Are Teachers Benefiting from Technology Integration to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Further Education and Training Sector Regardless of any Challenges they Face

Abstract

The rapid advancement in technology over the last two decades has put education in the spotlight and how this technology should be deployed to enhance the teaching and learning experience. As there is more focus on applying technology solutions to enhance teaching and learning, the challenge for teachers is immense on how they can best integrate technology solutions to achieve this. The aim of this research was to explore how teachers are harnessing the benefits of technology integration in the classroom today, if any. A technology integration model framework was the technique used to identify degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and learning and moving away from simply using technology for administrative purposes. A sample of five teachers who deliver business subjects in an Advanced Certificate of Business Level 6 in a Further Education College were interviewed for the purposes of this study and who all consented to their data being used in this research. The research was conducted using qualitative methodology with one-to-one interviews with each teacher. The qualitative data suggested that teachers were integrating technology on a very small scale but were very enthusiastic to engage in this model of delivery. Some findings were very surprising and four main themes were identified which were teachers technology journey, classroom technologies integrated, benefits of technology and challenges when integrating technology. The findings show that while there are low levels of integration and many challenges still exist, these teachers see the benefit of technology integration and a suggested roadmap was designed to guide them through the steps of the four hierarchal tasks in the SMAR framework : Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.