Teachers Using Technology: Case Studies of Three Elementary School Teachers
This ethnographic multi-site case study portrays three elementary school teachers and their teaching as they were working to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Two teachers of third and fourth grade and one fifth-grade teacher all engaged their students in various technology activities. The study found each teacher made creative use of technology yet none of the teachers dramatically changed their ways of teaching. In contrast, technology use was molded to fit into the preexisting teaching styles, classroom routines, and the social organizations. In analyzing and trying to understand these findings, the author argues that teaching is a dynamic, multifaceted, and interactive process. Teachers' understandings and beliefs of purposes of education, learning, teaching, students, technology, the social and political context shape teachers' decisions about technology use. Once technology is used, it provides new opportunities to enhance teaching and learning and opportunities for change. The research design was based upon multiple perspectives from ethnography, naturalistic case study, and situated studies. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observations, analysis of email messages, archival and Web documents. Multiple means were used to analyze the data through content analysis, coding, and using qualitative data analysis software. Three frameworks of information ecologies, situated evaluation, and theorization of teaching were used to analyze and interpret the rich ethnographic data. The study concludes with implications and recommendations to teacher education and training, technology program evaluation, and research.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign