Running head: TEACHER BARRIERS ON TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION 1

Teacher Barriers on Technology Integration: Literature Review

Kyle Johnson

EDD8000

Advanced Studies in Education: Theory, Practice, and Purpose

Telephone: 678-477-2349

Email: kyle.johnson112991@gmail.com

Instructor: Dr. Behrooz Sabet

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Teacher Barriers on Technology Integration: Literature Review

With the rise of technology use in classrooms across the nation, many scholars have

written on technology’s impact on how educators deliver instruction and how students learn.

Furthermore, scholars have assessed technology’s impact on teachers’ pedagogical practices and

how they have had to adjust their teaching strategies to ensure student success. Students are

beginning to learn in a more rigorous and thought-provoking manner that will better prepare

them for their respective careers and give them the 21st century skills they need to be successful.

Although the literature covers a variety of topics relating to technology integration and how it

affects teachers and students, this Literature Review aims to highlight the major themes of the

literature studied for this review. The themes include the need to provide the proper professional

development to implement technology in the classroom, how underlying pedagogical beliefs can

impact the way teachers use technology in the classroom, and how both can be used to evaluate

effective technology implementation in the classroom.

Overview of Topic

Technology is becoming an integral part of classrooms across the United States. Gone are

the days of textbook readings and responding to lectures when directed by the teacher. In today’s

classroom, technology has replaced the textbook to encourage students to explore their own

learning. The teacher has become a facilitator of learning rather than the one who bestows the

knowledge of a particular content area to their pupils through lecture and PowerPoints. In a

recent study conducted by Corey Murray of Ed Tech Magazine (2013), teachers were surveyed

and asked how much they support technology in the classroom. The survey revealed that, “74

percent of educators surveyed said technology is key to helping them expand on classroom
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content; the same percentage said technology is a motivational tool; and 73 percent said it helps

teachers respond to different learning styles. Moreover, 69 percent said technology has helped do

more than ever before for their students.” With this trend in schools across the country, it may

seem that the learning done in the classroom is as rigorous as ever. However, teachers are not

utilizing the full potential of technology to help students learn due to personal teaching beliefs

and lack of professional development to assist them in using the technology effectively. In order

for technology use in the classroom to be second nature, the professional development offered to

teachers needs to align with the pedagogical beliefs of those teachers who are going to be using

the technology in the classroom.

Topic Relation to Specialization

Increasing the use of technology tools in the classroom among all teachers in a school is

in direct relation to the EDD in Digital Transformation Program at Capella University in various

ways. For example, the goal of a doctoral student in the Digital Transformation specialization is

to, “Help your building, district, or organization improve strategies and student achievement

through technology,” ("EdD Digital Transformation Online Program - Capella University"). In

other words, the goal of anyone coming through the program should be to assist schools in

developing strategies to provide teachers with the tools and professional development that is

needed to successfully implement technology in their lessons. The doctoral student’s goal should

be to illicit change within their realm of influence. To do this, not only is it important for the

student in the program to employ strategies to support those teachers using technology, but the

school also holds a significant stake in preparing teachers with the proper professional

development to integrate these tools successfully. With both the school administration and the

doctoral student working together to promote technology integration based on teachers’ needs,
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student learning will increase in rigor exponentially. Based upon the literature gathered for this

review, steps need to be taken to ensure all teachers are given an opportunity to implement

technology effectively. In order to implement this however, the current pedagogical beliefs of

teachers need to be taken into consideration to ensure the tools can be used appropriately in their

lesson plans.

Review of the Literature

Professional Development Needs

According to Kopcha’s (2012) article, professional development was given to teachers to

help them improve their use of technology integration in the classroom over a period of one

school year. For the second year of his study, teachers were placed into Professional Learning

Communities (PLCs) to assist one another in integrating technology into their lesson plans. After

surveying teachers involved is his study, six teachers reported that, “It’s much harder to learn

new ideas for using technology without the mentor. The mentoring was good because I could

learn to be successful through the use of technology. Workshops are useless unless I get to try it

myself, in my classroom. I need to do trial and error, and there has been less of that without the

mentor,” (p. 1117). What Kopcha failed to address in his article was the possible need for one-to-

one training of the PLC teams on how technology can be implemented into content-specific

areas.

For many teachers, the struggle is not the technology that is available to them to use, it is

the time it takes to implement the technology within the lesson plan specifically. If the school’s

administration does not allow time for teachers to understand the technology before they

implement it, it could have lasting effects on their confidence to use technology as a whole.

Encouraging teachers is an important way to implement an initiative successfully. With

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technology, the path to understanding its use can be daunting for some. According to Ottenbreit-

Leftwich, Glazewski, Newby & Ertmer (2010), “Rather than expecting technology to change the

nature of teaching and learning, it may be more beneficial to help teachers use technology to

enhance the curriculum in ways they see fit” (p. 1323). In other words, where Kopcha was

limited in his assessment that the right professional development will solve teacher issues in

developing lessons centered around technology, Ottenbreit, et al. argues that taking those

developed lessons and centering those around technology use is the best approach. By doing this,

it also aligns with teacher’s value beliefs, which is a sole determinant on teacher integration of

technology according to Saye (1998). However, this article does pose an argument against

Saye’s (1998) article, in that, he found that teacher beliefs in implementing technology stems

from their overall pedagogical beliefs on teaching. He argues that teacher’s will only implement

technology if it aligns with their current teaching practices.

Underlying Pedagogical Beliefs

Traditionally, teaching has been a teacher-centered profession. Students receive the

information that is given to them by the teachers, and that information is assessed through

various forms of formal and informal assessments. With the rise of technology, student-centered

practices are becoming the norm in classrooms. In Liu’s (2011) article, he argues that teachers

struggle with implementing technology in the classroom due to their pedagogical beliefs. This is

in direct agreeance with Saye’s argument that teacher beliefs are the sole determinant of whether

or not technology will be used to enhance the learning in the classroom. Saye argues that

teachers fall into two different categories when it comes to implementing technology in their

classrooms: Accidental Tourists (AT) and Voyageurs (VG). He concludes that AT teachers use

technology solely to reinforce learning that is done in the classroom. There is no challenge
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involved or critical thinking for the students to engage in. VG teachers will implement

technology to increase rigor and to increase critical thinking that is done in the classroom. Based

on these categorizations, Saye argues that teacher implementation of technology resides solely in

the teacher’s belief on how it should complement their teaching. He states, “Adoption decisions

may hinge on individual teachers’ personalities and beliefs. Responses…suggest that progressive

or empowering educational beliefs of teachers may be necessary, but not sufficient, for them to

embrace adventurous teaching,” (p. 232). Liu argues that, “…most teachers with learner-centered

belief were overly concerned with academic achievement or may have lacked an understanding

of technology integration and, thus, did not implement constructivist teaching activities” (p.

1020). What Liu is arguing is that even though there are teachers that employ student-centered

activities and lessons, they are still afraid to release full control to them due to the fact that

standards need to be met and teachers fear that students will not gain the knowledge needed to be

successful. Thus, technology cannot be utilized successfully until teachers feel free to challenge

student learning and become true facilitators of student learning. However, some researchers

may argue that although teacher pedagogical beliefs may be centered on the teacher delivering

instruction, many know the implications of using technology to help students learn, but still

choose to employ technology at a foundational level.

According to Prestridge (2012), implementing technology in true collaborative and

constructivist manner is going to take time. She argues that, “…teachers are acknowledging the

role of [technology] as a knowledge construction tool through collaborative activity…” (pg.

457). However, of those teachers studied, many of them were still using technology to support

them as they lectured. For example, one teacher used technology to show students digital images

on a projection screen. With these images, students would engage in discussions. Another
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teacher, however, used technology to teach students how to use PowerPoint properly when

creating a presentation. For him, “The focus is on the presentation of the content” (p. 456). The

beliefs that were gathered from Prestridge can be similarly identified in Liu’s article, where he

states, “…teachers generally use the computers to access the internet, for word processing, and

for PowerPoint presentations for lecturing students” (p. 1014). In other words, Prestridge is

arguing that although teachers know the importance of using technology, many are still using it

to assist them in giving the information to the students. Although there are exceptions, it seems

as though most teachers are not challenging themselves, which Saye (1998) identifies those who

challenge the students’ learning as Voyageurs, or those who “exhibit a need for personal

challenge…technology stimulates them to explore and experiment with new approaches to

expand the possibilities of schooling” (p. 224).

In order for technology to be implemented effectively in the classroom, professional

development needs to be centered around the current beliefs and pedagogies of teachers in a

particular school. This will ensure that technology can be used to not only support students in

expanding their knowledge and gaining the 21st century skills they need to critically think, but it

will also give teachers a better understanding of how to use technology to support their current

pedagogical beliefs.

How Pedagogical Beliefs Can Influence Professional Development

With professional development sessions, it is imperative to offer sessions that meet the

needs of the majority of teachers in any school. If this is not done, teachers are more likely to

disengage in any participatory activity. For example, in Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., they argue

that, “…teachers are more likely to incorporate technology uses into their practices that align

with [their] value beliefs,” (p. 1330). If those teachers in Saye’s article were offered professional
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development that tailored to their teaching styles and how they could implement technology,

they might have had a higher chance of incorporating it into their lesson plans. Additionally,

Kopcha could have used his PLC leaders as exemplars. As Ottenbreit, et al. also suggests, “By

studying colleagues recognized for technology uses…professional development programs

designed around these value beliefs may be more applicable to other teachers who have not yet

embraced technology,” (p.1330). By incorporating this thinking, not only could it affect

Kopcha’s research, but Saye’s research could have benefitted from this as well. By employing

those teachers who are successfully using technology, that not only teach the same subject as

those around them, but also share the same pedagogical values as others around them, they will

have a larger impact on the overall acceptance of technology in the school. In doing so, teachers

would be able to see the academic achievement of students, which Liu’s (2011) research showed

was a hindrance to implementation.

Conclusion

By evaluating and analyzing these articles, it can be concluded that technology

integration in schools is a very complex task. For most, the time necessary to implement these

initiatives cannot be fulfilled with the other responsibilities that both teachers and schools have.

In order for these measures to take place, thoughtful consideration by school districts is

imperative to ensure technology is used effectively and efficiently by teachers in the classroom.

It has been gathered, through reading the literature pertaining to technology integration in the

classroom, that thoughtful consideration needs to be taken to ensure the technology that is being

used is for the benefit of teachers in the school. Additionally, teachers need to have the proper

training made available to them to allow them time to master the use of the tools and to work on

identifying how it might apply to their current teaching styles and pedagogical beliefs. If this is
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done successfully, teachers will have a better understanding of how technology can be used to

increase rigor in the classroom and help prepare students for their careers by facilitating the

growth of their 21st century skills.

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References

Kopcha, T. J. (2012). Teachers' perceptions of the barriers to technology integration and

practices with technology under situated professional development. Computers

& Education, 59(4), 1109-1121. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.05.014

Liu, S. (2011). Factors related to pedagogical beliefs of teachers and technology

integration.  Computers & Education, 56(4), 1012-1022.

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.12.001

Murray, C. (2013, February 06). Survey: 74 Percent of Educators Support the Use of Technology

in Schools. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/survey-74-

percent-educators-support-use-technology-schools

Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Glazewski, K. D., Newby, T. J., & Ertmer, P. A. (2010). Teacher

value beliefs associated with using technology: Addressing professional and

student needs. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1321-1335.

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.06.002

Prestridge, S. (2012). The beliefs behind the teacher that influences their ICT

practices. Computers & Education, 58(1), 449-458. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.08.028

Saye, J. W. (1998). Technology in the classroom: The role of dispositions in teacher

gatekeeping. Journal Of Curriculum & Supervision, 13(3), 210-234.

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