Helping teachers to become better technology users : Finnish in-service teachers’ technology integration viewed through the TPACK and SAMR models

Abstract

Modern classroom teaching and the evolution of the teaching profession has brought forward a need to improve the technological literacy of teachers. There is a need for technologically literate teachers who have proper technological tools, skills to use them, and a clear understanding on how they can make choices that are pedagogically motivated. Utilizing theoretical frameworks to examine teachers’ use of technology, primarily the TPACK model by Koehler, & Mishra. (2006) and the SAMR model by Puentedura (2006), the key aim for this study is to examine how Finnish teachers working in primary and lower secondary levels integrate technology into their lessons. The SAMR and TPACK models were used as a lens through which technology integration was viewed and discussed. Additionally, the study attempts to find common patterns and similarities in interviewed teachers’ experiences with employer-provided professional training sessions. The study gathered data in two ways: interviews and a questionnaire. A total of six teachers of different ages and technological proficiencies, all working in schools in eastern Finland were interviewed and asked to fill out a survey in order to assess their TPACK skills. The analysis aimed to capture common patterns or themes through the interviews, while the questionnaire supported categorizing and analyzing the content of the interviews. Results indicate that teachers are using technology regularly, primarily either on a daily or weekly basis, and in a multitude of ways. However, the results point towards a skills gap between teachers’ Technical Knowledge (TK). Some teachers are confident technology users while others feel apprehensive about using technology. Teachers who were more confident technology users reported classroom practices in which technology was used to modify or redefine existing tasks, thus indicating a higher level of technology integration on the SAMR scale. According to the interviews, technology integration and improvements in the TPACK and SAMR models occurred when teachers had time, motivation and a strong administrative vision towards technology integration. A positive workplace culture, support from peers and mentoring practices were also mentioned as having a positive influence. Respondents felt that lack of time for planning, poor technological skills, limited access to technology and personal beliefs about the usefulness of technology limited technology integration in their classrooms. Professional development opportunities were criticized for their rigid structure, content that highly emphasize technological skills, overly complicated themes, and general lack of creativity or focus on the teachers’ point of view or strategic thinking.