The connection between faculty teaching philosophies and beliefs and use of technology in elementary methods courses

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2006-01-01
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Gurbo, Marina
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Altmetrics
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Education
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Mostly, research in the area of technology integration into teacher education has focused upon institutional efforts that addressed external barriers to technology adoption. Although external barriers can be significant obstacles to achieving technology integration, internal barriers, such as teaching philosophies and beliefs, may reduce or magnify their effects (Ertmer et al., 1999; Miller & Olson, 1994). Addressing teaching philosophies and beliefs seems to be necessary, since there is evidence that if technology becomes a part of these beliefs, it is more likely to be incorporated into teaching (Becker & Riel, 2000). The purpose of this thesis research was to identify whether faculty teaching philosophies and beliefs determined how teacher education faculty model use of technology to pre-service teachers. The study findings present two case studies of six faculty members' use of technology in elementary math and literacy methods courses in the teacher training program at a Midwestern university. The three mathematics faculty members form one case and the three literacy faculty members form the second case. The findings from this study suggest that the faculty teaching philosophies and beliefs may explain how they used technology in their courses. The faculty, who participated in this study, demonstrated that their teaching philosophies and beliefs determined how they made technology-related decisions, such as the selection of technology tools, structure of activities, and students' engagement with technology. Moreover, their modeling use of technology for teaching elementary math and literacy was consistent with what they saw as the core ideas of their teaching philosophies and what they believed about teaching and learning. The findings also suggest the internal factors or barriers, such as faculty teaching philosophies and beliefs about technology use in their content area, may become more important and may affect faculty responses to external barriers, such as lack of access, lack of technology skills, etc.

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Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2006