Date of Award

8-20-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Larry A. Klundt

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to determine what constitutes effective technology integration, and if the perceptions of teachers' technology integration skills in actuality matched the skills needed to effectively integrate it into the curriculum. It also attempted to determine if their perceptions were evident in the output generated by their students. Data were collected from three tools: the Professional Competency Continuum (PCC), the Student Product Scoring Guide, and the Lesson Plan Scoring Guide. One hundred and ten teacher PCC scores and their corresponding student products and lesson plans were randomly selected from a group of 290 who were the first semester completers of Phase III of the North Dakota Teaching with Technology Initiative (ND TWTi). Of the 110 teachers randomly selected for this study, only 100 were retained for this study after eliminations for incomplete files. Data were analyzed by conducting regression tests, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and t-tests to answer research questions. A regression test was used to predict the relationship between teachers' perceived technology integration skills and student products. Two other regression tests were administered to predict relationships between (1) PCC scores and student product trait scores and (2) lesson plan scores and student product trait scores; t-tests were used to determine what differences existed between (1) the PCC competency areas and (2) the perceived technology integration skills (PCC scores) of the study group and their lesson plan scores, which were calculated using the Lesson Plan Scoring Guide. Results indicated that the perceived technology integration skills of teachers cannot predict the effective integration of technology in student products to address new learning. Further analysis to determine technology integration skills indicated that student product traits cannot predict these skills as well. The chance that other factors came into play played a greater role in this determination. Technology integrated lesson plans have contributing factors that can assist with the prediction in determining how well teachers integrate technology into the curriculum. Three student product traits (preparation process, format and structure, and design of communication) can also identify how well teachers understand technology integration when transcribing it into written form.

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