Instructional Technology Tools Research Articles

Evaluation of the Adoption and Implementation of Technology-Enhanced Mathematics Lessons in Basic Schools

The study evaluated the adoption and implementation of technology-enhanced mathematics lessons in basic schools in the Ho West District of the Volta Region of Ghana. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model. The target population was all basic school teachers in Ho West District. The adopted research design was a descriptive survey research design with a quantitative approach. A stratified random sampling technique was employed and 450 basic school teachers were used as samples for the study. Data were collected using a close- ended questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.77 was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, independent samples t-tests, and Pearson’s moment correlation. The results revealed that a teacher recognizes instructional technology as useful for their mathematics instruction. Hence, challenges from teachers, least access to instructional technology tools, training, time for lesson preparation, technical issues, and resistance from their students and colleagues were identified. The study recommends that regular assessments are made on the teachers’ perceptions to tailor professional development needs. Additionally, teachers should be supported by their head teachers to tackle issues specific to individual teachers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ATHLETICS TEACHERS' USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

In the field of education, information and communication technologies and multimedia capabilities have become extremely widespread and have become available to almost all schools at certainrates. However, sometimes there are technical difficulties, sometimes it is not possible to fully use educational technologies and multimedia tools in physical education classes, for example, the service received at that time is insufficient or the desired result is not achieved. In this study, athletics teachers were asked how often they use instructional technology and multimedia tools, and the reasons, if any, for their insufficient use of these tools.

The Effect of Science Teachers’ Use of Innovative Instructional Technology Tools in Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment on Web 2.0 Competencies

Bu araştırma ile fen bilimleri öğretmenlerinin iklim değişikliği, biyoçeşitlilik ve çevre konularında yenilikçi öğretim teknoloji araçlarını
 kullanarak ders içerikleri hazırladıkları TÜBİTAK 4005 projesi sonrasında Web 2.0 kullanım yetkinliklerindeki değişim durumunun
 incelenmesi ve öğretmenlerin Web 2.0 araçlarının derslerde kullanımına dair görüşlerinin nasıl olduğunun belirlenmesi amaçlanmaktadır.
 Bu araştırmada karma yöntem çerçevesinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Doğu Anadolu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu
 Bölgesinde görev yapan 14 erkek ve 16 kadın olmak üzere toplamda 30 fen bilimleri öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Proje kapsamında fen
 bilimleri öğretmenleri ile iklim değişikliği, biyoçeşitlilik, çevre alanlarında ve Web 2.0 araçları hakkında alanından uzman akademisyenler
 ile uygulamalı eğitimler gerçekleştirilmiştir Öğretmenlerden alan bilgilerini teknolojik araçlara entegre ederek her günün sonunda ders
 içerikleri oluşturmaları istenmiştir. Araştırmanın verileri Web 2.0 Araçları Kullanımı Yetkinliği Ölçeği ve yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ile
 toplanmıştır. Araştırma çalışma grubundan elde edilen veriler SPSS 25 paket programı kullanılarak ilişkili örneklemler t testi kullanılarak
 analiz edilmiştir. Nitel veriler ise içerik analizi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre, fen bilimleri öğretmenlerinin
 uygulama sonrası Web 2.0 Araçları Kullanımı Yetkinliği Ölçeğinden aldıkları puanların uygulama öncesi aldıkları puanlara göre anlamlı
 bir artış olduğu tespit edilmiştir (t(29)= -14.584, p< .05). Araştırmanın nitel bulgularına bakıldığında fen bilimleri öğretmenleri daha
 önce bilmedikleri Web 2.0 araçları hakkında bilgi edindiklerini, uygulama yapmayı öğrendiklerini ve tam yetkinlik kazandıklarını ifade
 etmişlerdir. Fen bilimleri öğretmenleri, Web 2.0 araçlarının derslerde kullanımının öğrenci ve öğretmenlere çeşitli faydaları olduğunu
 belirtmişlerdir.

The Innovative Use of Technological Tools (the ABCs and Ps) to Help Adult Learners Decrease Transactional Distance and Increase Learning Presence

One of the pedagogical benefits that emerged from the pandemic period for adult learners was that teachers, in addition to supporting institutions, were more willing to consider and introduce technological innovations to the learning experience. For 2 years, teachers and institutions had no choice. Unanticipatedly, some of these innovative strategies also engaged and empowered otherwise hesitant instructors and marginalized adult learners. This article briefly introduces categories of instructional technology tools that emerged from this period to help democratize adult learning—giving all adults opportunities to be heard, manage anxiety and introverted tendencies, to work with others, and to inform learning decisions for instructor and student alike, etc. These practices are briefly contextualized and referenced within the field using both Michael Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance and Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s Community of Inquiry theoretical framework. The four categories of instructional technology tools featured in this article include: (1) Annotation (social) tools; (2) Backchanneling tools; (3) Collaboration tools; and (4) Polling (student response systems) tools.

Exploring MOOC as a New Instructional Technology Tool: the Relationship of Students’ Challenges, Perceived Benefits and Satisfaction

This research objectives to determine the barriers, perceived benefits and satisfaction of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) as distinguished by university students via case study at Malaysian university. A total of 763 university students from variety field of studies have participated this case study. The results exhibit a statistically significant differences between students’ field of study on MOOC challenges. Students who study engineering encounter least challenges on MOOC practicing. Unclear assignments and course expectation is their main challenge when conducting MOOC. Students from “no challenges” cluster have shown significantly highest perceived benefits and satisfaction among other challenge groups of students. However, students who from “lack of time” challenge group have shown their lowest perceived benefits and satisfaction on MOOC learning. Lastly, the strategies or improvements have been recommended to solve the students’ challenges when they are practicing MOOC to increase student satisfaction in MOOC.

Hybrid Learning Aided Technology-Rich Instructional Tools - A Case Study: Community College of Qatar

Educational Institutions have an essential role in promoting the teaching and learning process, within universities, colleges, and communities. Due to the recent coronavirus COVID 19 pandemic, many educational institutions adopted hybrid learning (HL), which is a combination of classic and online learning. It integrates the advantages of both, and it is a fundamental factor to ensure continued learning. Technological innovations such as HL are changing the teaching process, and how students, lecturers, and administrators interact. Based on this, the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) focused on researching the structures and elements related to the adoption of HL. Thus, the goal of this research paper is to reveal the impact of HL on the learning process in CCQ, and the effective instructional technology (INST) tools required for a successful HL program. Our research questions for the survey were designed to measure the opinions of the students, instructors, and administrators about the HL program. It is observed from the results that the majority of students, instructors, and administrators showed a positive attitude toward HL, but some had negative views and experienced challenges. The results were analyzed and discussed to better utilize HL to meet the growing demands of the community.

Study of the effectiveness of interactive videos in applied electronics courses

The use of interactive engineering videos as an instructional technology tool is increasing in engineering education to provide a versatile and attractive learning environment for students and to interest them in course content to increase student engagement. This study assessed the effects of using interactive engineering videos in undergraduate electrical engineering courses to enhance student understanding and engagement with electronics. To test the impact on learning outcomes with the interactive video methodology, we set up six controlled groups of students. The experimental groups were sections “A1”, “B1”, and “C1”, in which a set of 13 customized short, interactive videos (15 min or less) were available through the course. In the controlled group sections “A”, “B”, and “C”, the instruction was applied without videos. The final exam and overall grades were compared in all the sections to obtain an indication of the impact of the interactive videos. Also, we applied an exit survey to the students in the experimental sections to collect their opinions about their engagement, motivation, and commitment during the semester. In the experimental sections, a reasonable impact on the student final grades was found, with averages of 84, 80, and 83. The students’ opinions about the interactive videos were very positive: from the standpoints of motivation, 90.4%; and understanding of class materials, 91.6%. Later, an additional section, “D”, was studied and performed well in their video scores. The students having video scores above the class average had much better performance in their overall grade, with an average of 81.8%. Students from section “D” who did perform lower than the class average in their videos had lower overall performance, with an average grade of 76.5%. Moreover, additional interactive videos were provided in the special “i-Week” activity during the fall semesters. The challenge activity put to the students during that week was “Emergency First Response”, which allowed them to generate some technology proposals for first responders in the community; the students performed very well in the challenge proposed to them. Some insights about this project and the video methodology used in their instruction are described as part of the semester-long activity for the students. Finally, the students suggested additional interactive engineering videos with more example problems to consolidate the hybrid interactive video learning methodology. The interactive engineering video technology is fully considered in the TEC21 Educative Model that governs the new degree programs beginning in 2019 at Tecnologico de Monterrey.

The Effect of a Textbook Preparation Process Supported by Instructional Technology Tools on the TPACK Self-Confidence levels of Prospective Social Studies Teachers

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of a textbook preparation process supported by instructional technology tools on the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) self-confidence level of prospective Social Studies teachers'. The research was carried out using a sequential descriptive design with a mixed method design. Quantitative data were collected before and after the implementation process and the qualitative data were collected after the implementation process. Quantitative data were collected by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Self-Confidence Scale; and qualitative data were collected by a metaphor form and a BLOB tree evaluation form. Quantitative data were analyzed by a Paired Samples t-test and qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. A total of 53 prospective Social Studies teachers, from a public university in Turkey, participated in the research. The results of the analyses showed there were statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores in the levels of TPACK self confidence amongst prospective Social Studies teachers. The self-confidence scores were in favor of the post-test. Furthermore, while prospective teachers have created negative metaphors about their TPACK self-confidence before the implementation process, they created more positive metaphors after the implementation process. According to the results of the BLOB tree self-assessment, it was revealed that the TPACK self-confidence levels increased amongst the prospective Social Studies teacher participant group.

TEACHERS' UTILIZATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY FOR QUALITY TEACHING OF BUSINESS STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

This study determined teachers’ utilization of instructional technology for quality teaching of business studies in secondary schools in Enugu State. Two research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Related literature pertinent to the study were reviewed which exposed the need for the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted using a population of 388 business studies teachers in public secondary schools in the six Education Zones in Enugu State. A sample of 149 business studies teachers was drawn using the simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used for data collection and was validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument. The reliability index obtained was r = 0.83. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Mean was used to answer the research questions and standard deviation was used to explain how the responses of the respondents varied. t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results showed that business studies teachers moderately utilized multimedia projectors and lowly utilized interactive whiteboard for quality teaching of business studies. The results also showed that there was no significant difference in the mean responses of business studies teachers on the extent of utilization of multimedia projectors and interactive whiteboard on the basis of gender and age. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended, among others, that the Ministry of Education should frequently organize seminars, workshops and any other in-service courses; to familiarize and sensitize business studies teachers with a wide range of instructional technology tools. Article visualizations:

Integration of Technology in Teaching of Science at Secondary Level in City Muzaffarabad

It is becoming challenging to prepare learners for technological age and use of technology tools in schools. Teachers are integrating technology in schools for instructional purposes. Integrating technology in many content areas is supporting learning, educational environment and enhancing skills of students. Integration of technology is not merely a synonym of computers. The present study is about the integration of technology in teaching of science. The objectives of the study were to explore the current status of instructional technology tools and resources in classroom at secondary level, to identify the effect on learning attitudes of students and to examine the importance of instructional technology for science teachers. This study focused on the current status of the use of technology in the classrooms and about the use of appropriate teaching skills.100 participants were the sample size of the study. In this study two questionnaires were administered to collect data on availability of technology tools and resources in secondary schools along with exploring the status of integrating technology in teaching science at secondary level in city Muzaffarabad. Data analysis revealed that most of the technology resources and tools are available in secondary school of city Muzaffarabad and secondary school teachers are using them in teaching of science. Integration of the technology while teaching learning process benefits the science teachers in the following ways: eases the pressure on them while teaching, professional development, and classroom management and in enhancing their pedagogical skills. Other dimension of this study can be used to measure the students’ performance and their attitude towards learning while integrating technology in teaching science.

Instructional Technology in the Literature Classroom

This essay discusses how and why one instructor uses a wiki as a space for students in a partially online American literature survey course to construct a class time line of American literature and history. Through participation in the class wiki, students are able to engage with course content in more expansive ways and to play active roles in creating course content; as such, the wiki is a space where the traditional teacher-student hierarchy is dismantled, as students and teacher collectively share the responsibilities of developing, assessing, and revising timeline content. In discussing the learning opportunities a wiki offers in a literature survey course, the author also argues that instructional technology and online tools should not be incorporated into courses merely to follow trends in digital humanities. Instead, digital and technological components should be thoughtfully integrated into humanities courses in ways that enhance and expand learning while furthering the objectives of the particular course.

Attitude of College Teachers towards the Utilization of Language Laboratories for Learning English

With globalization, there has been a rise in demand for employees with good communication skills. With the growing demand for excellent communication skills, there have been explorations in the area of technology to meet this purpose. And one such experiment has been in the field of language laboratory (Smiriti singh, 2014), which is an instructional technology tool consisting of a source unit that can disseminate audio materials to any number of students at individual seats. The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ attitude towards the utilization of Language laboratories for learning English. The respondents in this study are sixty English language teachers from different types of colleges. A descriptive method with a survey technique was adopted. The findings of this study reveal that the teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of Language laboratories in an ESL classroom. Also, this study infers that students seemed have high motivation when Language laboratories are used in the ESL classroom.

The Utilization of Technology in Teaching of the Arabic Language in Secondary Schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study is about how Arabic language teachers use technology in secondary schools. It aims to provide knowledge that will improve understanding of the current usage of technology. Saudi Arabia has introduced computers into their curricula to keep pace with their developed counterparts. Also, this study can provide the Education Ministry in Saudi Arabia with valuable information for addressing future educational policies such as access, usage and training in the use of computers and can help identify the benefit of the current use of technology for students. Specifically, the study explores the availability and usage of technologies as tools that Arabic language teachers use. It examines the main difficulties that prevent the teachers from using them in their teaching. This study utilizes two kinds of methodologies with male teachers because the education system in Saudi Arabia is segregated so it is not possible to collect data from women. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are used through using a questionnaire and interviews. The data revealed that it appeared from questionnaires that many electronic instructional technology tools were available in secondary schools in Riyadh. Also, using electronic instructional technology activities in teaching the Arabic language in secondary schools was high. Learning theories have great influence on educational practice and how would educators design and develop instructional materials (Duffy & Jonassen, 1992). Learning theories specify students and instructors roles in the learning process (Jonassen et al., 1995).

Digital Technology Integration in American Public Schools

This paper explores the literature review on 1:1 laptop initiatives in America’s digital schools and school district efforts to integrate technology into classroom instruction to maximize student learning. The findings indicate that the much needed instructional integration has not kept pace with the increase in available instructional technology tools. Therefore, there is need for school districts to focus on appropriate technology development activities that could help teachers and students to overcome the barriers in technology integration. Further, school leaders must make sure that the technology integration practices translate to proactive laptop implementation to enhance effective student-centered learning in the digital age.

An examination of the effect of customized reading modules on diverse secondary students’ reading comprehension and motivation

This research sought to add to a body of knowledge that is severely underrepresented in the scientific literature, the effects of technological tools on reading comprehension and reading motivation in diverse secondary students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The study implemented an independent silent reading (ISR) program across a 5-month semester in an urban public high school and included 145 participants from nine 10th grade literature classes. The control group took part in no ISR, one treatment group participated in weekly ISR read from a textbook, and another treatment group participated in weekly ISR read from a computer module designed to address essential components of reading. Students were measured on global reading comprehension, text-specific reading assessments, and reading motivation. After controlling for initial skill and disposition levels, the results indicated that students from both ISR groups made greater gains than the control group in global reading comprehension, while the computer reading module group outperformed the textbook group and the control on text-specific assignments and increased their reading motivation to a greater degree than those in the other conditions. This research offers much-needed data on secondary students’ reading achievement and disposition and provides evidence that ISR implemented through the use of instructional technology and cognitive tools has broad potential to address development in these areas.

Using Instructional Technology Tools to Teach Informational Texts in Thailand

This article examines the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) to medical personnel (nurses and doctors) in a hospital in Northern Thailand. The study shows that using technological devices like listening and comprehension CDs, tape recorders and the Internet to teach informational texts can help ESL learners overcome some of their learning difficulties. Evidence from the study suggests that such a pedagogical approach not only improves the comprehension of informational texts but also students’ mastery levels of spoken and written English. The findings also reveal that such a pedagogical approach exposes students to the various nuances and differences associated with Global English awareness and understanding.

REVIEW: Learning And Instructional Technologies For The 21st Century

As an edited book, “Learning and Instructional Technologies for the 21st century” provides us a sense of integrated puzzle or a big picture which consists of valuable contributions and forward looking ideas in many chapters regarding instructional technology design, development, application, tools, models and views for the 21st century.

Integrating Technology into Mathematics Education: A Case Study from Primary Mathematics Students Teachers

The purpose of the study is to determine the primary mathematics student teachers' views related to use instructional technology tools in course of the learning process and to reveal how the sample presentations towards different mathematical concepts affect their views. This is a qualitative study involving twelve mathematics students from a public university. The data gathered from two semi-structural interviews. The first one was realized in the beginning of the study. After that the representations prepared by the researchers were showed to the participants. These representations contain animations, Geometer's Sketchpad activities, video-clips, spreadsheets, and power-point presentations. The last interview was realized at the end of these representations. The data from the interviews and content analyses were transcribed and read and reread to explore the major themes. Findings revealed that the views of the students changed in this process and they believed that the instructional technology tools should be used in their classroom. Keywords—Integrating Technology, Mathematics Education, Primary Education, Teacher Education.

Technology and Teacher Education

This study explored one primary question: To what extent do student perceptions of various forms of instructional technology tools predict instructional quality? Participants for the study were drawn from a teacher education program in a large Midwest public university. Data were collected using a web-based survey with a total of 121 responses used in the final analysis. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well Productivity Tools, Presentation Tools, Communication Tools, and World Wide Web Tools predict Student Evaluation of Faculty Instructional Quality. The overall significant results of the regression model and the subsequent significant results of the t-test for Presentation Tools and Productivity Tools is an indication that Presentation and Productivity tools can be used by faculty to facilitate student and faculty interaction, promote cooperation among students, promote active learning techniques, give prompt feedback, emphasize time on task, communicate high expectation and respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

Enhancing RN-to-BSN Students' Information Literacy Skills Through the Use of Instructional Technology

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing advocates that professional nurses have the information literacy skills essential for evidence-based practice. As nursing schools embrace evidence-based models to prepare students for nursing careers, faculty can collaborate with librarians to create engaging learning activities focused on the development of information literacy skills. Instructional technology tools such as course management systems, virtual classrooms, and online tutorials provide opportunities to reach students outside the traditional campus classroom. This article discusses the collaborative process between faculty and a library instruction coordinator and strategies used to create literacy learning activities focused on the development of basic database search skills for a Computers in Nursing course. The activities and an online tutorial were included in a library database module incorporated into WebCT. In addition, synchronous classroom meeting software was used by the librarian to reach students in the distance learning environment. Recommendations for module modifications and faculty, librarian, and student evaluations are offered.