Teacher experiences with technology initiatives and understandings

Abstract

At the secondary public school level, there have been many technology initiatives introduced to teachers for classroom and administrative use. Despite the upgrades in technology, teachers' have not had many opportunities to express how the initiatives are experienced and understood. The purpose of this study explored the experiences of teachers using technology within their profession and allowed them to express the impact their experiences had on their profession. Specifically, the study investigated teachers' experiences with technology initiatives at the high school level. An extensive literature review related to technology in the secondary education level was conducted along with an exploration of Bandura's theory on self-efficacy applied as a theoretical framework. The research design, data collection, and analysis of the study followed. Nine Secondary Public High School science teachers from the same school district participated in an open interview process where data was collected, coded, and analyzed using qualitative interpretational phenomenology analysis (IPA) methodology. This process led to the researchers' understanding of the participants', teachers', technology initiatives and understandings in the secondary high school setting.