Jackson, B. C. (2013). Teachers’ preparation needs for integrating technology in the classroom (Publication No. 3601562) [Doctoral dissertation, Missouri Baptist University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Abstract:

“School districts across the country are charged with preparing the next generation for competing in a global economy and have spent billions of dollars on technology acquisition and Internet use. However, teachers do not feel prepared to integrate technology in the classroom. To prepare teachers for technology integration, the most common approach to professional development is the one-stop-shop. Teachers typically spend one hour to one day in professional development given the content area. One-stop-shop professional development focuses on training teachers to operate computers and software packages instead of how to integrate technology in the classroom (Knapp, 1996; McCannon & Crews, 2000). This type of training is not found appropriate for meeting teachers’ pedagogical needs and is too far removed from their day-to-day classroom practice. This type of training has yielded uninterested teachers and lack of teachers integrating technology in the classroom. To address this issue, data were collected from 209 teachers about their expertise for integrating in the classroom using the TPACK survey instrument. Demographic data were also collected to further identify teacher’s unique preparation needs and to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Multiple Regression was used to identify teacher preparation needs for classroom technology integration. With the results, yielded as a group, teachers’ preparation needs are TK, SC, PK, PCK, TPK, and TCK. When data were filtered by demographic categories, teacher preparation needs for classroom technology integration were different. Conducting a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) should be the first step for preparing teachers in this regard.”