The Use of Technology in American Schools

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion

Introduction

In the Introduction section of their study, Machado and Chung (2015) state that the use of technology in American schools is on the rise. However, the benefits that it brings are only potential, as any instrument is useless if not integrated properly. Technology integration skills are currently an increasing need for public school teachers, but many of them do not have the technical expertise to achieve the objective of facilitating students’ use of technology.

Discussion

Therefore, Machado and Chung (2015) believe that it is essential that administrators and teachers work together to prepare the youth for the future. The significance of this particular study is in its focus on the role of a principal in technology integration into schools. Machado and Chung (2015) note that there is much research on the issue featuring the perspective of teachers; however, there is a lack of it from principals’ viewpoint. This study’s setting, problem, and significance are clearly and fully addressed.

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the attitudes of current school principals toward technology integration. Research questions are aimed at determining: a) what importance do principals attach to the use of technology in the classroom? b) how do they perceive the problem of expanding teacher technology integration? c) do they consider technology coaches or mentors to be an effective and practical solution? This study’s purpose and research questions are clearly and fully identified by its authors.

In the Literature Review section of their paper, Machado and Chung (2015) cited 22 different sources. The oldest source was dated 2002, and the two next oldest ones were published a year later. Apart from that, no studies cited were older than seven years from the date of the publication of this research. Therefore, the majority of the sources utilized by this paper’s authors were current. The review of literature is divided into three subsections, each of which expands on an important aspect of classroom technology integration and a school principal’s role in it. The first subsection explores how student achievement is associated with technology implementation. The second subsection addresses how a principal’s influence can positively contribute to a teacher’s attitude toward technology and their desire to implement it in their lessons. The third subsection examines a principal’s role in technology integration and the effect their attitude has on the success of this integration. This section extensively covers the body of knowledge related to successful classroom technology implementation: Machado and Chung (2015) inspected the main factors contributing to it and concluded that further research was needed to be conducted.

Machado and Chung (2015) used a voluntary response sampling for their research: they sent emails with an invitation to participate in the research to each school’s active principal from four northern Californian school districts. The sample seems to adequately represent the population of the particular area of northern California, but not all of California, much less all of America. The four districts, principals of schools from where were selected, are situated in the suburb cities, and these districts’ median household income is either slightly below or far lower than California State’s average. The participation in the research of school principals from more affluent areas would have contributed to more adequate population representation. Data collection included a survey comprised of quantitative multiple-choice questions and qualitative short-answer questions. Moreover, Machado and Chung (2015) conducted interviews with those school principals who had the time for it. The surveys were collected via email; the interview questions were sent to willing participants by email as well, to which they responded at their convenience.

Machado and Chung (2015) organized the findings of their study in a clear and detailed manner. One subsection was devoted to demographic data: there was information on the percentage of respondents of either gender and their age, and three more demographic questions were related to the school setting. Two other subsections expanded on the results of the surveys and the interviews. In both the demographic data and the survey data subsections, some tables conveniently visually presented the findings. The interview data subsections were not illustrated with figures, but it was divided into small paragraphs for easier reading. The findings were directly related to the research questions: Machado and Chung (2015) took all data results and applied them to each question in a separate section of the paper.

Conclusion

In the Conclusion section of the paper, Machado and Chung (2015) summarized the results of their study and assumed that further research on this topic could be undertaken. This section featured not only the conclusions based on the findings but also the authors’ suggestions for the areas to be explored and questions to be asked regarding classroom technology implementation. Machado and Chung (2015) stated that this study’s conclusions are relevant for teachers, principals, and district personnel, as they provide data on the ways to increase the likelihood of successful integration of technology into schools. This research utilized a mixed method approach: quantitative survey data, qualitative short-answer data, and qualitative interviews were used. It was the appropriate design because Machado and Chung (2015) called the paper a phenomenological study of the attitudes of a group, and a mixture of methods contributed to a more exhaustive examination of these.

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The Use of Technology in American Schools

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