Educator Mindsets and Perceptions of Instructional Technology: Effects From the Year of Emergency Distance Education

Abstract

The integration of digital technology in public K-12 classrooms has been an evolving topic over the past several decades. As technology services and systems become more ubiquitous in everyday life, their implications for enhancing public education have been increasingly promised with varied results. Up until 2020, the integration of instructional technologies in schools and classrooms has been a gradual, methodical process largely due to teacher apprehensions. When schools closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this once-gradual process became much more sudden for many schools and teachers. This rapid adoption of technology, whether teachers were ready or not, has led to a polarization of teacher mindsets and perceptions regarding technology. Where some teachers have gotten over their apprehensions and now embrace technology more, others are more resistant in response to the side effects of the rapid implementation. This mixed methods study surveyed 24 middle school teachers with two follow-up qualitative methods (an interview and a focus group). Key findings included an increased familiarity with technology, a desire for ongoing professional learning, and concerns of overdependence of technology by students.