JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership / M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
EDUC 5324 Integrating Technology into Education

Name: Kubra Yildiz Sisek Date: 09/25/2017

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Dogan, B., & Almus, K. (2014). School Administrators Use of iPads: Impact of Training and
Attitudes Toward School Use.Computers in the Schools, 31(3), 233250.
doi:10.1080/07380569.2014.932660

INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what
is the theoretical background or overarching theme):
What is the impact of the training process on school administrators use of iPads for
administrative tasks and personal organization in their professional duties?
What is the impact of the training process on school administrators beliefs regarding
how teachers should use iPads in the classroom?
Are there any differences in school administrators survey responses based on gender,
age, years of experience in school administration and education, highest degree
attained, school classification, or school size?
Purpose of the research: There are numerous studies and projects on the
implementation of iPads in educational settings around the world (Crichton, Stuewe,
Pegler, & White, 2011; Dogan, 2012; Murphy, 2011). However, there is a lack of
research on how school administrators use iPads for their professional duties and the
potential effects on their work-related tasks and personal organization. In a recent
study, iPads were purchased and implemented in a school system based on the
assumption that they would enhance the productivity of school administrators, thus
improving school functionality and promoting a technology-rich school climate
(Winslow, Dickerson, Cheng-Yuan Lee, & Geer, 2012). Even though Winslow et al.
(2012) provided insightful information on how iPads are used by principals, the
literature review conducted for this study revealed that there was no research
examining the impact of receiving specific iPad training on school administrators
attitudes toward iPad use. In order to determine potential impacts in this area, a
research study involving a training process, which included workshops, online
resources, and ongoing support, was designed. We developed this study based on our
experiences as a faculty member in the field of educational technology and as a faculty
member in the field of educational leadershipat a small private university located in
a southwestern metropolitan city. We have more than 10 years of experience in our
areas of expertise in K12 and higher education settings.
 METHODOLOGY

What is the methodology for the research or approach used to understand the
issue? Provide information regarding the following:

Participants: Study components included a pre-survey, a training session on the

effective use of iPads for administrative tasks and personal organization, specially
designed resources expanding the topics covered in the training session, on-going
support, and a post-survey. The study was conducted February through May 2013. As
researchers, we developed two survey instruments as a mechanism to collect data,
which were administered online through the survey submission system hosted at the
universitys server. The pre-survey was administered at the beginning of the spring
2013 semester and the post-survey was given at the end of the four-month study
period. Both instruments were reviewed for face validity by two education faculty
members and then were piloted using a group of school administrators in a local
school district. Surveys were finalized after the feedback on the pilot versions.
Demographic information collected on the pre-survey included age, years of
experience as a school administrator, years of experience in education, highest degree
earned, school classification, and school size. The pre-survey also included questions
measuring if and how school administrators were currently using their iPads for their
daily school-related tasks, their beliefs about the effectiveness of iPads for
administrative tasks, and if and how school teachers should be using iPads in the
classroom. Designed as a closure to the study, the post-survey instrument included
questions intended to measure self-reported improvements in certain tasks after
completing the training, as well as items regarding the evaluation of training session
and resources provided to school administrators during the study. In addition, some of
the questions of the pre-survey were repeated in the post-survey to assess the change
in responses during the study. Survey instruments included multiple choice and Likert-
type scale items. The survey responses were reported as frequencies. In addition,
paired sample t-test data analysis was conducted to understand the differences in the
responses between the pre- and post-surveys. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
test was conducted to see whether there were any differences in school
administrators responses by gender, age, years of experience in school administration
and education, highest degree attained, school classification, and school size. Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to conduct the data analysis.

Procedures: Training was designed based on feedback from participants and

delivered through an interactive webinar session. The training of school administrators
included topics intended to develop iPad skills and use certain workflow, note-taking,
calendar, productivity, file-sharing, remote-desktop, presentation, and screen-sharing
applications covered specifically from a principals perspective. Additional resources
reinforcing the topics covered in the initial training session were provided later to
school administrators in the form of video and written tutorials for their convenience.
Technical support regarding the training topics and study was available to participants
on an ongoing basis. Researchers provided technical support to school administrators
via e-mail and telephone.

Data Collection Methods/Data Source: A descriptive analysis of the

demographic and contextual data for the pre-survey participants was conducted. The
average age of school administrators who participated was 34.16 years. The average
years of experience in education was 8.45, and the average years of experience as a
school administrator was 2.04. The average school size of participants was calculated
as 618.50. All participants in this study owned an iPad. While 27.45% of participants
purchased their own iPads, the majority of the iPads (72.55%) were given to school
administrators by their school district. While all participants used Microsoft Windows
Vista, 7, or 8 as their computer platform, 52.94% used the iPhone (iOS) as their mobile
platform, followed by Android (37.25%), BlackBerry OS (1.96%), and other (7.84%). The
majority of participants schools were classified as elementary, middle, and high
school (K12) (62.75%), followed by elementary and middle school (K8) (19.61%),
middle and high school (612) (9.80%), and elementary (K5) (7.84%). Participants
were also asked in the pre-survey about the highest level of education that they had
attained. According to the results, 50.98% of school administrators held a bachelors
degree and 49.02% held a masters degree.
Data Analysis: The data analysis of this study is categorized into five main groups:
analysis of demographic and contextual data; impacts of the training process on school
administrators use of iPad and iPad applications; impacts of the training process on
school administrators beliefs regarding how teachers should use iPads in the
classroom; differences in participants responses by their demographic and contextual
data (gender, age, years of experience in school administration and education, highest
degree attained, school classification, and school size); and evaluation of training
process.

RESULTS

Findings or Results (or main points of the article): As the use of iPads by
educators is increasing, further research is needed to understand the full potential of
this technology in educational settings. In addition to research on the educational uses
of iPads in the classroom by teachers and students, it would be worthwhile to examine
how school administrators use iPads and how this use could affect school wide
implementation. The present study lays a foundation for future studies to investigate
how providing iPad training to school administrators helps them to conduct
administrative tasks more efficiently and to be seen as the instructional and
technological leaders of their schools. Specifically, further studies could examine
features of effective iPad training for school administrators, the nature of correlation
between school administrators iPad use and potential iPad implementation in their
schools, and types of administrative tasks that could be carried out more efficiently
with iPads for school administrators.

DISCUSSIONS

Conclusions/Implications (for your profession): We are in technology era and it is

developing very fast which is really hard to stay tuned. As educators, we should take
benefits of technology in using classrooms. Teachers should plan their lessons by
integrating technology. Since, there are a lot of educational sites that students can use
via chrome books/IPads. Reaching resources with IPad are really easy. Instead of
making tons of copy, by sending a document to students iPad is much easier. As
teachers, somehow we should integrate technology in our subjects.
REFLECTIONS
Students Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your
school/work): In this era teenagers grow up with technology. They can get their
education using this technology, especially IPad/tablets. There are tons of apps created
for educational purposes. Not only they are user friendly, but also providing immediate
feedback and increasing class participation. IPad can be used for Aleks for math, can be
used for reading as e-book, can be used for submitting answers which make teachers
life easier. It can reduce the work load of grading papers and save time for planning.
The most important one is, I believe, using IPad with necessary programs will make
students learning self-pace, and individualized. Thats a huge impact on student
learning. That allow teachers to reach and meet every students needs individually.