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Coffee, kaliedescopes, roller blades, and ice cream cones: What poetic conventions tell us about teachers' relationships with and perceptions of educational technology

Clare, K. (2002). Coffee, kaliedescopes, roller blades, and ice cream cones: What poetic conventions tell us about teachers' relationships with and perceptions of educational technology. In D. Willis et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2002 (pp. 1273-1275). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/10484.

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Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (SITE) 2002
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
2002
ISBN 1-880094-44-4
Dee Anna Willis, Jerry Price & Niki Davis
AACE

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Kilbane Clare, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

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Coffee, kaliedescopes, roller blades, and ice cream cones: What poetic conventions tell us about teachers' relationships with and perceptions of educational technology Submitted by Dr. Clare R. Kilbane, Assistant Professor Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies 8 Furcolo Hall School of Education University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 413.577.2898 Kilbane@educ.umass.edu Purpose "Give me a lever, and a place to stand and I will move the earth." Archimedes, 340 AD Centuries ago, Archimedes recognized technology's power to both initiate and facilitate world altering change. Although his enduring metaphor places appropriate emphasis on the role technology plays in the change process, Archimedes' illustration fails to acknowledge that several important factors influence the speed, direction, and magnitude of efforts to bring about change. At present, computer-based technology, is the lever of choice for many proponents of educational change. Research on efforts to improve teaching and learning with technology has revealed that several factors influence technology-driven educational change. Early research in the 1980s on the implementation of technology for the purpose of enhancing teaching and learning revealed that limited access to appropriate and adequate equipment was to largely to blame for the failure of change efforts. Once these problems were addressed researchers turned their focus to other problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, researchers focused on problems stemming from teachers' need for basic technical skills and various kinds of support (administrative, community, technical). Now that efforts have been made to address these aforementioned concerns, current research in the field revolves primarily around problems emanating from teachers' lack of knowledge about appropriate integration of technology. The research trend that emerges from examination patterns during the last twenty years is a movement from the investigation of technical and organizational forces influencing change to those more professional and personal forces (in humans) influencing change. If the trend continues, one might anticipate that the next realm of research will study the most fundamental human characteristics influencing efforts to change--individual beliefs and attitudes. In other areas of educational research, teachers' beliefs and attitudes have been identified as factors critical to the success or failure of reform efforts (Fullan, 1991; Elmore, Peterson, & McCarthey, 1996; Tyack & Cuban, 1993). Although the research literature on teacher beliefs and attitudes toward innovations affecting such professional concerns as content area instruction (Battista, 1992), instructional reform (Holland, 1998), and multicultural education (Shaw, 1993) has grown dramatically in the last ten years (Richardson, 1996), a body of research investigating the effect of teachers' beliefs and attitudes on efforts to change teaching and learning using technology has not yet been developed. Information regarding the nature of teachers attitudes in regard to their relationship with technology and their beliefs about the relationship of technology and learning could be important for a variety of reasons. This paper reports on a study exploring teachers' attitudes toward and their beliefs about the relationship between instructional technology and learning. It shares the information gained from an investigation conducted with some 26 preservice teachers participating in a semester-long technology infusion project. Teachers were asked to share their personal relationship with technology and their belief about the relationship of technology and learning using the poetic conventions of either similies or metaphors. Information generated from this investigation revealed that teachers' attitudes toward and relationships with educational technology vary considerably. It communicates that these beliefs and attitudes are able to be influenced by participation in academic coursework and field experiences geared toward the integration of technology with instruction. The study suggests that teachers beliefs and attitudes play a critical role in the speed, direction, and magnitude of efforts to integrate technology with instruction. It identifies concerns that might be addressed when attempting to facilitate teachers' adoption of technology in the classroom. Finally, it suggests that use of poetic convention was an effective method of inquiry for investigating teachers' beliefs and attitudes that might be used in future research projects. Perspectives Humans use poetic convention to explain objects, ideas, and relationships that often defy explanation in more simple terms. Metaphors and similes can be more economical than other manners of expression-using fewer words to paint a better picture. They enable the expression of feelings, thoughts, things, and experiences for which there are no easy words. And they are generous to readers and listeners as they encourage interpretation and further exploration. In this study, preservice teachers were asked to use the poetic convention of similes and metaphors to describe their attitudes and beliefs about technology. This approach was employed because the researcher believed that the qualities of poetic convention mentioned above would aid teachers in recognizing their own views and sharing them with others. It was presumed that teachers might feel more comfortable using similes and metaphors than simple expression. It was also believed that teachers, who are known for their ability to be creative, might enjoy this creative approach and share more information about themselves if given the option to use descriptive language. Methods and modes of inquiry 26 third-year preservice teachers from a large state school in the northeast participated in this study during the spring of 2001. The preservice teachers had recently completed basic undergraduate coursework in the arts and sciences and some foundational courses in the field of education. These preservice teachers varied in their amount of experience with technology but had no formal training to help them develop specific skills for using technology nor experiences teaching them how to integrate technology with instruction prior to this study. Preservice teachers participated in a pre-practicum placement taking place in an elementary school classroom (grades 1-5) that was located in one of four school districts (representing rural, suburban, and urban school settings). In these placements, they were matched with an experienced teacher (with a minimum of 3 years experience) who was considered a novice with technology. The preservice teachers spent two, 6-hour, school days during a 14 week semester in their placement. During the semester when the study was conducted, the preservice teachers participated in a two credit course called "Technology as a Tool for Instruction" offered as part of their formal courses concurrent with the pre-practicum experience. In this course, students developed skills necessary for using three popular software programs- a multimedia program called Kid Pix, a spreadsheet program called Excel, and a semantic mapping program called Kidspiration. They also received instruction helping them develop an understanding of how technology might be integrated with instruction. This instruction included opportunities to write lesson plans in which behavioral objectives were considered a condition for learning, student interaction with technology was required, and where the technological resources utilized were limited to those found in their pre-practicum classroom. As part of their experience in this course, preservice teachers were expected to share the skills and knowledge they gained as part of the technology course with teachers in their prepracticum placements. The preservice teachers completed assignments that required them to discuss their beliefs about teaching and learning, their experiences with technology, and their understanding of technology's instructional role with the teachers with whom they worked. In addition, preservice teachers were asked to plan at least one technology integrated lesson with their partner teacher and reflect on it during the course of the semester. The preservice and inservice teachers were brought together once at the beginning and end of the semester for brief meetings. During these meetings, all were introduced to the project, expectations for the semester, and the idea of using poetic convention to describe the power of technology. The definition of two specific poetic conventions--similes and metaphors--were shared with the group. In addition, a quotation from Archimedes using a metaphor and other examples were shared. All of the teachers were given paper and asked to develop two comparisons (either a simile or a metaphor) describing their personal relationship with technology and their perception of the relationship between teaching and learning. Teachers were then asked to share their ideas with others. Data was analyzed using a variation of the constant comparative method (Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Strauss, 1989). After being compiled following the two meetings, it was grouped into exclusive categories that were representative of emergent themes represented by all data in each category. Data sources or evidence Some 50 similes and metaphors were collected at the beginning of the semester from 23 preservice teacher participants. An additional 55 were collected at the end of the semester from 24 preservice teacher participants. In addition to grouping the data by category, analysis was conducted to determine whether preservice teachers attitudes and beliefs were influenced over the course of the semester. An open-ended questionnaire administered to preservice teachers at the final project meeting added data to the researcher's analysis that was used for verification purposes. Students metaphors were member-checked and the categorization of data using the constant comparative method was checked by a colleague who was not involved in the project. Results and Conclusions Eight themes were generated to reflect the perception that students had of their relationship with technology. The preservice teachers described their relationships as variable, unpredictable, evolving, negative, difficult but promising, overwhelming, optional, and transformational. Seven themes were generated to describe students' perception of the relationships between technology and learning. These themes reflected students perception that: 1) technology should be an essential part of the learning process, 2) that technology merely enhanced learning, 3) technology had specific and particular roles to fill in the learning process, 4) technology should be used as a reward, 5)experiences using technology were addictive for students, 6)technology was useful in learning but not a personal preference, and 7) technology leads to learning. When metaphors created at the beginning of the semester were compared with those created at the end of the semester, some evidence of change in students over the course of the semester was present. This raised interest in future research to determine the source of this change. Educational importance of the study Efforts that focus on encouraging teachers to use technology in their classroom are more likely to succeed if teachers' beliefs and attitudes are taken into consideration. This study would suggest that preservice teachers beliefs and attitudes regarding technology can be influenced by experiences they have as part of their professional preparation. This study reports on one such model for integrating technology into professional preparation that might be of use to other institutions preparing teachers. In addition, this study reveals specific attitudes and beliefs preservice teachers possess in relations to educational technology. If taken into consideration during the design of technology infusion projects, the beliefs and attitudes shared here might improve such efforts. References Battista, M.T. 1992. Teacher beliefs and the reform movement in the mathematics education. Phi Delta Kappan. 462-470. Elmore, R. F., Peterson, P.L., & McCarthey, S. J. (1996). Restructuring in the classroom: Teaching, learning, and school organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Fullan, M. G. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press. Guba, E. & Lincoln, L. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications. Hunter H. (1998). Making change: Three educators join the battle for better schools. Portsmith, NH: Heinemann, 1998. Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, 102-119. Shaw, C.C. (1993). Multicultural teacher education: A call for conceptual change. Multicultural Education,1(3), 22-24. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research : grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage Publications. Tyack, D. & Cuban, L. (1995) Tinkering toward utopia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Coffee, kaliedescopes, roller blades, and ice cream cones: What poetic conventions tell us about teachers' relationships with and perceptions of educational technology

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