Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3488-4038

Date Available

11-14-2022

Year of Publication

2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Education

Department/School/Program

Education Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. John Nash

Abstract

The use of educational technology applications has grown tremendously in the last decade. Instructors are now equipped with hardware and software applications previously unavailable, such as mobile and interactive technologies. These tools can have tremendous impact on students’ learning and teacher practices. Teachers can improve their assessment capabilities through technology integration, provide better learning opportunities for students with learning disabilities, and promote deeper learning practices. Due to these benefits, budgets at the federal, state, and local levels of the United States now have specific allocations regarding technology-related purchases. Nevertheless, barriers remain regarding the effective integration of technologies in public schools.

Student and teacher access to technology can be limited when at school versus at home. Internet access or slow speeds can drastically impact educational access in rural communities. Such differences in access can limit teachers' and students' experiences with technologies, restricting instructor technology background and student learning outcomes. School district policies regarding testing requirements can constrain teachers' use of technology for instruction. Additionally, professional development opportunities for technology training can focus solely on introducing new technologies and not on effective integration strategies. While some of these variables can be addressed by increasing access to technology and shifting technology policies to increase teachers’ daily use, non-cognitive factors, such as teacher levels of technology self-efficacy and grit, may play a role in helping teachers use technology more effectively. This study addressed non-cognitive factors of self-efficacy and grit and their role in teacher levels of technology integration.

A rural school district was chosen to evaluate high school teachers' level of technology integration, technology self-efficacy, and grit. Exploratory Factor analysis, Correlation analysis, and hierarchical linear regression modeling were used to determine the correlations of grit and self-efficacy with technology integration. While self-efficacy correlates with technology integration for providing students with content, grit is correlated with how teachers use technology for tasks relating to higher-order thinking processes such as student publication. This study offers a foray into understanding the relationship between grit and technology integration across multiple high school locations in a rural district. The application of non-cognitive psychometrics on technology integration may support educators in advancing student use of technology to become deep-conceptual, metacognitive learners.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.375

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