Teachers' beliefs and practices regarding the role of technology in literacy instruction: A mixed methods study

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ beliefs about the role of technology in their literacy instruction in the context of one elementary school with a technology-rich environment by investigating those beliefs about instructional technology and the degree to which they were reflected in actual practice. Survey data were used to establish overall patterns of the teachers’ beliefs about and their use of technology in instruction. The survey data informed the qualitative data gathered through open-ended questions and the case studies of three literacy teachers. Within-case and cross-case analysis yielded in-depth details about the beliefs of three teachers regarding the role of technology in their literacy instruction and the degree to which those beliefs were evidenced in their actual instruction. Findings revealed that the case study participants believed that technology played several roles in their literacy instruction. Technology enabled teachers to enact their pre-existing pedagogical beliefs. Technology served as a manager of classroom behavior and as a tool to make classroom instruction more efficient. Teachers also used technology to make their literacy instruction more effective. Findings led to the conclusion that technology use in the teachers’ literacy instruction was influenced by such factors as their pedagogical beliefs, perceived administrative support, the amount and type of professional development teachers received, the ease of access to technology, perceived barriers to technology integration, and teachers’ attitudes toward technology integration