JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership / M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
EDUC 5324 Integrating Technology into Education

Name: Seyfullah Konukseven Date: Oct 28, 2019

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Waxman, H.C., Boriack, A.W., Yuan-Hsuan Lee, Y.H., & MacNeil, A. (2013). Principals’
perceptions of the importance of technology in schools. Contemporary Educational
Technology, 4(3), 187-196
INTRODUCTION

Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what
is the theoretical background or overarching theme):

(a) What are principals’ perceptions of the importance of technology? (b) Do

principals’ perceptions of technology differ by years of experience and gender?

Purpose of the research: to find out the principals’ view about the importance of
technology depending on their gender and years of experience

METHODOLOGY

What is the methodology for the research or approach used to understand the
issue? Provide information regarding the following:

Participants:
 310 principals from a large metropolitan area in the southwest region of the
United States responded
 The sample consisted of 126 males and 184 females.
 A range of years of experience was present with 104 participants having 0-3
years of experience, 82 participants having 4-7 years, 55 participants having 8-
11 years, 32 participants having 12-15 years, and 31 participants having greater
than 15 years of experience.

Procedures:
The questionnaire was administered by graduate students in the Educational
Leadership program at a major, urban doctoral-granting university located in the south
central region of the U.S. As part of the principal’s certification course requirements,
students were trained on how to administer the instrument and required to interview a
specific number of current public school principals. The survey instrument was
designed specifically for this purpose and included both qualitative and quantitative
questions.

Data Collection Methods/Data Source:

Interviews

Data Analysis:
Analysis of the interview data began with a process of data reduction. The participants’
responses were read several times to become familiar with the data. The data was then
coded into meaningful categories. Once the categories were established, another
researcher independently coded a 10% sample of responses to determine the
consistency of the coding. The inter-coder reliability results revealed a high level of
agreement (Cohen’s kappa = .94).

RESULTS

Findings or Results (or main points of the article):

The principals’ responses for the major functions of technology
1. 35% of the principals indicated that technology was used as a primary
communication tool.
2. 28% of principals responded that technology was integrated in teachers’
classroom instruction.
3. 14% of the principals stated technology was used for data sharing and
management
4. 15% of principals stated technology was used as a resource to find information
5. 10% of principals stated technology was used for administrative tasks
6. 10% of principals stated technology was used for student learning
Males’ perceptions of four categories.
 as a resource (16%),
 for data sharing and management (15%),
 for administrative tasks (12%),
 for student learning (10%).
Females’ perceptions of four categories.
 for data sharing and management (15%),
 as a resource (14%),
 for student learning (12%),
 for administrative tasks (9%).
Finally, principals’ perceptions of the major functions of technology by years of
experience: The two major functions of technology with the highest percentage were
communication and instruction.
 The highest percentage for principals with 0-3, 4-7, and 8-11 years of
experience was in communication (39%, 33%, and 31%, respectively) followed
by instruction (24%, 30%, and 24%, respectively).
  Principals with 12-15 and more than 15 years of experience had the highest
percentage in instruction (31% and 39%, respectively) followed by
communication (28% and 36%, respectively).
DISCUSSIONS

Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

When administrators act as technology leaders, the teachers and students integrate
and use technology more successfully (MacNeil & Delafield, 1998). This study shows
that principals’ perceptions of functions of technology are changed by sex and years of
experience. This may affect the principals’ technology implementation in their schools.

REFLECTIONS

Student’s Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your

school/work):
Technology is an unavoidable reality of the future, and it’s changing unbelievably fast.
So principals and teachers lag behind the new generations and new technologies.
Moreover, technology leadership of principals influences all school’s technology
usage. So principals need to be trained or improve themselves continuously to catch the
new technological trends. The other point is that technology shouldn’t be
perceived only as a communication tool. It is a very effective for student learning.
Principals need to be trained by districts depending on their gender and year of
experience, since this study shows that these two factor affects the
technology perception.

References
MacNeil, A. J. & Delafield, D. P. (1998). Principal leadership for successful school
technology implementation. In S. McNeil, J. D. Price, S. B. Mehall, B. Robin, & J. Willis
(Eds.), Technology and teacher education annual 1998 (pp. 296-300). Norfolk, VA:
AACE.
Waxman, H.C., Boriack, A.W., Yuan-Hsuan Lee, Y.H., & MacNeil, A. (2013).
Principals’ perceptions of the importance of technology in schools. Contemporary
Educational Technology, 4(3), 187-196