| This study offers guidance to policy makers, educational leaders, and researchers about the aspects of Educational Technology (EdTech) implementation in which investments of money, time, or investigative inquiry will yield highest impacts. Beginning from the observations that: (1) the power and ubiquity of contemporary technologies have transformed virtually every aspect of American society since the advent of the personal computer; (2) enormous investments have been made in EdTech in the same time frame; and (3) research into EdTech has not, so far, confirmed significant effects on schooling outcomes or pedagogical practices, this quantitative study applies the framework developed by Romano (2005) to examine the 2008 California School Technology Survey (CSTS). Utilizing Romano's ten Education Technology Sustainability Factors as a basis for the evaluation of EdTech assessment tools, this study explores the alignment between the CSTS and the factors involved in successful and sustainable EdTech initiatives and investigates the impact of the three EdTech Sustainability Factors Romano deemed most important -- Vision and Mission through Leadership, Creative EdTech Funding, and Professional Development -- on the other seven -- Technical Support, Authentic EdTech Assessment, Technology Integration through Literacy, Digital Content, Agent Access to Technology, Sharing EdTech Practices, and Connectivity -- so as to confirm Romano's hierarchical ranking. The study found that the CSTS does address the Sustainability Factors, although one -- Digital Content -- was absent, and the most important three were not accorded the increased emphasis they deserve. The study further found that the most important three Sustainability Factors did significantly impact the other six covered in the CSTS, confirming their heightened importance and suggesting that policy makers, education leaders, and researchers should devote more resources to them. |
