Breaking Down Barriers to Build Benefits

The main barrier within educational technology and how to address it

Whether we like it or not, our daily lives are inundated with technological advances and devices. We wake up to alarms set on our phones, use WiFi to stream our morning workouts, talk to Alexa to find out the weather for the day, and then ask Siri how long it takes to boil an egg-all before 8 A.M. In a world where our dependence on technology is ever rising and singularity is on the horizon, we must get out of our own way and out of our own minds to embrace the world our students are growing up in and will eventually lead.

While there are many barriers preventing educational technology from being most successful, I believe the greatest hurdle is the educator’s perception of what educational technology can look like in their classroom. On the flipside, I also believe that the greatest benefit of educational technology is the educator’s perception of what it can look like in their classroom. To believe in oneself and understand what we are capable of is everything-especially in the realm of educational technology.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Dr. Lin B. Carver (2016) wrote that the impact technology makes in a classroom is “determined by how teachers use the technology in their classroom instruction, not just the acquisition of technology.” Is getting the funding to pay for said technology incredibly important? Yes. Is it the end-all-be-all of integrating it properly? No. Of course access to technology is always going to be a barrier. Mostly because technology is constantly growing and improving and it is utterly impossible to keep up with it all. However, I don’t think that access and funding are the largest hurdle in the field of educational technology. “The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that 97% of United States teachers had at least one computer in their classroom every day with 93% of those computers having Internet access” (2010, as cited in Carver 2016). That means that almost any classroom you walk into has some sort of technology residing in it. With statistics like that, I just can't get behind the idea that access is the most substantial issue.

What is the greatest barrier here? The perception of what educational technology is plays a huge role in whether it is properly implemented into our instructional time. We simply don’t know what we don’t know. In order for a significant movement to take place within our classrooms that rightly utilizes technology to its fullest potential, teachers must understand the buy-in benefits AND THEN receive support on how to integrate it. Just like we want our teachers to be fully knowledgeable on the core subject they are teaching, we need them to carry that same knowledge and confidence in the realm of technology. A “teacher’s readiness, or lack thereof, has the highest total effect on whether teachers integrated technology in their classrooms (Inan & Lowther, 2009 as cited in Harrell & Bynum, 2018-emphasis by author).

Not only is a teacher’s perception a barrier, but the lack of support also plays a key role here. “Comprehensive professional development must be ongoing, relevant, and connect educators through supportive communities of practice which include modeling, observation, and engaging in lesson scenarios using technology” (Herro et al., 2013, as cited in Kalonde, 2017). Read the verbs there-practice, modeling, observing, and engaging- not just 8 hours of professional development training on Columbus Day. Teachers have always been the ones to rise to an occasion when needed. Anyone remember March of 2020? However, in order to do it best, they need the opportunity to truly understand how to interweave technology into pedagogy and make it work well for our students. They have to know what it should look like.

Friend Not Foe

Because there are immense barriers within educational technology, the solution is not an easy one. Great technology integration leads to creating student-centered environments for learners. “The integration of technology in the delivery of instruction is considered vital in the implementation of student-centered approach of the teaching method” (Dotong et al., 2016). Any good teacher knows that when we are creating learner-centered environments, we are not putting out a one size fits all instructional plan. Instead, we are cultivating learners who are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and helping them to create plans to reach their specific learning goals. This is a huge task with or without technology. However, when educators are educated on ideas like computer based assessments to generate data they can then use the tools to help individualize instruction and save sanity.

The notion that learning isn’t a one size fits all approach is a barrier of education in general that will always be a barrier because of the diversity of our students. However, technology can help us embrace this idea and move our teaching in a positive and more efficient direction. When educators begin viewing technology as a friend and not a foe, we can then use it as a tool to create content within our subject areas that align standards with student needs. There must be a willingness to embrace the new and know that it can be incredibly beneficial to both students and teachers alike.

Jumping the Hurdles Together

After the pandemic of 2020, it has become painstakingly clear that technology integration is now essential in our classrooms. Both students and educators alike need to know how to use it, when to use, and why to use it. However, it is possible for these new essential skills to coincide with what we are already doing, rather than just be added on top of everything else. In other words, let’s kill two birds with one stone. “Instructional technology should support the curriculum within schools, and one worthy goal of instructional technology in education is to help students become independent and self-directed learners (Cannistraci, 2011, as cited in Kalonde 2017). In order for a lofty goal like that to be obtained, educators and administrators must work together to create opportune moments for curriculum and technology to permanently live within the lesson plan.

If it is going to be considered essential for teachers to integrate technology into learning, why wouldn’t it be just as important for technology to be integrated into professional development for educators? Pitler (2011, as cited in Kalonde, 2017) found that a major impact on the lack of technology integration in the classroom has to do with the isolation teachers feel in implementing it. When teachers feel like they can work together to achieve the goals manifested through technology use, their confidence is raised leading to a better perception of how proper educational technology practices can be used in their own classrooms and thus, a better outcome.

“Studies show that without effective and sustained professional development focused on quality instruction, the investment districts make in technology will not impact achievement in the way intended” (Cannistraci, 2011, as cited in Kalonde 2017). When we fail to properly train, support, and walk beside teachers in this, we are essentially throwing money away. The starting point for best practices in integrating technology begins with the teacher. We have to invest just as much in them as we do in the actual technology.

Conclusion

Education is full of barriers, many of which will never be broken. However, the barriers within educational technology are ones that can most definitely be turned into benefits with the correct perception. Educational technology is not just a trend in the ever swinging pendulum of education. Rather, EdTech is a way of life within the classroom environment and has become a vital piece of the pedagogy that cannot be overlooked and viewed as extra. When we approach technology integration and view it for everything it is worth, we see exponential benefit in knowing and understanding all it entails. This holistic view can then create a learning environment that supports teachers, students, and families all while preparing students for the technological world they are living in. It all begins and ends with perception.

References

Carver, L. B. (2016). Teacher Perception of Barriers and Benefits in K-12 Technology Usage [Review of Teacher Perception of Barriers and Benefits in K-12 Technology Usage]. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 15(1), 110–116.

Dotong, C. I., De Castro, E. L., Dolot, J. A., & Prenda, M. (2016). Barriers for Educational Technology Integration in Contemporary Classroom Environment [Review of Barriers for Educational Technology Integration in Contemporary Classroom Environment]. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences, 3(2), 13–20.

Harrell, S., & Bynum, Y. (2018). Factors Affecting Technology Integration in the Classroom [Review of Factors Affecting Technology Integration in the Classroom]. Alabama Journal of Educational Leadership, 5, 12–18.

Kalonde, G. (2017). Technology in Rural Schools: A Study of a Rural High School Trying to Use iPads in the Classroom [Review of Technology in Rural Schools: A Study of a Rural High School Trying to Use iPads in the Classroom]. The Rural Educator, 38, 27–38.