| Technology has become an essential skill for teachers to master. This study investigated the integration of technology by early integrative adopters in their middle school classrooms and the perceptions of early adopters of the available technology as they integrated technology in their curriculum. It explored the technology used and the teacher's perceptions of the available technology. Thirty-nine sixth through eighth grade teachers from T Middle School, a rural school in South Georgia, were administered a survey on their technology use. These teachers' years of experience ranged from zero years to 32 years. The researcher employed a mixed-methods design using Russell's (1996) stages of adoption to identify early adopters of computer technology and interviewed four of the participants identified as early integrative technology adopter to determine the types of technology used by these integrative adopters and their perceptions of computer technology available in the school for their use. The results indicate that a majority of the teachers integrated technology into their middle school curriculum, regardless of their grade level, subject areas, years of experience, number of clock hours of professional development in technology received, and the type of professional development training, The initial survey, administered to the school's entire staff identified barriers to technology use included lack of time to plan, use, and set up computers. The four main interview participants identified lack of available technology, the ineffective use of the school's website as well as time to plan for technology use. The findings may shed further light on strategies that could suggest ways to encourage other educations to incorporate computer technology in their classrooms. |
