Educators Lack of Technology Use in the Classroom

Educators Lack of Technology Use in the Classroom

Introduction

Background

Use of instructional materials has become an outstanding research topic for instructors and researchers for decades. Historical voices in the field of education, including Montessori, Plato, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Owen, and Dewey, believed that young children should be taught through objects. As such, many educators and associations agree with these theorists and suggest that effective instruction in early education as well as in the elementary grades incorporates use of materials (Ertmer 2005, 25). Specifically, it is acknowledged that materials may enhance interaction between teacher and students as well as interaction among students, facilitate students' understanding, enrich retention, and maintain motivation. Besides overall benefits of instructional materials, teachers' selections and their rationale in regard to the most appropriate material for their instructional context have potential to increase the effectiveness of their instruction and maximize benefits of instructional materials.

Although instructional materials are considered as critical components of effective instruction, the success of their integration into instruction depends on teachers' strategic knowledge as defined by Goldstein. Strategic knowledge comprises teachers' own content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge built up through experience, personal characteristics, and education they received (Ertmer 2005, 26). One situation in which strategic knowledge comes into play is the time when the teacher makes the selection of instructional materials to use when teaching. It helps teachers choose developmentally appropriate materials for their students.

Furthermore, this material selection process entails teachers considering various aspects of their instruction including their instructional contexts, necessities and available resources. In addition to these aspects, teachers' skills, knowledge, and perceptions about materials and their usage affect their material selections (Ertmer 2005, 28). Since teachers' competencies and perceptions begin to be shaped during their participation in teacher education program, preparing teacher candidates to be ...