Educator's Technology Integration Barriers and Student Technology Preparedness as 21st Century Professionals

Millions of dollars have been spent to acquire educational computing tools, and many education, government, and business leaders believe that investing in these computing tools will improve teaching and learning. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether charter school educators face technological barriers hindering them from incorporating technology into their classrooms. If they experienced self-efficacy issues integrating technology in their classrooms and if they believed their students were technologically prepared as 21st century professionals. A 5-point Likert scale survey, validated by a pilot study, was completed by 61 charter high school teachers. Their responses were analyzed, scores from the individual mean responses were used to calculate the total mean; and a parametric t test used to determine if the null or alternative hypothesis could be rejected. The theoretical foundation for this study was Cubans’ and Brickners’ firstand second-order barriers to change. In one charter school stratum, teachers experienced barriers integrating technology into their classes, while teachers in the other charter school strata did not. There was statistical significance in teachers’ beliefs about their skills integrating technology into their classes and their students being technologically prepared as 21st century professionals. The results of this research could lead to positive social change by providing valuable information to help charter school administrators identify teachers who are experiencing barriers and how they can improve teacher’s professional development integrating technology into their classrooms. Educator’s Technology Integration Barriers and Student Technology Preparedness as 21st Century Professionals by Joy Anne Pine-Thomas MS, Capella University, 2006 MS, National Louis University, 1995 BS, Empire State College, 1987 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Management Walden University February 2017 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, my family, and friends. Acknowledgments My first debt of gratitude belongs to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. I have been through many years of dealing with an upper respiratory illness that has at times incapacitated me. If it had not been for my faith in the Lord, I do not know that I would have ever attempted to finish this project. I want to thank my mentor, Dr. Thomas Spencer, for his continued help and patience with me through this entire process. I would like to thank my committee member, Dr. Aridaman Jain, for his patience and continued help with the development of my survey, the results of the survey, and dissertation. Both of you have helped me understand the research process and helped me gain a deeper respect for statistical research. I would like to give special thanks to my family for their support, love, and motivation. They allowed me the time and space to work. They helped me through many difficult times and loved me. I also want to say thank you to my closest friends who prayed for me; made sure that I had time away to rest and relax; and continued to encourage me through the difficult days, weeks, months, and years I faced getting this project completed. I would also like to thank my church family for their continued encouragement and support and the many prayers and Starbucks gift cards to ensure I stay motivated and alert. This was a challenging journey and I’m glad to be at the finish line.