The purpose of this study was to explore the impact a specific socio-scientific inquiry (SSI) unit has on student achievement and attitudes over the course of two years with two different implementations of the unit. Specifically, this study addressed the following research question: What impact does participation in an SSI unit have on student…

Studies have shown that when K-12 school districts implement a new technology initiative, it is not always accompanied by effective teacher professional development (PD). Many teachers have indicated that effective technology PD experiences should incorporate their individual PD needs. The authors surveyed technology-using K-12 teachers at two…

This article advances a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of digital educative curriculum materials to support teachers' development of professional teaching knowledge. Instead of standalone levers of change, the educative curricula in this study were featured resources within a novel professional development approach. The qualitative,…

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a technology integration model designed to assist pre-service teachers to learn meaningful uses of technology in K-12 classrooms. Based on studies in teacher education, learning theory, and technology integration, the authors define five essential characteristics necessary for pre-service teacher…

Preliminary efforts to examine teachers' online participation and depth of messages have tended to focus solely on message metrics (e.g., counting the number of messages). However, such efforts do not address online messages in relation to one another. Taking relations of messages into account is important as the messages are not individual online…

Prior research has indicated that all U.S. teacher preparation programs provide instruction on technology integration within coursework and related requirements. This study provides a more detailed investigation into the types and content of technology experiences U.S. teacher preparation programs offer teachers in training. The researchers…

This paper describes strategies used by the authors to assist preservice social studies teachers with understanding and applying models and practices for effectively integrating technology into their future classrooms--thus, strengthening the link between technology and pedagogy (or technological pedagogical content knowledge). Efforts with…

The purpose of this study was to develop and field-test the Technology Skills, Beliefs, and Barriers scale and to determine its validity and reliability for use with preservice teachers. Data were collected from 176 preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based teacher education program located at a major Southwestern university in the United…

Although research studies in education show that use of technology can help student learning, its use is generally affected by certain barriers. In this paper, we first identify the general barriers typically faced by K-12 schools, both in the United States as well as other countries, when integrating technology into the curriculum for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in technology planning and implementation among schools in the southeastern United States. School administrators (294) from five southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee) were surveyed to determine technology planning procedures they had completed, whether…

Describes a program at Arizona State University that uses the PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology) initiative to provide preservice teachers with opportunities to develop, implement, and evaluate their own instructional activities that use technology effectively and appropriately in authentic situations and to integrate it in to…

This paper explores how teachers with different teaching styles conceptualized and implemented a multimedia-supported problem-based inquiry (PBI) unit. We focus on how the teachers supported student thinking and examine underlying belief, knowledge, and dispositional factors that may account for differences in the teachers' practices. We…

This paper summarizes findings from a case study exploring high school students' responses to a technology-supported, problem-centered U.S. history unit. A team of teacher educators and secondary school social studies teachers conceptualized "Decision Point!" (DP), an integrated set of multimedia content resources and investigatory tools…

Explores the issues involved in implementing a technology-enhanced student-centered unit in order to provide recommendations to improve and enhance these types of learning activities. Results suggest that a variety of factors impact the success or failure of student-centered activities, including student orientation to the unit problem, student…