Vandykgibson, J. L. (2016). K-12 educational technology implementations: A Delphi study (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3802&context=dissertations

Abstract:

“The use of educational technologies is a key component of education reform. In its current national technology plan, Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education, the U.S. Department of Education asserts that educational technologies can transform student learning. Successful integration of educational technology could increase student achievement and transform the setting to bring about positive social change. The purpose of this study was to provide a group of expert panelists an opportunity to identify strategies and guidelines to create an effective educational technology plan. Data were gathered using a modified Delphi technique from 7 teachers, 8 administrators, and 7 policymakers.  All had expertise in educational technologies and experience with past state technology implementations, and all used a Delphi instrument to rate statements from current research. Their recommendations confirmed the importance of each stage of Rogers’ 5 stages of the innovation-decision process; the panelists also reached consensus about the role of the state and its responsibility to provide support and guidance to districts and schools when implementing educational technology plans. The results showed that an individualized approach to implementation of an educational technology innovation, rather than an organizational approach, may improve the rate of diffusion and adoption of educational technology innovations in this state’s K-12 public schools. This shift in how implementations are managed could produce a more efficient and effective way to integrate educational technology innovations in U.S. K-12 schools.”