Systematic Observations of the Availability and Use of Instructional Technology in Urban Middle School Classrooms

The present study uses systematic observations to investigate the availability and use of instructional technology in 64 middle school classrooms serving predominantly minority students from economically disadvantaged families. The T3 Overall Classroom Observation Measure, a high-inference walk-through instrument, was developed to examine: (a) types and use of technology present in the classroom, (b) teachers’ technology usage, (c) students’ technology usage, (d) teachers’ general instructional behaviors, and (e) students’ general behaviors. The results revealed that instructional technology was widely available in the classrooms, but most teachers and students were only using it to “some extent.