Technology Integration in a Southern Inner-City School: Perspectives of In-service and Preservice Teachers
Abstract
The use of technology in teacher education has been demanded by The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in six NCATE Unit Standards, strengthened by its partnerships with higher education institutions and K-12 grade schools. Issues with technology use in K-12 schools have been identified and discussed in the literature. With policies derived under "Title I" designed to implement the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) for disadvantaged students, Title I schools are receiving the resources needed to gain access to technology that assists teaching and learning. But Title I has also set standards that require recipients to address the effectiveness of technology in the classroom for educating inner-city students, including the training of teachers to use this technology safely and effectively. The purpose of the chapter is to examine the use of technology in education by looking at the practices of technology integration in a southern elementary school in South GA in the USA through a qualitative study guided by our theories of constructivism and cognitive dissonance in learning. The findings of the study revealed first that innovation is necessary when technology was integrated into the curriculum for inner-city students learning with greater success; and second, that the availability of technology for these students far outpaced the training of the teachers who must use technology in inner-city classrooms. Further, we found strong support for cognitive dissonance in learning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 25, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA603767
Entities
People
- Molly Y. Zhou
- William F. Lawless
Organizations
- Paine College