Factors+Affecting+Tech+Use+in+Schools

FACTORS AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY USES IN SCHOOLS:AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE toc Yong Zhao, Kenneth A. Frank (2003)


 * Presented by:**
 * dxdydz:** Johnny Ng, Rachel Perkins, Tiffany Pham, Stephanie Sconberg

= **Introduction** = **Problem attempting to answer: Why is technology not widely used in schools?**

Despite the generous investment in, and increased presence of, computers in schools, computers have been found to be unused or underused in most schools.

=Previous Research =  The need for a unifying theoretical framework in the context of existing research about computer uses in schools. Previous case studies and historical analyses studied: 1) Why teachers don’t use it & 2) How technology can revolutionize the classroom

Why teachers don’t use technology
Finally, these factors are discussed in different terms; some cognitive, some social, some organizational, some technological, and still some psychological. To understand the process of technology adoption, we need one framework that allows us to talk about these factors in similar terms. These factors are can be tied together under a framework to sort out the relevant importance and identify the relationships among them.
 * Schools naturally resist change that puts pressure on existing practices
 * “Felt as undesirably disruptive if it means that culture must change its values and habits in order to implement it”
 * Schools are also said to have a structure that prevents wide spread uses of computers
 * limited classroom space and the bulky size of computers
 * teachers' unwillingness to take the students to the lab
 * lack of access to computers at home
 * class time constraints make it difficult to accomplish anything substantial using technology
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Introduction of computers requires serious changes in the curriculum, teaching practices, reallocation of resources, and perhaps rearranging the fundamental structure of schools <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[[image:battle.gif width="278" height="298" align="right"]]
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Sole focus of transmission of information from teachers to their students
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Teacher’s pedagogical beliefs and their teaching practices
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Teachers’ attitudes toward and expertise with technology
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Conflicting advice about how technology should be used in schools
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">The constant changing nature of technology makes it difficult for teachers to stay current
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Unreliability of technology makes it less appealing

=**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Use of an Ecosystem Metaphor **= <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Much research uses ecosystems as metaphors.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Brofenbrenner compares it to human development
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Lemke compares it to cultural change
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Hogan compares it to technology and literacy
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">O’Day compares it to people, practices and technology in a certain location

Zebra Mussel Invasion
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The successful invasion of the zebra mussels in the great lakes is a result of many factors working together in which is related to the invasion of technology into schools.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> “The introduction, survival, and dispersal of an alien species in a new environment is a very complex process. To understand this process requires a comprehensive and systemic approach that takes into consideration the nature of the species, the environment, other facilitative forces, and the interactions among these components.”

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> It's clear that the spread of zebra mussels took over the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River due to various factors. As cited by the articles, these factors are analogous to the spread of technology in schools.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Comparatively, the use of technology around the United States has spread like the zebra mussels.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Four specific metaphorical equivalents between the issue of technology uses in schools and ecological issues: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">These metaphorical bridges are expected to help us apply what we learn from examples such as the zebra mussel invasion to our current task of understanding technology uses in schools.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">classrooms as ecosystems
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">computer uses as living species
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">teachers as members of a keystone species
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">external educational innovations as invasions of exotic species.

Classrooms as Ecosystems
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">A teacher’s teaching environment also can be viewed as an ecosystem much like the Great Lakes. It is a complex system of many parts and relationship.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;"> Biotic (living) components include but are not limited to: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Computer uses may compete for resources with any one of these species. A simple example is when students use the Internet as a source of information, they will rely less on the school library’s print media, thus more funds may go to support Internet uses than the traditional library. A more interesting and complex example is when computers are used to support student-centered project-based learning, as envisioned by many constructvist proponents of computers, they compete with some teachers, especially those who espouse a traditional teacher-centered approach. Such uses may also be incompatible with the need to prepare students for standardized tests.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Teachers
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Students
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Parents
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Administrators
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Librarians
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Media specialists
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology Coordinators

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Abiotic (non-living) components include but are not limited to: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> These abiotic components affect the type and frequency of technology being used.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Physical setting
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Location of the computers create different patterns of computer uses
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Distributed in classrooms
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Concentrated in the computer labs
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Grades and subjects of teaching
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology education, computer education, and business are subjects that have unfilled niches for one type of computer uses (teaching technology as the subject content)
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Special education courses provide the opportunity for drill-and-practice type of uses.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology infrastructure
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Scheduling

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Other “species” in the school interact in certain ways to form a system that enables learning to take place. These include but are not limited to: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A school exists as a complete unit necessary for function over a long period of time in a hierarchy. It is nested in a school district, which in turn is a subset of a state educational system which is nested within a national education system.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">books
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">dictionaries
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">projection devices
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">workbooks
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">desks

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Just like in a bio-ecosystem, the teaching ecosystem exhibits plenty of diversity in that it has many different types of species, each of which has a different set of characteristics and plays a different role or occupies a unique niche in ecological terms. Their characteristics and roles affect one another continuously, constantly modifying their relationships with each other.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Computer Usage as Living Species **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Studying the environment is not sufficient; we need also to study the invading species, in this case, computer uses. Many scholars before us have made a similar stretch and proven it fruitful. Dawkins(1989) made a convincing argument thatcultural transmission is like genetic transmission because it can give rise to a form of evolution. Cultural evolution takes place through the variation and retention of what Dawkins(1989) called memes, which are ideas and compete for survival.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Technologies follow the same process of evolution as living creatures: diverse human needs, experiences, and talents lead to the development of a diversity of technologies.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Technology may be judged better by their users than others and they survive while others perish. New needs are discovered or brought about by these “fittest of the moment” technologies, so newer technologies are developed based on the existing ones; again some of the newer ones will be more fit than others and they survive and generate new variations. This article proposes to view computer uses as biological species with many possible function that are evolving and can be expressed in a variety of uses. New functions and uses are created all the time in which relate to the principle of “survival of the fittest” as their genetic and biological counterparts.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Teachers ****<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> as Individuals and Members of a Species **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> In an ecosystem, there are species-to-species interactions as well as individual member of species interactions. All these interactions can compete as well as cooperate with each other. Reciprocal altruism explains the rampant altruism observed among ostensibly selfish animals and human beings, which can be summarized as “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Teachers as members of a species, are primarily concerned with the well-being of their own classroom. But using reciprocal altruism, they help and need help from social groups such as their common organization or school to help promote the well being of their species. This is considered “social capital”.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Teachers draw on help from others in their schools and districts to implement computers. Defining social capital as the potential to access resources through social relations. Frank, Zhao, & Borman (2002) argue that an actor who receives help that is not formally mandated draws on social capital by obtaining information or resources through social obligation or affinity. Members of a species perpetuate their genes by supporting members of their clan or share resources driven by reciprocal altruism. In terms of technology, teachers invest in each other because of their shared interests in common students or because of their realization that they all need help some day.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">External Innovation as Invasion **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Innovations is like ecological invasions of an ecosystem by foreign species. An ecosystem has the tendency or ability to maintain internal equilibrium in which the introduction of new species affects this equilibrium. When a new species enters an existing ecosystem it essentially is an invader from outside having interactions with existing species.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Depending upon the properties of the invader and the existing species as well as the types of interactions, several consequences may result: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Computer uses in schools are invading species and whether they can be successfully adopted and become a permanently established depends on compatibility with the teaching environment**.**
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">invader wins and wipes out existing species
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">both win and survive, in which case some other species may perish or the ecosystem may eventually become dysfunctional due to its limited capacity
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">invader loses and perishes
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">both go through a process of variation and selection and acquire new properties

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Interaction within the Teaching Ecosystem: Development of a framework **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> We treat the frequency and types of computer use by teachers as indicators of <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> well-being of the computer-species in the classroom ecosystem. There are two main types of uses: a) for students and b) for teachers in which aligns with multiple levels of an ecosystem.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> When a teacher uses computers for her own purposes it benefits her directly at the micro level as an organism. When a teacher facilitates student uses of computers she contributes more directly to systemic value. The distinction between teacher and student uses and benefits is not pure. For example, when teachers gain efficiency through their own use this may improve learning and have immediate systemic benefits, or when teachers facilitate student use this may have immediate benefit on classroom management. Each type is considered an individual species; uses for student benefit all in the school, whereas those for teacher benefit the individual teacher. How often the computer is used for each purpose can be considered the size of the population of each species.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Qualities of the Invading Species and Characteristics of Computer Uses **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> There are two sets of factors that affect the population and well-being of the invading species in terms of sources: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Dawkins (1989) suggests that successful qualities in order to survive include the following. These can be applied to computer usage :
 * 1) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">qualities of the species
 * 2) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">interactions with existing species and the ecosystem environment.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Longevity-how long the computer use practice is sustained and thus promoted
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Fecundity - propagating faster, reaching more people in a shorter time period, giving more opportunities to be successful
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; vertical-align: baseline;">Copy-fidelity - usage, “genes”, seem to blend into large “gene complexes” as well in which it survives in a large unit. This helps in evolutionary process in which technology is implemented faithfully though changes are often inevitable.

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Interacting with the Environment and the Role of the Teaching Ecosystem **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The survival of the invading species is determined by its characteristics and the compatibility with the new environment. For example, the ecosystem of the teacher’s teaching context is in a larger multi-level ecological hierarchy including government levels and societal institutions at the top of the hierarchy. The strong institutional demand at the societal level to place computers in classrooms favors computer usage. These societal institutions and government policies can be thought of as geological forces that shape the general landscapes that teachers inhabit as professionals.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The more immediate ecosystem created by the school district can support hardware and software and is more likely responsible for training and opportunities to learn. Thus if the school district provides sufficient resources to support computer uses, computer uses are likely to spread more quickly.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Schools and their social contexts shape the local and most immediate ecosystem wherein computers are used. The school can provide opportunities to use technology and provide contextualized information about the need and implementation of technology. The school is analogous to a specific location in an ecosystem.

Interacting with Keystone Species and Teachers' Cost-benefit Analysis

 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The survival of the computer is determined by its compatibility with teachers who are the keystone species in the ecosystem
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teachers often make decisions based on limited information and in response to pressure, although it is still based on a calculation of costs and benefits
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Benefits: often interpreted as student achievement
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Benefits and costs can be in a variety of forms which are <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__perceived,__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> such as social status, salary, student achievement, and time.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When a teacher weighs the costs and benefits, she uses her perception based on her current knowledge and attitudes which are embedded in her current practices and school culture. [[image:Steph_table_1.JPG width="435" height="350" align="right"]]
 * The perception of costs and benefits is determined and mediated by a number of factors:
 * beliefs about teaching strategies
 * knowledge and attitudes toward computers
 * perception of support by other faculty
 * perception of pressure to use computers
 * perception of adequacy of resources
 * perceived results or consequences of use
 * Many factors affect teachers' calculation of costs and benefits (driving survival force)
 * Increase cost
 * Reduce cost
 * Increase benefit
 * Reduce benefit
 * No effect
 * Teachers can change their attitudes toward computers and reinterpret the functions of computers and when teachers are given the opportunity to experiment with computers, they may improve their technology proficiency and see how computers can help them achieve their goals
 * Similar to the interaction between two species where they co-evolve and adapt to each other
 * Teachers may also exert pressure to use or not use computers or they may exert support to help each other
 * For species that live in groups, interactions and reciprocal altruism are very important in exerting pressure and helping one another
 * What ultimately determines the amount and type of computer use by a teacher are:
 * The nature of the use
 * The result of the cost-benefit analysis

Sample

 * 4 school districts from one Midwestern state
 * All elementary schools from the selected districts were included
 * Only schools that made significant investments in technology between 1996 and 2001 were selected

Data Collection

 * Survey of all staff
 * 33 various formatted items using response structures such as Likert Scale, multiple choice and fill in the blank
 * Interviews with administrators and technology staff
 * Included interviews with the district superintendent and district technology director
 * Semi-structured loosely following a set of questions about technology infrastructure, policy, investments and beliefs
 * Interviews and observations from one focal school in each district
 * Included interviews with the principal and three to five teachers at each focus school
 * Observations mainly consisted of the technology infrastructure of the buildings

Current Technology Uses in Schools
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> To What degree are technologies used in schools? <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> What kinds of technology uses are teachers engaged in?
 * The most frequently used technologies are the phone systems, emails, and computers
 * Teachers use the computers more in the classroom than in the computer lab
 * The phone is used almost daily in classrooms and is critical to integrating different levels of the ecosystem such as parents, colleagues and other schools
 * People usually don't think technologies are competitive, but if teachers are using the phone they use the email less. Similarly, if teachers rely on videos or television, they have less need for PowerPoint presentations. Thus, these technologies are competing for the same function of the teacher's professional life.
 * How computers were used
 * Most frequent types of uses are with communication with parents and preparation for instruction
 * These uses are much simpler for teachers to use because involving students requires teachers to reconfigure their teaching practices
 * Least frequent types of uses are activities where the student is directly involved in using the computer
 * Like organisms in an ecosystem, teachers use computers to address their most direct needs that bring them maximum benefit and do not demand excessive investment in time to learn and reorganize their current teaching practices, thus minimizing costs.

=Factors and Practices Affecting Technology Uses in Schools= <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> In continuing the ecosystem metaphor, there are multiple factors that were observed to see if they affected the use of technology in schools. The factors and methods are listed as followed :


 * **The Ecosystem** - The four different districts from which the teachers were sampled
 * **The Teacher's Niche -**other variable factors such as:
 * The grade the teacher teaches
 * Whether the teacher teaches English
 * Whether the teacher teaches Multiple Subjects
 * Teacher whose grade is unknown
 * **Teacher-Ecosystem Interactions**
 * The teacher's perception of district support (A cost benefit analysis)
 * //Hardware - Ex. Are there enough computers? Is it appropriate for my students? When and how to update?//[[image:http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ato/lowres/aton1228l.jpg align="right" caption="Peer pressure can be a motivator... or a depresser"]]
 * //Software - Ex. Will there be professional development to learn how to use it? Will there be tech support and how will it be provided?//
 * Adequacy of Resources and support (Ease of use)
 * Help received from colleagues (perception of who is in one's own species or group [theory of reciprocal altruism])Help received from close colleagues
 * Help received not from close colleagues
 * Pressure to use computers (either for advancement or because of peer pressure)
 * Presence of competing innovation (continued presence of new technologies)
 * Playfulness (the amount of opportunities teachers take to experiment with district-supported software)
 * **Teacher Characteristics**
 * Is the teacher innovative on their own normally? (Whether they like trying new things)
 * **Teacher-Computer Interaction**(as species to species)
 * Compatibility: Is the teacher and technology compatible? Is it a mutualistic relationship?
 * Complexity: Ease of use, self-efficacy, and uncertainty. (the costs of using technology)
 * Relative Advantage: Is the technology advantageous to my teaching/lesson/class?
 * **Opportunities for Adaptation or Teacher Professional Development**
 * An opportunity for species-species co-evolution and mutual adaptation
 * Sample Q: Do you consult technology manuals? Do you read professional journals about new technology?

An Ecosystemic Model of Influences on Technology
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Based on the factors as listed above, a study was made with questionnaires set on a 7-point Likert scale that ranged from 'Strongly Agree' to 'Strongly Disagree'. Teachers from the four different districts give results to these findings as presented.

The Ecosystem (Differences Among Districts)
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Based on the results, there were actually less differences among schools within districts regarding the implementation of technology than that of the variation among school districts. What this projects is the idea that districts actually define the primary subsystem among the schools it presides over. This makes sense as the district provides the technology, the policies on technology use, the fiscal investment, the technical expertise, and the professional development for the teachers in the district. This then leads to more uniform patterns of implementation regarding technology use in the classroom across the various schools in districts.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> One of the more fascinating pieces of information is in regards to the differentiation between districts. Because each school district has different practices and policies regarding technology implementation, purchases, distribution rights, and focus and content regarding professional development, those districts that were more responsive to the needs of the teachers were much more systematic and organized.

The Niches
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> In the case of English teachers and upper grade level teachers, technology and computer use was much more likely than the other niches. One explanation is that for English teachers, computers are just a natural tool for students to use to create writing samples. Where technology implementation begins to differentiate is around simple structural positions where some teachers would either use little to none, to some, to much use of technology in the classroom setting.

The Teacher-Ecosystem Interaction
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Those teachers who perceived pressure from their colleagues were more likely to use computers, but more for their own reasons. However, if the colleagues had helped the teacher with the computer, teachers were more likely to use the computer with the students in the classroom. The finding is consistent with the idea of social capital, that within-species interaction and help affects the usability of the new technology. In the end, technology can either be a help or a hindrance depending on social pressures and if help is given when requested.

Compatibility
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The findings stated showed that teachers who tended to find computers to be compatible to their teaching style used computers more often with their students whereas teachers who could not see it being paired with their teaching style tended not to use it much with their students. Rather, the teachers tended to used the technology on their own for their own advantages.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">

Opportunities for Adaptation
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">If given the opportunity and time, teachers used computers more and explored the technology on their own. Given the time to explore the different aspects of the technology, these teachers' understanding of the technology developed and the value they placed on technology in the classroom became became higher. The technology, once they got to know it, became more cost effective in evaluating cost-benefit analysis.

Factors designing the ecosystem, teacher-ecosystem interactions, teacher predispositions for compatibility and opportunities for mutual adaptation each had unique and important relationships with reported uses of computers. Teacher predisposition for compatibility was more important for teacher use of computers while teacher-ecosystem interactions were more important for student use of computers. Teachers were more responsive to the subsystem in engaging in behaviors that position the general resource of the subsystem, the students, for success. In contrast, when teachers considered their own behavior, their personal predispositions were most important.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Discussion ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The primary purpose of the article was to develop and test a framework from an ecological perspective to capture the organic process of technology uses in schools. There are three progressive (evolutionary) pictures that illustrate the stages of technology adoption. The first phase is when technology is introduced to the school. The teacher perceives the value of the technology that may reflect the teacher’s history, pedagogical practices, etc. and assess the costs associated with the use. The second phase is when the teacher and technology change shapes as they co-evolve. Teacher’s modifications are influenced by the help she receives and pressure she perceives from others. These other teachers may themselves be reacting to institutions or external forces. The last phase is when the technology begins to conform to the teacher. The teacher develops the capacity to modify software and hardware to suite their needs. In the meantime, the teacher can also change how she interacts with the computer, which may suggest and demand different ways of teaching. The teacher may change her role to become more of a facilitator than instructor, while the computer becomes a tool to support that. During this phase, the teacher could also find the intended uses of the computer is completely incompatible and stops using it. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> There are many components that affect technology in informal spaces of the school. The informal help and information teachers provide to each other have important associations with computer use. The informal social pressure that teachers exert on one another can also have a moderate effect on use. Finally, the experimentation that teachers engage during non-instructional times (outside of the school context) are critical to technology implementation. This finding strongly supports the fundamental concept of the ecological metaphor in the mutual adaptation between species, especially between existing and new species, takes frequent contact and active interactions at a local level.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Implications for Research ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The eco-system metaphor suggests that future research should pay more attention to understanding the relationships and processes of how the various factors affect technology uses in schools rather than identifying new factors. First, this framework implies that the process of technology adoption is one of co-evolution. So one possible factor for research is the different roles at different time. Experimentation with technology may be more important after a teacher is already introduced to the basics of technology. Another possible factor for research would be to study schools that are at different stages of technology adoption because participants in this study are from school districts that had already been promoting technology uses for some years; the dynamics of the ecosystem may be different from those schools that are either at the beginning or a later stage of technology adoption. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Second, this model draws special attention to teachers’ rational calculation of costs and benefits of adopting technology. The calculation is based on perception rather than “reality.” So future research should investigate what influences teachers’ perceptions and how teachers’ perceptions can be changed most efficiently. Third, this study highlights the vital role of local context (the ecology where teachers work) in filtering external resources, opinions, and innovations. So it is beneficial to continue to explore what constitutes keystone species and how they affect others in the process of technology adoption. Fourth, the study focuses on the use of computers, rather than computers as a physical object. Thus the concern now is not whether computers are used but how they are used to facilitate the core tasks of teaching and learning. Also, future research can specifically investigate the interactions between different types of uses for students and their interactions with the teaching ecosystem. Fifth, as certain uses of computers are adopted by teachers, it will be important to study their effects on the school and teachers, to study what is replaced, what is changed, and what is maintained.

And finally, the study examines the usage of multiple technologies (e.g., phone, email, etc.) and multiple uses of technology (computers). However, the study did not look at the interactions between other species in the teaching ecology (e.g., books, references, libraries, etc.) and technology. So it is important for future research to study these interactions as they prove to be major sources of factors that influence the uses of technology.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Implications for Policy and Practice ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 1) Consider teaching style as it complements computer usage when hiring teachers. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 2) Give teachers opportunities to experiment with software and demonstrated applications. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 3) Consider providing opportunities for teachers to interact instead of standard professional development. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 4) Focus on a small number of innovations at any given time.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusions ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In this paper, researchers propose an analytical framework drawing upon the ecosystem metaphor. They then present a study that applies this framework to understanding technology uses in school. Finally, they discuss several implications for future research and policy and practices. As a conclusion of the paper, they provide a few general cautions, suggestions, and hopes. First, although the ecosystem metaphor seems to be a powerful and useful analytical tool for understanding why computers are unused, underused or misused in schools, there is a caution that a metaphor, by definition, is merely a rhetorical and conceptual device. Metaphors, when carried too far, can be dangerous and misleading. Second, this metaphor may also prove to be useful for understanding other types of educational innovations. Third, the ecological metaphor emphasizes the systemic implications of the introduction of any innovation. Accepting the ecological metaphor, innovations cannot be implemented oblivious to the internal social structures of schools or other pressures schools must face. Thus, it should be an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach to school change.

Misc
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