Teachers, pedagogy and professional development - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 92

Sheingold and Hadley's (1990) nationwide survey of teachers identified three
consistent key factors where teachers were 'accomplished' in their use of technology:
first, teacher motivation and commitment to their own development; second, the
support teachers experienced in their schools, and third, access to sufficient quan-
tities of technology. Teachers reported that their classroom practices became more
learner-centred with the integration of technology in their curriculum. Sheingold
and Hadley (1990) saw wider success among teachers if: '. . . ample technology, sup-
port, and time for teachers to learn the technology are provided, and if an academic
and cultural structure exists to encourage teachers to take an experimental approach
to their work' (Sheingold and Hadley 1990: 25).
Becker's (1994) work reveals other positive factors that encourage teachers to use
technology, notably: collegiality among teachers using computers in their school;
resources for teachers' development; smaller class sizes; and more dedicated technol-
ogy training.
With respect to research from Europe, in Holland, Veen's seminal research (1993)
revealed that school factors played an important role in how teachers made use of
technology, in particular the essential technical support offered (20 hours per week)
and the positive attitude of the head. The emphasis on the importance of leadership
was echoed in the UK by Lawson and Comber's (2004) research.
A review of the research literature identifies a complex interplay of factors that
affect the integration of technology into teachers' pedagogic practice. However, these
research findings do not provide an understanding of teachers' learning paths or profes-
sional practices which teachers engage with to help them integrate technology: in short,
how teachers learn and create new knowledge about technology for pedagogical pur-
poses. An analysis of the factors that affect teachers' use of technology does not, in and
of itself, reveal insight into teachers' learning processes for implementing technology.
What research has accomplished is the identification of the factors that support
teachers using technology and the corollary: of those which, when absent, hinder teachers'
uptake of technology. Politically these factors were directly addressed through the UK
government's first national technology strategy in 1997, which attempted to rectify the
major barriers that had been identified. This included providing the necessary infrastructure
to develop technology in schools: namely, technology resources in the form of computers
and funding (NGFL) and training (NOF).
Teachers learning to use technology in technology-rich contexts: lessons learnt
This analysis considers the most significant research findings from America and the
UK regarding 'support intervention' through technology-rich projects in schools. A
widely acclaimed technology research project was the 'Apple Classrooms of Tomor-
row' (ACOT), which focused initially on technology-rich classrooms in America
(Dwyer et al. 1991; Sandholtz et al. 1997). In supplying the hardware, software and
training, this programme of technology-rich intervention aimed to help teachers
learn how to integrate technology. This longitudinal research identified an 'instruc-
tional evolution' through which teachers progressed. Teachers began with the 'entry
phase', where teaching remained largely unchanged as they grappled with technical