Article information
Mundy, M. A., & Kupczynski, L. (2013). A qualitative study of technology integration into culture and sustainability in schools. ISRN Education, 2013.
The article can be found at
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2013/967610/
Issue
The task in this article was to examine the integration of technology into sustainability in schools and culture. In this, a sample effective was taken from two schools in the south Mississippi district, and they were selected to be questioned on their perceptions of the TeachUp! Integration into schools’ continuous functions, improvement in the education output, long-term systematic change, and culture. According to the majority of the respondents, the technology has had a major sustaining impact in this areas in the schools’ operations. The climate of the learning environment had changed with the improvement in the use of technology.
Comments- The article’s task is clearly explained to enable the readers to read and get an impression of what was targeted in the report. The research methods are presented reasonably, and the conclusion is made that had signs of the study.
Aim
The purpose of the research was to examine the extent to which the TeachUp! The program has assisted the learning institution in its normal function of educating students. In addition to this, it interviewed the school teachers’ perception of the integration of technology in the school functioning.
Comments- the study met its aim because it used extensive methods since the groups of schools chosen were affected by the TeachUp! The program was designed to assist in learning institutions’ operations. Though this may not reflect how it has impacted the achievement of education goals since the use of technology is limited to some schools, others cannot own and operate them in their daily learning.
Methodology
For the aim of investigating the impacts of integration of technology, TeachUp! Programs as a useful means of attaining the objectives of students’ success through adjusted use and utilization of the rapidly improving technology, a qualitative evaluation was applied and accomplished by two schools. A sample of employees impacted by the integration of technology TeachUp! Programs were taken to be questioned on their understanding of the changing technology power into the ongoing culture and the function of classrooms, improvement of learning outputs, and long term systematic change. The following workers were examined or interviewed, high school science and English teachers, elementary and high school principals, technology director, special education and elementary music teachers, alternative and math education teachers, and middle school librarians.
Comments- the sample taken may not reflect the improvement of technology in most schools in the nation since the sample taken is small. The perceptions of the individual may not demonstrate well on the extent to which technology has assisted in the operations of most of the schools.
Results
Culture
According to one of the respondents, the integration of technology into school has evolved. The learning climate has been altered with the TeachUp! Programs of technology. The confidence to use technology by staff and teachers has grown, and they have courageously used technology in their lessons as a lecture method.
Comments- the TeachUp! Programs may not be effective in some subjects, and it cannot be used in every lecture. The assessment of the technology assets may also be limited to a small section.
Changes in School Functions
Before technology integration, as indicated by the technology director, technology programs were used sparingly. There was no view that they were meaningful in part of the day to day activities. As many programs were integrated into technology, peoples’ knowledge grew and consequently their level of comfort, and they stared incorporating it for more events than usual ones. Recently, due to the integration of technology, teachers are highly dependent on technology for many things. They utilize it in every class setting during the day. On the other side, an elementary principal complimented this saying that approximately more than half of 50% of instruction time was used in technology before programs. This has raised almost 100% with the new integration of technology in every class setting. Not only were computers talked about during the interviews, but various teachers also mentioned the issues of the school’s emerging types of phones.
Mobile phones have increased the conversation between the teachers, between administrators and teachers, and between parents and teachers. In most schools, they now have the capability of using phones for announcements and bells. The system of the phones has altered how people are contacted. Math teachers also uttered that they use a smartphone system to administer department meetings. Most of these individuals say that they can start a meeting call and stay where they are at once; this is seen as excellent for individuals who are generally busy throughout the day. School functions that involve much of the messages about faculty conferences are now accomplished through PowerPoints or emails. The school has become more efficient and more virtual since faculty can see the words in different regions.
Comments- though technology may be useful in some way, it has encouraged laziness in teachers’ work and may affect the overall performance in the education sector.
Instructional Technology
Before integrating technology into the systems of learning, approximately around 30% of the teachers utilized teaching technology based on the high school principal. These teachers who used technology in their programs were most comfortable with it. The use of technology increased to about 70 percent during the times when technology advanced gradually and encouraged leaders to be used in schools. Just in nearly every classroom now, technology is being used. According to one of the principals of elementary institutions, he uttered that incorporating technology transformed from around 30 percent to 100 percent in most school programs. One of the primary teachers said that before the technology programs, only a short time of instruction, about 10 to 20%, was used on technology. During the integration of technology into the applications, the use of technology in schools rose to about 50 percent. Now it has been added into the lesson plans, and about 90 to 100% of instructions utilize technology in several stages. Besides, other elementary teachers said that it was incorporated to about 100 percent in some form, whether it is via the use of telephones, iPods, and computers.
To summarize this, now, technology is crucial in schools. The staff understands the technology, utilizes it to students appreciate it. They have benefited far since the paradigm shift has operated and the belief that teachers have been changed due to the integrated technology.
Comments- the estimations in this section may not reflect the real part or extent to which the technology was used in the past and now. Besides, the integration of technology, making things run smoothly in schools, may affect learning adversely if not utilized appropriately.
Sustainability
According to the high school principal, the sustainability of technology has been attained since one of the program’s tenets was to train individuals so that they will keep it on. The education sector is finding a way to incorporate the technology into giving on-site instruction and into the lesson plans.
Comments- teachers must have a vast knowledge in the field of technology being incorporated and its merits over the customarily used traditional methods. Suppose there is inappropriate knowledge about the use of technology. In that case, it can be seen as a hindrance to achieving success in education’s goals and not a benefit to achieving the goals in teaching.
Students Applications of Technology
According to the director of technology, it is estimated that a hundred percent of school children now utilize it in their studies. The principal of high school estimated that about 70 percent of school children utilize technology in their every day. Now, the children use telephones in their school assignments and readings. An English teacher uttered that the integration of technology has enhanced around 60 percent of classrooms to have interactive boards, but most teachers in the past did not know about them. According to her, since most teachers have incorporated technology into their teaching, they have also adopted and used it.
Comments-Like getting educated about a new task requires unique training to ensure the effective use of technology in classrooms because technology is not the terminal of success in education, but rather as a way that can be used to attain success.
Summary
There is no summary provided
Comments- an abstract should be submitted to act as an overall review of the article, and the main contents should be included for easy reading
Conclusion
The overall conclusion of the research is that the TeachUp! The program has been proved to be helpful. The knowledge of technology has grown over time, and it has successfully helped in the schools’ operation. Teachers are now trying to incorporate it into their lesson plans. The majority of the teachers are highly dependent on technology for most of their work.
Comments- technology should not be excessively depended on since it may fail in some situations, and most of the programs may be crushed. The conclusion arrived at may not reflect on all teachers globally, because not every school has incorporated it into their school operations.
Recommendation
There is no recommendation provided
Comments- recommendation should be provided to act as a guide to future research.
References
The references were provided in the MLA format, and they were well in the text cited in every section of the article, especially in the introduction and the conclusion. The references were seen to be a total of ten.
Overall critique
There is limited access to the adequate resources needed. This is usually experienced when the number of cameras or quantities of computers for a classroom is insufficient to meet the whole class’s needs. It also comes in ways that cannot be noticed easily, such as inadequate access to technology exploration because of expensive incorporation of technology in the schools and the fear of being damaged. In other situations, the inconvenience of the placement of resources may be a blockage, like having to move a classroom to a computer laboratory instead of having computers access in forms of laptops in the classes. In future, a large sample should be selected for an appropriate conclusion of the research.