A case study exploration of secondary school teachers' technology integration

The purpose of the qualitative case study was to identify the gaps in teachers' understanding of classroom technology capabilities, with a view to informing administrators of teachers' technology and training needs in the classroom. Identifying and bridging gaps between teacher technological competencies and organizational technology infrastructure capabilities will help teachers plan learning activities more effectively. Administrators have the opportunity to improve teacher practices through establishing effective professional development. Administrators' perspectives about the promotion of professional development practices yielded beneficial information to inform professional developers. The data from the study illustrated common practices engaged in by teachers using available classroom technology, which may give leadership and professional development planners access to existing teacher preferences and proficiencies. The findings illustrate professional development practices need to be individualized as much as possible for teachers to integrate technology in a manner that makes sense to the individual teacher professionally and is supported by agreeable pedagogy. The diverse array of technology resources increasingly available in schools precludes pre-technology teachers from becoming experts in all areas of technology. Teachers need to be able to choose areas of expertise to develop that incorporate the technologies useful to individual teachers and receive personalized training from technology experts with specific subject matter training.