Running head: VIGNETTE 2 ANALYSIS

Vignette 2 Analysis
How Does a Whole School Move Towards
Integrating Technology?
Laura Yankov
University of British Columbia

VIGNETTE 2 ANALYSIS

Vignette number six presents a case where a technology department head was
responsible for coordinating the technology implementation in her school. This experience is
similar to many schools in North America, where the decision to integrate technology is
pushed down from the Ministry of Education, and its implementation is left on the shoulders
of school districts and administrators. When this happens, the implementation of any reform
becomes difficult unless educators and administrators fully embrace changes. Several factors
must first be considered in order to insure that students and teachers feel comfortable with the
integration process. As OHanlon (2009) states, the way a technology is introduced into
the academic environment can mean the difference between adoption and abandonment. If
teachers believe they are being forced into using it, they will resist, especially if you dont
show them what value it will bring to their classroom (OHanlon, 2009, p. 33) .
The department head from this vignette begun by identifying the barriers and
challenges of a full integration of technology at her school, addressing the views of teachers
and administrators, and trying to ensure a smooth transition. First, she created a committee to
explore the technology background existent at school. This committee included teachers and
possibly administrators and technical staff members (although they are not mentioned in the
vignette), and the goal was to explore the needs and interests of teachers at school. The
committee then contemplated some possible applications and uses of technology in that
institution. The greatest voices were individuals from this committee since they shared their
own needs and views in regards to the use of technology. After some deliberations, some of
the solutions proposed were to connect all the computers in the school to an internal network,
to build a computer lab, and to provide pods of computers in classrooms.

VIGNETTE 2 ANALYSIS

Teacher attitudes strongly affect the assimilation and the use of technology by
students, and I think that this department head succeeded not only at evaluating technology
use in the context of instruction and learning, but also at exploring teachers interests and
attitudes. As Soujah (2014) states, The success of [technology] implementation has less to
do with expertise and more to do with willingness of integration and assimilation by the
educators. Attitudes and beliefs are critical in facilitating acceptance and relevance of use in
increasing learning in the classroom (Soujah, 2014, p. 446) .Unless the teachers and
administrators understand why technology is integral to the education of their students,
technology tools could be completely ignored or underutilized.
Teachers and administrators at this school recognized that having access to technology
would not be enough to ensure that students would learn about technology and teachers would
immediately begin using the technology in their classrooms. By exploring teachers interests and
values, by considering the need for professional development time for teachers and the need to
teach technology skills to students, they were addressing some core barriers to technology
integration in schools identified by Hew and Brush: lack of resources, knowledge and skills,
attitudes and beliefs, and subject culture. Those barriers, which are regarded as interrelated by
these authors, must be considered jointly to understand the lack of technology integration in
schools (as cited in Hixon & Buckenmeyer, 2009, p. 135). Although the idea of empowering
teachers to develop best practices and integrate technology was imposed from top-down, this
school faced this challenge providing support from leadership and time to share and connect with
colleagues, and ensuring the existence of full alignment across the system.

VIGNETTE 2 ANALYSIS

References
Hixon, E., & Buckenmeyer, J. (2009). Revisiting technology integration in schools: Implications
for professional development, Computers in the Schools, 26(2), 130-146.
doi:10.1080/07380560902906070
OHanlon, C. (2009). Resistance is Futile. THE Journal, 36(3), 32-36.
Soujah, S. (2014). Technology integration in schools is we overinvested and underprepared?
International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 4(5), 444-447.
doi:10.7763/IJIET.2014.V4.447