| Edited by Diane McGrath, Kansas State University |
formerly Journal of Research on Computing in
Education
The Influence
of Computer
and Internet Use on Teachers’
Pedagogical Practices and
Perceptions
Henry Jay Becker and
Jason Ravitz
University of California-Irvine
Abstract
This study explores the possibility that in
schools where
an informational and social support network is
available
and where a sufficient technological
infrastructure is in
place, computer use may be a powerful catalyst
leading to
more constructivist practices on the part of
teachers. Survey
research at 153 schools of the National School
Network provides
evidence that under these favorable circumstances,
teachers’
sustained use of computers and exploration of
Internet resources
is related to their increased use of
constructivist teaching
practices and may even change teachers’
pedagogical
beliefs that underlie such practices. The
relationship between
computer use and pedagogical change is
particularly strong
among secondary teachers in social studies,
science, and
noncore subjects. This article discusses three
alternative
theories to account for the observed correlations.
Contributors
Henry Jay Becker is a professor of education at
the University
of California, Irvine. His research focuses on
instructional
and organizational reforms associated with the use
of computer
technologies. He is now conducting the fourth in a
series
of national surveys of teachers and schools and
their instructional
use of computers, a series that stretches back to
1983.
This survey focuses on teachers’ pedagogical
beliefs
and practices and their relationship to their use
of technology.
In the 1980s, he conducted a national field
experiment on
the effectiveness of typical practices of
technology use
in 50 pairs of classrooms across 13 states.
Professor Becker
holds a PhD in sociology from the Johns Hopkins
University
where he also worked as a research scientist at
the Center
for Social Organization of Schools between 1977
and 1992.
Jason Ravitz is a research specialist at
University of California,
Irvine, in the Center for Research on Information
Technology
in Organizations. He has worked with Dr. Becker on
two national
surveys of teachers and schools and their
instructional
use of computers and the Internet. He has also
been involved
in the development and evaluation of online
professional
communities for educators, focusing on strategies
for the
evaluation of online projects and for assessing
learning
in online settings. He completed a three-year
doctoral fellowship
at Syracuse University in instructional design,
development,
and evaluation and worked with researchers at BBN
Educational
Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from
1994 to 1998.
(Address: Dr. Henry J. Becker, UC Irvine, 2001
Berkeley
Pl., Irvine, CA 92697-5500; hjbecker@uci.edu.)
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the full article (PDF, 258 KB, PDF Instructions).
Copyright ©
1999, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All
rights reserved.
| social support, networking, tech integration |
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