Reflective Blog #2 - Using technology in elementary education - 4

Ertmer, P., Addison, P., Lane, M., Ross, E., Woods, D., (1999) Examining teachers' beliefs about the role of technology in the elementary classroom. Journal of Research on Computing in Education; 32(1), 54- 72. Retreived from NL.Edu EBSCO Host Adacemic Search 

Researchers Peggy A.Ertmer, Paul Addison, Molly Lane, Eva Ross and Denise Woods examined a school's usage of technology in the classroom to determine the teachers' thoughts on it's usage and how that impacts student instruction. This article is based on early 1990's research. They were interested in finding out what teachers thought about using a computer in the classroom for instruction. The researchers asked the teachers if they used technology in the classroom, what value they placed on the usage, and how their beliefs shaped the barriers to utilizing technology in instruction. The group spent two years at a school, with a group of seven teachers. All had various levels of knowledge and comfort level of technology. There were two barriers to using technology in instruction; intristic and extristic. Extristic barriers would be external reasons why it isn't used, such as funding, building space, or equipment. Intristic barriers would be internal reasons such as no knowledge of technological instruments, inability to change teaching methods to incorporate technology in the classroom. As the teachers went through the study, their comfort level increased and so did their usage in their lessons. They began to use the computer as a tool for instruction instead of a reward for something or as a filler for free time.