School Principals' Attitudes towards the Use of Technology: United Arab Emirates Technology Workshop.

The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of an educational technology training workshop. The study investigated the attitudes of the participating school principals toward the use of technology in their schools and their willingness to advocate and support its use after attending the workshop. Also it investigated the advantages and challenges of using computers in schools. A questionnaire was developed and administered to 200 school principals in the United Arab Emirates. Results of this study revealed that principals had positive attitudes toward the use of technology in teaching and they are willing to support the use of technology in their schools. The principals indicated that they had learned from the workshop and that the workshop had motivated them to use new technologies in their schools. Research studies revealed that school leadership plays a major role in the implementation of technology in schools (Costello, 1997; Tooms, Acomb & McGlothlin, 2004). Other studies discussed how educators in leadership positions impacted the use of technology in the educational system (Golden, 2004; Riedl et al., 1998). Others emphasized the importance of technology training for school administration and stressed the vital need for effective managers of technology in the school system (Bozeman & Spuck, 1991; Hope & Brockmeier, 2002). In a study that focused on the computer knowledge of secondary school principals, Witten and Richardson (1991) found that the majority of principals had little information about the use of computers in managing their schools and as a result recommended a full scale training program for school principals. Beaver (1991) used mailed surveys to identify school leaders' technology competence. The findings of the study indicated that about 73 percent had some or no technological competence, and that 64 percent were at least dissatisfied with their educational technology programs Rokman and Sloan (1993) provided a description of the Principals' Technology Leadership Training Program (PTLT) that was established by the Indiana Department of Education. The program included an introduction to computer hardware and software. All the participants in the program emphasized the importance of this training for principals: One principal said "I wanted to be more knowledgeable when the teachers talked to me about technology" (p.6); some of them expressed the need to “get up to speed"(p.6). In general, the participants were satisfied with the program. The participants agreed that principals should attend PTLT because "they are the building leaders and will increasingly take responsibility for technology and other innovations in schools"(p.15). In a study that investigated the technology education needed by principals, Kajs et al. (1999) divided the educational needs into six categories: word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, database, internet and e-mail. Thomas (1999) found that many administrators use e-mail, power point, spreadsheets and data bases programs. He also found that the link between school leadership and educational technology is weak. He suggested that for the leadership to be supportive of the use of technology in schools, a stronger link between the leadership and educational technology should be emphasized. MacNeil & Delafield (1998) indicated that school principals and their assistants realized the importance of learning how to use technology and integrate it into the curriculum. Their study showed that financial resources and time constraint were the major obstacles in integrating technology into the classroom. As a conclusion to their study, they advised school leaders to rise up to the challenge and to provide supportive environments in their schools that facilitate the integration of technology into the curriculum. In a survey of school principals in a developing country, Mentz and Mentz (2002) found that principals realized the importance of computer use by students but their main obstacle in using computers was that their access to computers –even as principals- was limited. Most of them had no computers to use in the classrooms for instruction. Researchers have emphasized the importance of technology training for school leadership since those leaders are the decision makers and the ones who impact the use of technology in their schools. Stegall (1998) surveyed 54 elementary school principals; all of them agreed or strongly agreed that technology is important for their schools; 96 percent of them indicated that they had a major interest in computer technology.