Technological advancements have led to the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Students' readiness to use 4IR technologies is thus essential for the development of knowledgeable, competent, and skilled graduates. However, ensuring students' readiness to use 4IR technologies is quite challenging, leading to a need to understand the…

Researchers have concluded that Web 2.0 technologies offered many educational benefits. However, many secondary teachers in a large northwestern school district were not using Web 2.0 tools in spite of its possibilities for teaching and learning. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to explore the relationships between the…

This study investigated major course changes in 11 sections of a stand-alone educational technology course redesigned around 21st century skill sets as opposed to technical skill development. Conducted in the fall of 2007 and spring 2008 with a random sample of 100 pre-service teachers, independent and paired sample t tests and correlational…

Technology skills instruction is an important component of educational technology courses, which has been shown to raise pre-service teachers' computer self-efficacy. Computer self-efficacy, in turn, is positively related to their self-efficacy for technology integration. Studies of undergraduate technology skills instruction found that classroom…

Many communities throughout the United States are experiencing a large influx of Central American immigrants. Langley Park, Maryland is typical of the pockets that are formed by the new arrivals. Community members of Latino background now account for 60% of the population, while in 1990 they were only 40% (US Census, 2000). As the immigrants move…

Describes a program for formulating and implementing a staff development plan for technology based on experiences in the Lake Forest School District (Delaware). A comparison of pre- and posttest responses of teachers indicated improvement in skill levels and more positive attitudes toward the use of technology in education. The annual technology…

Describes a girls' computer club started at one elementary school as an action research project. Discusses research findings about girls and computer technology; getting started; building community and establishing communication; activities and projects; using games to build computer fluency; involving volunteers; and success of the club. Includes…

Although many elementary classrooms have computers, students commonly report that they do not know how to use the them. This study assessed the effectiveness of a computer training program for students to increase their awareness of and comfort level on Macintosh and IBM computers in their classroom. Participating were fifth graders in an…

Assessments were made of fourth grade students' attitudes toward computers, their computer vocabulary, and their estimates of classroom access at the end of the academic year 2000. Findings indicate that teachers need sustained hands-on guidance in learning to design and schedule classroom computer activities that both relate to the curriculum and…

This report describes a program for formulating and implementing a staff development plan for technology within the Lake Forest School District (Delaware). The study focused on increasing teacher use of technology, primarily computers, through increased staff development. Attitudinal changes toward the use of technology were also investigated. Two…

A variety of barriers relating to resources, institutional and administrative policies, skills development and attitudes can hinder the effectiveness of technology professional development resulting in underutilized technology resources and lack of integration of those resources within instruction. Multiple methods were used to evaluate the…

Educators who do not learn to use computers and the information highway in the classroom may be depriving themselves and their students of opportunities to access information and develop skills. This article describes how K-12 and higher education teachers should approach and use technology for management, collaboration, and conferencing. Software…

Integration is based on the assumption that computers should be an integral part of the learning process, both for servicing curriculum needs and as an object for study. The integration of computers into everyday classroom activity has proved to be more slow and difficult than expected, creating the notion that there are incentives enhancing the…

This report describes West Virginia's Basic Skills/Computer Education (BS/CE) program and connects its features to gains in student test scores that are practically and statistically significant. The program consists of three components: (1) software that focuses on the state's basic skills goals in reading, language arts, and mathematics; (2)…