Teachers' Beliefs and Technology Practices: A Mixed-methods Approach

Source: Journal of Research of Technology in Education, Volume 41 Number 4, (Summer 2009).

In a sequential mixed methods design, the authors sought to examine the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their instructional technology practices among technology-using teachers who worked at technology-rich schools. The authors' goal was to ultimately describe if change in practice toward a student- centered paradigm occurred.
The integrated mixed-methods results provide evidence for the following:
(a) teachers use technology most frequently for preparation, management, and administrative purposes; (b) teachers’ use of technology to support student-centered practice is rare even among those who work at technology-rich schools and hold student-centered beliefs; (c) teachers in technology-rich schools continue to use technology in ways that support their already existing teacher-centered instructional practices.

The authors conclude that future technology professional development efforts need to focus on integration of technology into curriculum via student-centered pedagogy while attending to multiple contextual conditions under which teacher practice takes place. Future technology research must use mixed methods and consider teachers’ beliefs if change in practice is the desired outcome.