I must admit to being overwhelmed a time or two in this course. Although I did a limited qualitative study in my M.Ed. program, it was nothing compared to the extent of research and analysis included in this course. I was able to conduct my research on Teacher Attitudes towards New Technology this semester, and I really learned a great deal more than I had anticipated. I set out with a belief that as teachers get older or more experienced, we tend to not be as open to new technology as we are when we are younger and less experienced. In reality, I found out some very different truths.
Teacher age did not seem to be as important of an influence on attitudes towards new technology; however, teacher experience did. As teachers' experience grew, their attitudes towards new technology worsened. This may be due to a frustration with new technologies coming and going and/or a frustration with perceived insufficient time to train on the new technology. Regardless of what the reasons are, the main thing I learned this semester in this course is that as an educational researcher, it is imperative to keep an open mind about incoming data. This will impact my role as an instructional technology coach as it will push me to critically evaluate new research on technologies in an attempt to determine the mindset of the researchers.
Teacher age did not seem to be as important of an influence on attitudes towards new technology; however, teacher experience did. As teachers' experience grew, their attitudes towards new technology worsened. This may be due to a frustration with new technologies coming and going and/or a frustration with perceived insufficient time to train on the new technology. Regardless of what the reasons are, the main thing I learned this semester in this course is that as an educational researcher, it is imperative to keep an open mind about incoming data. This will impact my role as an instructional technology coach as it will push me to critically evaluate new research on technologies in an attempt to determine the mindset of the researchers.