A qualitative phenomenological study of K-12 teacher perceptions of technology integration in southeastern Georgia

Technology advances continue to have an impact on the competitiveness of nations. Despite increasing access to technology in schools, teachers still report diminutive use of technology during instruction. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore what factors are perceived by teachers and administrators, in a school district in southeast Georgia, to attribute to the limited integration of technology in the classroom. The study was also used to identify recommendations for overcoming these reasons from the perspective of participating teachers and administrators. The data collection process included one-on-one interviews with participants. After the completion of the interviews, descriptive narratives were created using themes that described the experience and the perceptions of educator's barriers to technology integration and what they believe can be done to overcome the barriers. Narratives descriptions were continued until all themes were described and a creation of the compilation of the lived experiences of the educators was constructed. The results of the study uncovered several perceived barriers to technology integration. Teachers and administrators indicated that a lack of quality training, poor access to quality equipment and software, time constraints, negative attitudes concerning the use of or impact of technology on student learning, and ineffective leadership were barriers to technology integration in instruction. Furthermore, teacher and administrators recommended access to quality equipment, opportunities for high quality and effective professional development focused on technology integration, additional funding and more effective budgeting practices, additional time for planning for technology integration, and additional research to identify specific needs as ways to help mitigate barriers to technology integration.