Date of Conferral

1-1-2011

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Leslie Van Gelder

Abstract

Although successful integration of technology into classrooms has proven beneficial to the learning process, little is yet known about how teachers respond to the introduction of technology and why some choose to use it while others do not. Using Sandoltz' stages of teacher technology adoption as a framework, this multiple case study utilized historical data that captured the experiences of teachers in 2001--2002 to determine the process of teachers' adoption of innovations into existing classroom practices. Participants included a purposive sample of eight 5th- and 6th-grade teachers from 3 schools. Data sources included teacher interviews, classroom observations, and video recordings of classroom practices for each teacher. Analysis included deconstruction by research question to identify patterns and emerging themes. The findings in this study showed that the voluntary nature of participation in technology integration activities contributed to students' success. It also indicated that teachers who received on-going grant support had greater success integrating technology into instructional practices. This study contributes to positive change by providing a tool that can be used by policy makers and staff developers to better improve the adoption of current and future technological innovations where resistance may occur.

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