| Computers use in K–12 education has become widespread, yet even in schools where computers are readily available, some teachers do not make use of them. The purpose of this study was to examine two factors that may offer an explanation for this lack of use: the visions that teachers hold about computer use in their classrooms and the teaching philosophy that guides those teachers in their practice.; Twenty-five fourth and fifth grade teachers from schools with strong technology programs were interviewed concerning their visions of educational computing, use of computers in their own classrooms, and their teaching philosophies. The interviews were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative interview techniques. Results showed that, while their visions of computer use were quite varied, these visions did not correlate with their use of computers. Further examination of the data gathered from the interviews suggested that knowledge, rather than vision, may be a significant factor contributing to use. Teacher knowledge was not specifically studied in this research, but the teachers mentioned it frequently which suggests that further study of this relationship is warranted.; The teaching philosophies held by these teachers and the settings in which they used computers did relate to their use of computers in the classroom. Philosophy was found to be related only with type of use, not with frequency of use. The settings in which computers are used in the school had a strong relationship to both type of use and overall frequency of use. |
