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:__Patricia Kuhn_______ Date: _11/3/19________________

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Waxman, H., Boriack, A., Yuan-Hsuan, L., & MacNeil, A. (2013). Principals' Perceptions of the
Importance of Technology in Schools. Contemporary Educational Technology, 4(3), 187-196.

INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what
is the theoretical background or overarching theme):
Has technology had an impact in your school? If so, in what specific ways has it
made a difference?
used as a primary communication tool?
integrated in teachers’ classroom instruction?
utilized for data sharing and management?
used as a resource to find information?
used for administrative tasks?
used for student learning?

Purpose of the research:

To look at how principals perceive technology and its use. Also sought to
discover how important principals believe the integration of technology is to
every aspect of how a school functions. It broke the answers down by years of
experience and gender.
It focused on two essential questions:
What are principals’ perceptions of the importance of technology?
Do principals’ perceptions of technology differ by years of experience and
gender?

METHODOLOGY

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

Participants:
310 principals, 126 male, 184 female,
104 with 0-3 years experience, 82 with 4-7 years experience
55 with 8-11 years experience, 32 with 12-15 years experience
31 with greater than 15 years experience

Procedures:
Administered by students in an educational leadership program at a
major, urban doctoral-granting university in the south central United
States. The principals interviewed were from the southwest region of the
U.S. This study was supposed to build on prior research but focus on
principals’ views of technology giving respondents the ability to provide
explanations instead of simply answering yes or no questions.

Data Collection Methods/Data Source:

The grad students utilized a questionnaire which included qualitative and
quantitative questions designed specifically for the purpose of this
study. Some of the questions were open-ended allowing for an
investigation into the principals’ attitudes towards technology.

Data Analysis:
Because of the open ended questions utilized all principal’s responses
were read multiple times and then coded into specific categories. After all
responses were coded a different researcher worked separately to code a
10% sample of the responses to establish consistency and agreement of
the coding. Cohen’s kappa was utilized. At .94 the degree of agreement
was almost perfect.

RESULTS

Findings or Results (or main points of the article):

Approximately 35% said technology was the primary form of communication
and almost 28% responded that it was integrated into teachers’ instruction.
Utilizing it as a resource tool found about 15% of respondents replying in the
affirmative. Data sharing and management was about the same at almost 14%.
Utilizing it for administrative tasks and assisting with student learning both
came in at roughly 10%. There were some differences in responses by gender
with more females, 36%, than males, 33%, responding that technology enhances
communication, more males, 33% than females, 25%, responding that it is
utilized in instruction, more males, 16%, than females, 14%, responding that it
was used as a resource tool, more males, 12%, than females, 9%, responding
that it assists with administrative tasks, more females, 12%, than males, 7.2%,
responding that it is helpful for student learning and almost complete
agreement at 15% for utilization of data. There were also some differences by
years of experience with principals with 12 or more years of experience
responding that technology plays a bigger role in instruction than it does in
communication. Large differences emerged with approximately a quarter of
principals with 0-3 years and 15 years or more responding technology impacts
resource gathering and all other years of experience responding with a
percentage of 12.5 or lower. Overall the principals’ responses were more
diverse by years of experience than by gender however the two highest
percentage categories were communication and instruction regardless of years
of experience.

DISCUSSIONS

Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

Technology is here to stay and with an ever increasing influence. Regardless of
desire principals are the technology leaders on their respective campuses and
must embrace the understanding that their vision and knowledge of technology
impacts the entire school community for good or bad. Principals must find ways
to educate themselves and put into place protocols of how to consistently
approach and implement technology that is efficient and effective. This
approach must include a plan for the exponential rate of growth of technology
realistically applied within budget constants as well as understand that people’s
perceptions of technology will differ with age, gender and years of experience.

REFLECTIONS

Student’s Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your

school/work):
The aversion many teachers and principals feel to technology integration is
unfortunate. While technology doesn’t guarantee successful learning, the idea
that it shouldn’t be included in almost every conversation is naïve. Lack of
understanding of emergent technologies feeds this distaste and produces
antiquated ideas of how to apply technology in a meaningful way. The fact that
in 2013, the date of this study, only 14% of respondents believed that data
sharing and management was positively impacted by technology is staggering.
The percentage for respondents, 15%, who believed technology was an effective
resource for information gathering is equally stunning. One fact remains clear.
Students, especially in affluent communities, are using technology at an
unprecedented rate and this must be considered. They don’t know how to exist
without the constant connection technology provides. If leaders don’t learn how
to penetrate this haze of constant connectivity and understand how to
effectively communicate in this new language, the education establishment will
become increasingly irrelevant. Educational leaders are charged with assisting
students and staff how to effectively use the technology they walk around with
in their back pockets and plugged into their ears. Simply telling them to put it
away is not a solution. In addition, simply placing it in every classroom isn’t the
answer either. Leaders must understand how technology can enhance learning
in many situations and make possible what wasn’t possible even a few short
years ago. They must stop living in the past with paper and pencil and embrace
the ability to store, retrieve and analyze all kinds of data in meaningful ways
instead of just checking the box in order to state that they integrated technology
on their campuses. As one principal responded in Waxman, Boriack, Yuan-
Hsuan, and MacNeil, (2013), “We can access data quick and fast and use it to
make instructional decisions therefore impacting student learning for the
better” (p. 192). More principals need to get onboard with technology and
understand that when used effectively it makes a positive impact.