom despite the availability of technology resources. Current scholars have discussed substantial amount of theories concerning why teachers are not using the technology resources accessible affectively in their instructional practices (Gruba, Clark, Ng &ump;

Wells, 2009; Koehler &ump; Mishra, 2009; Phelps &ump; Maddison, 2008; Shuler, 2009). To construct a profile of the way teachers perceive technology, the researchers will use a survey based on Swan and Dixon's (2006). Thus, this research will assist teachers with the use of an existing technology (Moore, 2009) while following state standards, expanding teaching content, and encouraging the integration of wireless laptops into classroom instruction (Skevakis, 2010). A more detailed discussion is in chapter 3. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework for integrating wireless laptops involves the theory of social constructivism (SC). Dewey (1916/1997), Papert (1993/2000), Piaget (1932/1997), and Vygotsky (1978/1981) are the noted developers of the SC theory. The theory of SC underlies building collaborative relationships between teachers and their students. Technology into the classroom illustrates SC because technology produces a network of social learning agents. Paperts (1993/2000) prediction of computers transforming education plays an influential role with the demands on K12 schools to integrate wireless computing in the instructional setting. According to Moses, Khambari, and Luan (2008), wireless computing can have a strong impact on teachers uses by enlarging the likelihood of technology integration in teaching-learning. Thus, teachers must first develop understandings of effective use of technology in socio-technical structures (Vaatrapu, 2008), accepting the technological demands, and developing strategies to use available technologies in their instructional routines. In others words, teacher must understand the core of teaching traditional cross curriculum concepts with technological resources. Teachers need training to utilize wireless laptops technology, promote social interaction and reinforce students cognition skills effectively (GaDOE, 2008). The use of an instructional training method with established validity and noted premises will apply SC to assist teachers with classroom technology integration. Teachers need to be trained to teach with existing technologies, acquire skills through social meaning, cross-curricular instructional and SC approach. Applying the underpinning of cross-curricular instructional and SC approach will help develop a guide to pedagogical training approaches to assist teachers with classroom technology integration. SC suggests the social construction of reality will necessitate the use of instructional models that promotes collaborative learning, encourage the process of using existing knowledge structure, and provide differentiating learning opportunities (Stanford, Crowe, &ump; Flice, 2010). The SC Theory promotes the contrast of the banking theory of learning in which teachers fill impressionable students with knowledge, active and independent learning using internal references to prepare learners with the confidence needed to carry knowledge beyond the classroomor beyond the lesson in the studyinto the world (Beck &ump; Kosnik, 2006; Vatti, 2008). SC promotes teaching with a curriculum model that requires learners to play an active role (Piaget, 1932/1997) through a social context and differentiated instructional approach that allows learners to discover new knowledge (Bulunuz, 2007; Ryu &ump; Parsons, 2009; Weston &ump; Bain, 2010). The SC theory suggests the use of effective approaches in instructional practice through shared understanding between teacherteacher, teacher- student, or student-student (Niess et al., 2009), building an empathetic relationship of

participants as actors (Vantrapu, 2009) socially through a constructivism learning network. Applying these analytical areas will promote building a relationship between prior traditions methods and new ideas involving technology with tradition (Dockery, 2007). Through this framework teachers can begin to build a new foundation of knowledge (Skevakis, 2010) based upon methodologies that merge technology with tradition (Dockery, 2007). With the use of the SC approaches coupled with the TAS, a better determination can be made about the potential success and effectiveness a professional learning support network would have on educator attitudes towards technology (Wayne, Yoon, Zhu, Cronen, &ump; Garet, 2008). Evaluating the extent of the relationship between teachers attitudes towards technology and level of application will assist with designing professional learning needs. Although this framework was originally designed by McFarlane, Hoffman, and Green (1997) in their evaluation of the technology attitude (EOTTA), the EOTTA/TAS has been discussed by researchers over in both health care and educational fields. For example, researchers Ward, Pollard, Glogowska, Glogowska, and Moule (2009), Yao Lin (2006), and Yavuz and Coskun (2005) adopted and revised this framework. The EOTTA/TAS measures technology attitudes and technology use in and out of the work setting. Researchers established the effectiveness and validity of the initial model and added to it by making a connection between previous traditional methodologies and new methods involving technology (Dockery, 2007; Stewart, Bachman, &ump; Babb, 2009). The EOTTA/TAS was revised to introduce diverse technology effectively, train professionals, and conduct workshops. The EOTTA/TAS model focuses and emphasizes shared learning and collaborative efforts, as opposed to superior-subordinate relationships between mentors and those who took part in training (Ara, 2009; Swan &ump; Dixon, 2006). In the present study, the TAS model will be revised and used to investigate whether teachers' attitudes towards technology impacts the integration of wireless laptops into their instructional practices. The researcher plans to use the findings to establish the potential of an online professional support network to facilitate successfully change and encourage teachers attitudes toward technology. To determine if an online professional support network is a warranted initiative, school officials can use the SC approaches and TAS model. The use of the TAS survey can be a viable instrument to help the progress of the integration of technology in classrooms and facilitate a professional learning network, a professional learning network where professionals and educators meet to combine their knowledge of education using state aligned to the available technology resources. Through training and practice, it is anticipated that teachers will integrate wireless laptop technology in the classroom effectively. To help better understand the concept of wireless laptop technology in K12 instructional setting a list of definition of terms follows. Definitions of Terms The operational definitions of the study are: Access: reading or writing information stored on a digital device (Williamson &ump; Redish, 2009).

Active Learning: process by which students become active retrievers of information rather than passive recipients (Wang, 2009). Community: people living in a similar area, but also people with common backgrounds and those interacting online, with the latter often referred to as an online community (Skevakis, 2010). Constructivist learning: individualized learning through referencing prior knowledge to new experiences, reference new situations to similar, past situations, and incorporate what learned onto the past foundation (Ryu &ump; Parsons, 2009). Constructivist strategies: a condition of selected instructional technological methods (Stewart, Bachman, &ump; Babb, 2009). Handheld tools: mini technological devices commonly used to access the World Wide Web; such devices typically include cell phones, digital books, and personal digital assistants (Skevakis, 2010). Information or information technology: access to resources through Internet or satellite connection through wireless technologies or computers (Skevakis, 2010). Instructional technology: online instructions through technologies (Koole &ump; Ally, 2009) such as wireless devices and software applications and both structured and unstructured knowledge in an active constrictive way (Wang, 2009). Instructional lead teacher: a specialist who assists teachers with developing or finding digital content (Corn, Osborne, Halstead, Oliver, Tingen, &ump; Stanhope, 2009). In-service teachers: experienced teachers who take part in professional development to learn new educational trends (Skevakis, 2010). One-to-one computer: individualized technology user of computer or wireless technology (Lee, 2010). Professional learning network: collaborative online learning among professionals (Collins &ump; Halverson, 2009; Snider, 2009; Vrasidas, 2010). Pedagogical strategies: methods that support standard instructions and promote innovative teacher training and student learning through technological forms (Snider, 2009; Vrasidas, 2010). Technology Attitude Scale (TAS): a model which measure for training demands or instrumentation for evaluating professional training (Swan &ump; Dixon, 2006; Ward, Pollard, Glogowska, Glogowska, and Moule 2009). Social constructivism (SC): a setting which places teachers as learning leaders (Ally, 2008; Evrekli, nel, Balim, &ump; Eserciolu, 2009; Saba, 2009) while students play an active role in acquiring their knowledge collaboratively.

Traditional Pedagogy: Teaching and learning model past using experiences to new experience coupled with mass communication through technology access, multimedia, software and the web (Cloodt, Hagedoorn &ump; Roijakkers, 2010). Technology: use of wireless laptop technology, desktop computers, software applications and Internet usage by students and teachers (Murriel, 2010). Technophobia: computer phobia, anxiety, unfavorable global attitudes, societal impact, specific negative cognitions or self-critical personal dialogues during actual computer usage or when considering future computer use (Ursavas &ump; Karal, 2009). Theory-Driven: a massive conventional teaching approaches for the incorporation of traditional teaching and learning approaches (Stewart et al., 2009). Wireless computing: devices that use electromagnetic waves rather than land-based wires to carry a communication signal; examples are laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate through wireless signals (Skevakis, 2010, rather than hardware technology. Wireless technology: output tools such as laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate through wireless forms (Skevakis, 2010).