How I Am Researching Technology Integration in Classrooms and Schools (Part 1)
Beginning last spring, I began publishing posts of classrooms in which I observed lessons (see here and here). These posts were one part of a larger research project on technology integration (see here).
Two questions have guided the case study design of the project:
- How have classroom, school, and district exemplars of technology integration been fully implemented and put into classroom practice?
- Have these exemplars made a difference in teaching practice?
In this and subsequent posts I will detail the methodology I use, what I mean by technology integration and describe models commonly used to determine its extent in schools.
The following posts are drafts that will be revised since I will be visiting more teachers and schools this fall. I welcome comments from readers who wish to take issue, suggest revisions, and recommend changes.
How I Got Started
In fall 2015, I wrote to district superintendents and heads of charter management organizations explaining why I was writing about instances of technology integration in their schools. At no point did these administrators ask me to define “technology integration” or even ask about the phrase; all seemed to know what I meant. In nearly all instances, the superintendent, school site administrator, technology coordinator, and CMO head invited me into the district. Administrators supplied me with lists of principals and teachers to contact. Again, neither my contacts nor I defined the phrase “technology integration” in conversations. They already had a sense of what the phrase meant.
I contacted individual teachers explaining how I got their names, what I was doing, and asked for their participation. More than half agreed. Because of health issues, I did not start the project until January 2016. For four months I visited schools and classrooms, observed lessons and interviewed staff. I resumed observations this fall and hope to complete all observations by December 2016.
In visiting classrooms, I interviewed teachers before and after the lessons I observed in their classrooms. During the observation, I took notes every few minutes about what both teacher and students were doing. I used a protocol to describe class activities while commenting separately about what both teacher and students were doing. I had used this observation protocol in previous studies. The point of the description and commentary was to capture what happened in the classroom, not determine the degree of teacher effectiveness. I avoided evaluative judgments about the worth of the lesson or teacher activities.
The major advantage of this approach is being in the room and picking up non-How I Am Researching Technology Integration in Classrooms and Schools (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: