Technology Integration: best Practices in Higer Education

The primary goal of this study is to explore and identify indicators of best practices in technology integration by the teacher education faculty at The University of Northern Colorado. This is a qualitative study involving seven teacher education faculty members who participated in the University’s federally funded grant, Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3). Interviews with faculty, classroom observations, faculty websites, and content analyses of the PT3 proposals written by each faculty member were used to triangulate the data. This study will benefit faculty members and their preservice student teachers by providing insights into their personal beliefs, philosophy, and practices. The emerging indicators of best practices will help illuminate the impact modeling can have on the preservice teachers. The indicators may also help faculty set a benchmark for their work and evaluate their practices against national and state technology standards. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore best practices in technology integration by faculty in teacher education programs at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). The following research question will guide the proposed study: What are the indicators of best practices of technology integration among higher education faculties? This study is based on the theories of technology integration and, change theory suggested by Gene Hall and Shirley Hord (2000). The benefit of this study will be the illumination of various indicators of best practices of technology integration. These indicators will help educators understand the impact of faculty modeling best practices for preservice teachers, and the ways these preservice teachers transfer the observed best practices to their teaching. It will also benefit the faculty by allowing them to compare their practices against national and state technology standards. Research has shown that faculty are comfortable using technologies such as word processing and e-mail (McCoy, 1999; Vannatta, 2000), but are not comfortable using multimedia technologies, databases spreadsheets etc. Regardless of their experience with technology, rarely it is used for instructional purposes. A study done by Vannatta (2000) found that an understanding of instructional methods of technology was a better indicator of technology integration than knowledge of the technology applications. The literature review has yielded very little research in the area of identifying best practices in technology integration by faculty in their personal and professional growth that has a direct impact on their teaching. Most of the studies for best practices in technology integration have focused on indicators that are influential at an organizational level rather than at an individual level. Overall, this study will benefit not only the faculty members, but also the preservice teachers who will gain insights into their own personal beliefs and practices.