Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Andrea M. Wilson

Abstract

School leaders must balance strong public demand for technology in schools, scarce and increasingly strained public financial resources, lack of research with clear relevance to the local context, and having to respond to real-time demands to make immediate and prudent decisions that affect long-term strategy. In recent years, the Palau Ministry of Education (PMOE) invested heavily in an expensive 1:1 tablet program but had not determined if the program produced the expected positive changes in elementary teachers' instructional delivery. Guided by experiential learning theory, the purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine if the 1:1 tablet program resulted in positive changes to the level of elementary teachers' use of technology in their lesson planning and presentation. Pre and postimplementation lesson planning and delivery data, collected from 63 elementary teachers participating in the 1:1 tablet program, were analyzed using a repeated measures t test. Results showed teachers' use of technology in lesson planning and in lesson presentation significantly increased after the implementation of the 1:1 tablet program. These findings suggest that the 1:1 tablet program created an environment that positively supports technology-driven instruction in the classroom and should be continued. Implications include providing the PMOE stakeholders with the evidence necessary to make a sound policy decision regarding the continuation of the expenditures needed to support the 1:1 tablet program in the long term. In light of this evidence, the PMOE has an opportunity to create positive social change for the students it serves by facilitating technology-driven instruction that is aligned to the demands of a first-class, 21st-century education.

Download

Share

 
COinS