Teacher Efficacy in 1:1 Tablet Integration

This poster details the theoretical framework and current progress of a one-to-one tablet initiative at an urban middle school in the southeastern United States. Results of the first iterative cycle are examined. Issues of teachers’ efficacy with technology and TPACK integration, teachers’ interview data, examples of the collaboration between teachers and researchers around effective technology integration, and observational data will be shared. Introduction and Background Many schools are beginning to adopt one-to-one computing with the goal of developing students’ 21st century skills, which allow students to learn not only content but also acquire critical skills (e.g. creativity, collaboration, and digital literacy) (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012). Researchers (e.g. Keengwe, Schnellert, & Mills, 2012) have demonstrated that technology integration is essential to meet this goal; however, the existing technology infrastructure is insufficient to develop the desired outcomes of these implementations (Greaves et al., 2012). Currently, there has been little research (e.g. Fleisher, 2012; Greaves et al., 2012) that examines teacher appropriation of the tablets into their pedagogy. Teachers often do not understand or have the time to spend learning about the functionality of the devices. According to Ifenthaler and Schweinbenz (2013), a majority of teachers are open to integrating tablets and feel they would enhance their practice, but others are not confident about using a new device in their everyday instruction. In addition, how teachers actually integrate devices into their practice is often dictated by school culture (Fleisher, 2012; Greaves et al., 2012). When teachers lack the knowledge of how to use technology, their attempts to integrate technology successfully are often limited (Koehler, Mishra, Kereluik, Shin, & Graham, 2014). Others (e.g. Kim et al., 2013) have shown that internal barriers, attitudes, beliefs, and efficacy with technology still impact levels of technology integration. Teachers who have more student-centered pedagogical beliefs are better at integrating technology as a part of their classroom whereas those with teacherdirected pedagogical beliefs are more likely to use technology as enrichment to the lesson (Kim et al., 2013). Using a TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), this research project aims to help middle grades teachers integrate technology effectively and redefine (Puentedura, 2009) teaching and learning in the content areas. The following questions guide our research: 1) How do middle school teachers develop pedagogies that integrate technology within their discipline? ; 2) How can teachers integrate tablet computers (e.g. iPads) into content specific applications that move beyond a level of substitution? Theoretical and Methodological Frameworks This study is part of a larger design-based research project (Brown, 1992) that is examining the use of iPads within specific content contexts. Design-based research emerged from the dialectic between theory and design in research, with theory suggesting an improved design and design suggesting new dimensions to theory. While theory and design can and do