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Abstract
The aim of this case study is to evaluate the effect of mentors on teachers' technology integration process into their classrooms. In integration process, interactions between the mentors and the teachers are implemented in terms of Systems-Based Mentoring Model (SBMM). Mentors' leadership roles were determined and changes in teachers' technology integration indicators were analyzed. Observations, dairies and the Indicators of Technology Integration Scale (ITIS) were used for collecting data. The results indicated that the roles of mentors in the integration process are providing technological support, presenting teaching materials and guiding for the achievement of those materials, encouraging teachers for the use of technology in their lessons, increasing the technological literacy and guiding for using technology in the teaching program. Moreover, it was determined that following the steps in the SBMM positively affected to the indicators about teachers' technology integration. The results shed a light that, dealing with mentorship within a framework of a systematic structure in technology integration process among the teachers may contribute the integration process via facilitating the roles of the teachers.
Keywords
Improving teaching * Technology integration * Mentors * Systems-based mentoring model * Technology leadership
The role of supporting teachers related to the technology integration was generally given to the school managers. However, it is pointed out that the school managers fail to satisfy in having knowledge about using teaching technologies, perceiving their user, cooperative, and facilitating roles in learning-teaching process and they were insufficient in the mentorship (Brockmeier, Sermon, & Hope, 2005; Can, 2008). In this context, as well as school managers, other specialized people in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) integration related to technology integration is also needed. Sugar and Holloman (2009) determined that those experts who may be assigned as mentors, should be eager to learn new technologies, capable of solving technical problems, able to access technology resources, and have capacity of cooperating with teachers. In order to conduct an effective ICT integration process, a mentor is expected to interact with teachers by presenting new technologies related to their fields, supporting them in solving the technical problems, developing the materials which they employ in their lessons, and suggesting different technologies for different issues (Anderson & Dexter, 2005; Frazier & Bailey, 2004; Sugar, 2005)....