Examining Perceptual Barriers to Technology: A Study on the Diffusion of Educational Technology and Education Reform

Abstract

This study examines educators’ perceived barriers to technology integration and the relationship to education reform. Educators and administrators from four elementary schools in Washington State were interviewed in their classrooms during a three-month period. The schools differed in size, location, and social economic status and reported variances in their Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores. While all of the schools reported similar barriers to the use of educational technology, distinct differences appeared between those schools that had done long-range planning during the reform process and those that had not. Specifically, staff in the two schools that coordinated curricula, performance standards, and a variety of assessment tools while simultaneously allowing teachers the flexibility to alter the curricula, were more likely to state personal responsibility for student learning, and they also were more likely to have overcome barriers to the use of technology.