- About this Journal
- Abstracting and Indexing
- Aims and Scope
- Article Processing Charges
- Articles in Press
- Author Guidelines
- Bibliographic Information
- Citations to this Journal
- Contact Information
- Editorial Board
- Editorial Workflow
- Free eTOC Alerts
- Publication Ethics
- Reviewers Acknowledgment
- Submit a Manuscript
- Subscription Information
- Table of Contents
Education Research International
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 697357, 13 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/697357
Patterns of Beliefs, Attitudes, and Characteristics of Teachers That Influence Computer Integration
1Faculty of Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada
2Psychology Department, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada
Received 9 March 2012; Revised 26 September 2012; Accepted 26 September 2012
Academic Editor: Eric Z. F. Liu
Copyright © 2012 Julie Mueller and Eileen Wood. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Despite continued acceleration of computer access in elementary and secondary schools, computer integration is not necessarily given as an everyday learning tool. A heterogeneous sample of 185 elementary and 204 secondary teachers was asked to respond to open-ended survey questions in order to understand why integration of computer-based technologies does or does not fit with their teaching philosophy, what factors impact planning to use computer technologies in the classroom, and what characteristics define excellent teachers who integrate technology. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions indicated that, overall, educators are supportive of computer integration describing the potential of technology using constructivist language, such as “authentic tasks” and “self-regulated learning.” Responses from “high” and “low” integrating teachers were compared across themes. The diversity of the themes and the emerging patterns of those themes from “high and low integrators” indicate that the integration of computer technology is a complex concern that requires sensitivity to individual and contextual variables.