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: Kelli Oberheu Date: November 1, 2019

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Waxman, H., Boriack, A., Yuan-Hsuan, L., & 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):

1. What are principals’ perceptions of the importance of technology?

2. Do principals’ perceptions of technology differ by ears of experience and
gender?

Purpose of the research:

The purpose of the study was to build off of studies previously done by asking more in
depth questions on perceptions and the influence of experience and gender on these
perceptions through open-ended cognitive interviews.
METHODOLOGY

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

Participants:

This study used 310 principals from a large metropolitan area in the southwest
United States. In this sample 126 were male and 184 were females. Years of
experience included 104 with 3 or less years of experience, 82 with 4-7 years
of experiences, 55 with 8-11 years of experience, 32 with 12-15 years of
experience and 31 had more than 15 years of experience.

Procedures:
For this study, a questionnaire was administered by graduate students that
were trained on the use of cognitive interviewing. The questions for this
interview were: “Has technology had an impact in your school?” and “If so, in
what specific ways has it made a difference?”

Data Collection Methods/Data Source:

In this study, the participants’ cognitions and perceptions were recorded, read
repeatedly, and coded into meaningful categories.

Data Analysis:

Consistency of coding was done by a second independent researcher. The

reliability results revealed a high level of agreement at Cohen’s kappa = .94.

RESULTS

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

According to the principals interviewed, there are six main uses for technology in
education: as a communication tool, as a method of instruction, for data sharing and
management, as a resource, for administrative tasks, and for student learning. Based
on gender, male and female principals showed the highest percentages of technology
use in communication and instruction. The next highest were data
sharing/management and as a resource. Where gender-based information varied was
more males thought of technology as a way to complete administrative tasks and a
small amount for student learning while females felt it was more used for student
learning and less for administrative tasks. When looking at the data based on years of
experience it was still found that communication and instruction were the two highest.
The remaining four categories varied between the different years of experience.

DISCUSSIONS

Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

It has been found that when administrators are technology leaders, students and
teachers are more successful at integrating technology. School leaders need to be up
to date with the newest technology and they must include technology integration into
their school vision. Overall, this study shows that principals have a positive view of
technology. Funding and opportunities need to be provided to principals grow in their
knowledge of technology and become strong technological leaders at their school and
provide teachers with the assistance they need to truly integrate technology in their
classroom.

REFLECTIONS
Student’s Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your
school/work):

I do feel that it is very important for school leaders to be provided with the opportunity
to attend technology professional development that is vital to their ability to be
technological leaders at their school. I have many teachers at my school that are truly
trying to add more technology to instruction and student learning, but they are
struggling to understand the technology themselves. If our school administrators were
provided with the required training, helping these teachers would not be such a
challenge. I feel that we should increase the use of technology in instruction and
student learning and we need to take the required steps to do that.

Having read this article, I will take some time to attend professional development
opportunities that might help increase my technological knowledge. I want to be a
teacher and a leader that is able to help and fully integrate technology into my
classroom/school. In order to do that, there are some trainings I need to work on
finding and attending.