Edited by Dr. Lynne Schrum, George Mason University

Volume 42 Number 3 Spring 2010

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The seeds for this special issue of the Journal of Research on Technology in Education originated with a symposium sponsored by AERA’s special interest group, Technology as an Agent for Change in Teaching and Learning (TACTL). I was asked to organize the session and proceeded to contact prominent scholars who have contributed to our knowledge base in this area. The session went very well, and the discussant for the session, JRTE editor Lynne Schrum, explored with the participants the viability of pursuing a special issue of JRTE to address some key perspectives on educational change and technology. The participants agreed to be contributors, and as the organizer of the session, I was selected to be guest editor—a task that I enthusiastically accepted.
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APA Citation
Strudler, N. (Ed). (2010). Perspectives on technology and educational change [Special issue]. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 221–229.

Technology's Achilles Heel: Achieving High-Quality Implementation
Gene E. Hall

An inherent characteristic of technology education is the continual development of new technologies and creating innovative applications of already existing technologies. As exciting as these innovations can be, technology educators and school staffs are frequently challenged to accomplish high levels of implementation. The metaphor of the Implementation Bridge and four research-based constructs of the Concerns Based Adoption Model are introduced in this article. Each can be used to evaluate the extent of implementation and as diagnostic tools for facilitating implementation. Each also can be applied in studies of relationships between extent of implementation and student outcomes.
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APA Citation
Hall, G. E. (2010). Technology’s Achilles heel: Achieving high-quality implementation. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 231–253.

Teacher Technology Change: How Knowledge, Confidence, Beliefs, and Culture Intersect
Peggy A. Ertmer and Anne T. Ottenbreit-Leftwich

Despite increases in computer access and technology training, technology is not being used to support the kinds of instruction believed to be most powerful. In this paper, we examine technology integration through the lens of the teacher as an agent of change: What are the necessary characteristics, or qualities, that enable teachers to leverage technology resources as meaningful pedagogical tools? To answer this question, we discuss the literature related to four variables of teacher change: knowledge, self-efficacy, pedagogical beliefs, and subject and school culture. Specifically, we propose that teachers' mindsets must change to include the idea that "teaching is not effective without the appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICT) resources to facilitate student learning." Implications are discussed in terms of both teacher education and professional development programs.
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APA Citation
Ertmer, P., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2010). Teacher technology change: How knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and culture intersect. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 255–284.

Technology and Education Change: Focus on Student Learning
Barbara Means

This study examined technology implementation practices associated with student learning gains. Interviews and observations were conducted with staff at schools where teachers using reading or mathematics software with their students attained above-average achievement gains and at schools where software-using teachers had below-average gains. The findings highlight the importance of school practices in the areas of principal support and teacher collaboration around software use and of teacher practices concerning classroom management and use of software-generated student performance data. The issues of instructional coherence and competition for instructional time are highlighted as challenges to software implementation.
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APA Citation
Means, B. (2010). Technology and education change: Focus on student learning. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 285–307.

Assessment, Technology, and Change
Jody Clarke-Midura and Chris Dede

Despite three decades of advances in information and communications technology (ICT) and a generation of research on cognition and new pedagogical strategies, the field of assessment has not progressed much beyond paper-andpencil item-based tests. Research has shown these instruments are not valid measures of sophisticated intellectual performances. Simply using technology to deliver automated versions of item-based tests does not realize the full power of ICT to innovate in assessment via providing rich experiences that enable observing and analyzing student performances. To illustrate this approach, we describe our early research on using immersive technologies to develop virtual performance assessments.
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APA Citation
Clarke-Midura, J., & Dede, C. (2010). Assessment, technology, and change. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 309–328.