You are on page 1of 5

JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW TEMPLATE

North American University


Education Department
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership / M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
EDUC 5324 Integrating Technology into Education
Name: SARAH SOUTHARD

Date: September 19, 2016

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Bulent Dogan & Kadir Almus (2014) School Administrators Use of iPads: Impact of
Training and Attitudes Toward School Use, Computers in the Schools: Interdisciplinary
Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research, 31:3, 233-250, DOI:
10.1080/07380569.2014.932660
INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what is
the theoretical background or overarching theme):

1. What is the impact of the training process on school administrators use of iPads for
administrative tasks and personal organization in their professional duties?
2. What is the impact of the training process on school administrators beliefs regarding
how teachers should use iPads in the classroom?
3. Are there any differences in school administrators survey responses based on gender,
age, years of experience in school administration and education, highest degree attained,
school classification, or school size?

Purpose of the research:

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of school administrators
attitudes toward iPad use after receiving specific iPad training.
METHODOLOGY
What is the methodology for the research or approach used to understand the
issue? Provide information regarding the following:

Participants:

Elementary and Secondary School Administrators (principals and assistant


principals) working in the largest public charter school system in a southwestern
state
51 subjects were selected through a purposive sampling from the target
population
Procedures:
*participants were contacted by email through the schools central office
*participants were given the purpose, structure, and schedule of the research
study along with information on training and resources to be provided throughout
the spring semester of the 20122013 school year
*participants completed consent forms as required by the school district and the
university
*participants took part in a pre-survey where questions regarding demographics
were asked: age, years of experience as a school administrator, years of
experience in education, highest degree earned, and school size. Participants
were also asked if/when administrators were currently using iPads for daily
school related tasks, beliefs about effectiveness of iPads for administrative tasks,
and how teachers should be using iPads in the classroom.
*participants received training on the effective use of iPads for administrative
tasks and personal organization through an interactive webinar session
*participants received specially designed resources expanding the topics covered
in the training session through video and written tutorials
*participants took part in a post-survey
Data Collection Methods/Data Source:
two survey instruments were used as a mechanism to collect data, which were
administered online through the survey submission system hosted at the
universitys server
4 month study period
multiple choice and Likert-type scale items
Data Analysis:
*survey responses were reported as frequencies
*paired sample t-test data analysis was conducted to understand the differences
in the responses between the pre- and post-surveys
*a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was conducted to see whether
there were any differences in school administrators responses by gender, age,
years of experience in school administration, years of experience in education,
highest degree earned, school classification, and school size

*Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to
conduct the data analysis

RESULTS
Findings or Results (or main points of the article):

1. analysis of demographic and contextual data


average age: 34.16
average years of experience as school administrator: 2.04
average years of experience in education: 8.45
average school size: 618.50
2. impacts of the training process on school administrators use of iPad
and iPad applications
66.67% of participants used iPad applications for work related tasks
Eduphoria an iPad application for CMS was the most commonly used
21.43% stated being mobile was the best feature of iPad
3. impacts of the training process on school administrators beliefs
regarding how teachers should use iPads in the classroom
97.30% post survey stated that they would like to see their teachers using iPads for
teaching in the classroom
86.49% in post-survey responded yes, computers used in courses would be
replaced by iPads in the future

4. differences in participants responses by their demographic and


contextual data (gender, age, years of experience in school
administration and education, highest degree attained, school
classification, and school size)
to understand the differences in participants responses by gender, age, years of
experience in school administration and education, highest degree attained, school
classification, and school size, six one-way ANOVA tests and one t test were
conducted for two items of the pre-survey
There was a significant difference on the item measuring the self-reported level of
iPad skills and knowledge by the school classification, F(3,47) = 3.23, p = 0.03, 2
= 0.17 (Table 3). Post-hoc comparison using the least square difference (LSD)
procedure indicated that the mean score for the K12 school level (M = 1.59, SD =
0.50) was signifi- cantly different from the K5 level (M = 2.25, SD = 0.50) and the
K8 level (M = 2.00, SD = 0.50) at the p < .05 significance level

5. evaluation of training process.

Participants were asked in the post-survey which iPad applications they found most
useful among those highlighted in the training session and posttraining resources.
Google Drive storage and sharing files was the most selected response (22.30%)
to this question (see Appendix). Other popular responses included syncing Google
Calendar to your iPad (16.55%), Dropbox for storage and sharing files
(13.67%), and Go Tasks with Google Tasks (10.07%). (See Appendix.) When
school administrators were asked in the post-survey which applications they
actually used among those highlighted in the training session and post-training
resources, Google Drive storage and sharing files was again the most selected
response (23.53%), followed by syncing Google Calendar to your iPad (20.59%),
Dropbox for storage and sharing files (17.65%), and Evernote for note
taking/organizing (8.82%).
DISCUSSIONS
Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

This survey-based quantitative study investigated the impact of receiving iPad training on
school administrators attitudes toward iPad use in their professional duties and in the
classroom by teachers. The study examined how school administrators used iPads and
iPad applications in their professional duties before and after training, their beliefs on
how teachers should use iPads in the classroom, differences in participants responses by
demographic and contextual data, and evaluation of the training process.
Participants in this study were relatively young administrators and that may have played a
key factor in the positive response to training activities.
K-5 administrators reported their level of iPad skills were higher than K-8 and K-12
schools. The reason for this is unknown.
One of the traits of a strong school leader is the ability to be visible and get out of the
office (Principals Identify Top Ten Leadership Traits, 2008). School administrators in
this study reported valuing the iPads mobility, the touchscreen, and the ability to use
various application features for work related purposes.
After the training school administrators reported that their iPad skills and knowledge
were intermediate to advances, which was an increase prior to training.
REFLECTIONS
Students Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your
school/work):

Technology is in full force no matter where you look. It is part of every aspect of
education. Since administrators are the leaders of the school, it is vital for administrators
to have a comprehensive understanding of technology. This study focused specifically on
the use of iPads and the principals knowledge regarding the iPad. It was obvious that the
school administrators had some knowledge of the iPad, but the results of the training
definitely showed positive growth. I believe this study proved not only the positive
effects of proper training, but the need for training. Every administrator should make it
their priority to be the example for their campus. Technology is such a wonderful
resource when it comes to teaching, and teachers should be given the opportunity to
learn, grow, and effectively use the iPad as a teaching tool in their classrooms regularly.
This opportunity starts with the administrators complete understanding of the effective
uses of the iPad.

You might also like