Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

Factors that explain the use of ICT in secondary-education classrooms: the role of teacher characteristics and school infrastructure

Paradoxically, in Spain, schools have relatively ample information and communication technology (ICT)infrastructure but low levels of classroom ICT use. In this study, we analyse the role of school ICTinfrastructure and teacher characteristics to explain ICT use in education. We use data from the Spanishsample in the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS), which consists of 3339 teachersfrom 192 secondary education centres. The analysis was conducted using multilevel logistic regressionmodels. The principal results indicate that the availability of educational software, teacher ICT training,collaboration among teachers, perceived self-efficacy, and teaching concepts influence classroom ICT use.School hardware and internet-connection infrastructure are less significant. Based on thefindings,recommendations are presented to orient Spanish educational policy to encourage the use of ICT in classroom

Infusion of ICT into Adult Education in Turkey

This paper investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in facilitating and supporting informal learning in adults. Although the potential of ICT for stimulating formal learning has been widely discussed, the area of adult education remains under-researched. This paper reports how adult educators are using ICT. Based on data from a survey of 276 respondents we maintain the range of adult educators’ ICT skills and how ICT both facilitates and suppresses their teaching environment. The findings show that there is an increasing demand for a variety of learning opportunities for adult educators. Adult educators are very willing to use ICT and by this way they expect to improve educational outcomes and to increase participation in all forms of adult education Adult educators welcome ICT widely as having the potential to increase access to learning. However, they pay special attention to the infrastructure, support services, cost, time or space as main barriers

Infusion of ICT into Adult Education in Turkey

This paper investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in facilitating and supporting informal learning in adults. Although the potential of ICT for stimulating formal learning has been widely discussed, the area of adult education remains under-researched. This paper reports how adult educators are using ICT. Based on data from a survey of 276 respondents we maintain the range of adult educators’ ICT skills and how ICT both facilitates and suppresses their teaching environment. The findings show that there is an increasing demand for a variety of learning opportunities for adult educators. Adult educators are very willing to use ICT and by this way they expect to improve educational outcomes and to increase participation in all forms of adult education Adult educators welcome ICT widely as having the potential to increase access to learning. However, they pay special attention to the infrastructure, support services, cost, time or space as main barriers

Professional self-efficacy scale for information and computer technology teachers: validity and reliability study

This study aims at developing a valid and reliable scale to measure information and communication technology (ICT) teachers' self-efficacy related to the Turkish national framework of ICT competencies. For statistical procedures, data were respectively analyzed with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Furthermore, test-retest procedure was carried out to confirm the time invariance of the scale. EFA results revealed that the scale's seven-factor structure accounts for 65.90 percent of total variance. CFA results produced an acceptable statistical support for model-data fit between the observed item scores and the seven-dimension scale structure (X-2/df = 1.98, RMSEA = .073, CFI = .86). The standardized regression weights between the latent and observed variables ranged from .57 to .89 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale sub-dimensions ranged from .80 to .88. Besides, the item-scale correlations varied between values of .53 and .79. As a result, the developed scale is a likert questionnaire and composed of 33 five-point items with seven sub-dimensions

Assessing Basic School Teachers’ Competence in the Application of Information and Communications Technology in Teaching: Implications for the New Ghanaian Curriculum

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provides access to information through telecommunication technologies to interact in the digital world and continues to evolve to bring remarkable changes in the educational system. ICT integration in teaching is quite complicated and challenging because teachers need to be equipped with the right competencies for teaching practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess basic school teachers’ competence in the application of Information and Communications Technology in teaching. The study used descriptive survey design by which simple random sample was used to select 285 teachers from Tano South municipality of Ahafo Region, Ghana. Data collection was done using closed-ended questionnaire. Data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 25). The study results revealed that teachers are instruments of change in educational establishments. They play significant roles in the implementation of ICT in education. Teachers’ competence in integration of ICT in the classroom would bring new, stimulating and fulfilling learning experiences to policy makers, educators and learners.  Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should be provided with administrative support to enable them integrate ICT into classroom activities in order to promote student learning. Teachers should be given regular-based ICT training workshops to possess the requisite knowledge and skills so that they can effectively support their students’ ICT usage in classrooms. Also, provision of ICT infrastructure and resources in schools should be given maximum premium since access is a necessary condition to the integration of ICT in education

The Effects of Teacher Professional Development and Self-Efficacy on Classroom Uses of Information and Computer Technologies

The uses of new technologies during mathematics instruction are essential for maintaining opportunities for students to gain better understanding of the content and become digital learners in the information age. Although scholars found technology integration is helpful in improving students’ mathematics achievement, the role of teachers’ preparedness for technology integration remains critical. Technology professional development and self-efficacy are two major factors impacting teachers’ successful integration of instructional technologies. The purpose of this study was to provide a more in-depth look into (i) mathematics teachers technology uses during direct instruction, dialogic instruction, and assessment; (ii) the relationship between various types of professional development activities (online collaboration, face to face collaboration and course-based) and classroom technology use; and finally (iii) the mediator role of self-efficacy between professional development and classroom technology use. The findings demonstrate that eighth grade mathematics teachers tend to integrate technology more often through direct instruction than dialogic instruction and assessment. Teacher self-efficacy, collaboration, and online collaboration for professional development had a significant relationship with technology use through direct instruction. Next, the results indicated that self-efficacy, collaboration, and course-based professional development were three significant factors for technology use in dialogic instruction. These three factors also significantly contributed to increasing technology use through assessment. Third, when self-efficacy mediated the hypothesized relationship, only face to face collaboration among teachers had a significantly positive association with teachers’ technology use through any type of instruction. Based on the findings, this study concludes that face-to-face collaboration among teachers were more effective than online professional interactions to make a change in teacher practices. Online learning communities should be encouraged for teachers who seek further guidance and resources sharing after joining a face-to-face training. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are discussed

INDONESIAN EFL PRE SERVICE TEACHER’S PERCEPTIONS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY DURING A TEACHING PRACTICE

This research was conducted to find out the Indonesian EFL pre-service teachers’ perception and acceptance in using technology during a teaching practice. The research was used mix method research approach. The questionnaire and interview used as the instrument of research to the sixty Indonesian EFL pre service teachers. The research discovered that Indonesian EFL pre service teachers have positive perception and positive acceptance in using technology during teaching practice