Teacher’s Instructional Beliefs about integrating IT

Teacher’s Instructional Beliefs about Integrating Educational Technology.
By Dr Boris Handal. University of Technology Sydney


Although many studies show positive effects of the technology on students’ cognitive and attitudinal outcomes, some research suggest that technology has not been adequately adopted in schools. Many reasons have been offered as an explanation for this situation. The major factors appear to be the lack of teachers’ supporting beliefs and traditional teaching practices.

From the author’s perspective, teachers’ instructional beliefs are responsible for the low degree of success or a low take-up of educational technology. It is strongly recommended that prior to any educational innovation, teachers’ instructional beliefs are explored, identified, and dealt with to determine whether they are appropriate or not. Teachers will find it very difficult to adjust their own instructional practice to the innovations if their beliefs on teaching and learning have never been explored. [How do we know what exactly in the box if it is not yet opened?] As Cuban (1993:256) stated “The knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that teachers have…shape what they choose to do in their classrooms and explain the core of instructional practices that have endured over time.”

Some studies about teacher instructional beliefs are discussed in this article- what I find interesting are studies done by (1) Niederhauser and Stoddart (1994) which found two groups of computer using teachers. The first group associated with the constructivist view believe that computers "are tools that students use in collecting, analysing, and presenting information" (p. 2) while the second group associated with the transmission view believe "that teaching machines that can be used to present information, give immediate reinforcement, and track student progress" (p. 2). In the former constructivist group, teachers strongly believe that computers can be used as tool to generate knowledge and learn with understanding. (2) Becker (2000) investigated beliefs and instructional practices of middle and high schools teachers and found that teachers with a higher constructivist inclination towards teaching and learning were more likely to use technology in the classroom. Similar findings were obtained by Fulton and Torney-Purta (2000).

Then I think about my own research
– Am I going to find something like the two groups of teachers in my study?
- Are they just simply divided into two types of teachers holding different teaching beliefs?

- ->> Then what are the underpinning reasons for them to believe and put their thoughts in actions? Is it necessary for a teacher to hold constructivist beliefs in order to reach the optimal use of technology? <<<---[Yes - if you have read studies about CALL and constructivist frameworks]

What if they do it to serve the course requirement or even students’ need at hand—for example, they provide students with a lot of online grammar exercises because the students are sitting in the national exam in the nest few months, whereas they themselves do not want to use the technology in the transmission way at all – but they are required to do so. It means that they use the technology to fit their teaching context and students’ expectation. Sometimes what they believe does not always emerge in the teaching behaviour. Therefore, the teching context and learners' characteristics are also filters for implementing technology as well. Teachers who hold the same constructivist views of ELT may manage their classes differently when they adopt the technology.-- This is what I expect to discover in my study.