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: Michelle Gentry

Date: September 22, 2016

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Waxman,H.,Boriack,A.,YuanHsuan,L.,&MacNeil,A.(2013).Principals'
PerceptionsoftheImportanceofTechnologyinSchools.ContemporaryEducational
Technology,4(3),187196.

INTRODUCTION
Research Questions (if research questions are not specifically mentioned, what is
the theoretical background or overarching theme):

Thepresentstudyspecificallyexaminesthefollowingtworesearchquestions:(a)What
areprincipalsperceptionsoftheimportanceoftechnology?and(b)Doprincipals
perceptionsoftechnologydifferbyyearsofexperienceandgender?

Purpose of the research:

Thepresentstudybuildsonthepriorresearchandincludesanopenended,cognitive
interviewquestionthatallowsfortheexaminationofprincipalsperspectivesand
orientationstowardtechnology.Furthermore,whileotherstudieshaveexplored
differencesbytypeofschool,thepresentstudyfocusesonprincipalcharacteristicssuch
asyearsofexperienceandgender.

METHODOLOGY
What is the methodology for the research or approach used to understand the
issue? Provide information regarding the following:

Participants:
Aconveniencesampleof310principalsfromalargemetropolitanareainthesouthwest
regionoftheUnitedStatesrespondedtoacognitiveinterviewquestionnairethatasked
principalsabouttheirperceptionsregardingtheimportanceoftechnologyfortheir
schools.Thesampleconsistedof126malesand184females.Arangeofyearsof
experiencewaspresentwith104participantshaving03yearsofexperience,82
participantshaving47years,55participantshaving811years,32participantshaving
1215years,and31participantshavinggreaterthan15yearsofexperience.

Procedures:
ThequestionnairewasadministeredbygraduatestudentsintheEducationalLeadership
programatamajor,urbandoctoralgrantinguniversitylocatedinthesouthcentralregion
oftheU.S.Aspartoftheprincipalscertificationcourserequirements,studentswere
trainedonhowtoadministertheinstrumentandrequiredtointerviewaspecificnumber
ofcurrentpublicschoolprincipals.Thesurveyinstrumentwasdesignedspecificallyfor
thispurposeandincludedbothqualitativeandquantitativequestions.

Data Collection Methods/Data Source:

Aspreviouslydiscussed,principalscognitionsandperceptionshavebeenfoundtobe
validandreliableandtheuseofcognitiveinterviewingfurtherimprovesthevalidityof
thedata(Desimonte&LeFloch,2004).Forthisstudy,onlythedatafromtheinterviews
wasused.TheinterviewquestionswereHastechnologyhadanimpactinyourschool?
andIfso,inwhatspecificwayshasitmadeadifference?

Data Analysis:
Analysisoftheinterviewdatabeganwithaprocessofdatareduction.Theparticipants
responseswerereadseveraltimestobecomefamiliarwiththedata.Thedatawasthen
codedintomeaningfulcategories.Oncethecategorieswereestablished,another
researcherindependentlycodeda10%sampleofresponsestodeterminetheconsistency
ofthecoding.Theintercoderreliabilityresultsrevealedahighlevelofagreement
(Cohenskappa=.94).

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

Table1displaystheoverallresultsofprincipalsperceptionsoftheirmajorfunctionsof
technology.Table1resultsfollow:
Communication34.5%Instruction27.7%Datasharingandmanagement13.6%Resource
14.5%Administrativetasks10.0%Studentlearning9.7%
TheresultsforthemajorfunctionsoftechnologybygenderareshowninTable2.When
examiningthemajorfunctionsoftechnologybygender,thehighestpercentageofmales
andfemalesdiscussedusingtechnologyforcommunication(33%and36%,respectively).
Thenexthighestpercentageofmalesandfemalesfeltthattechnologywasusedfor
instruction(33%and25%,respectively).
Finally,principalsperceptionsofthemajorfunctionsoftechnologywereexaminedby
yearsofexperience:03years,47years,811years,1215years,andmorethan15
years.Thetwomajorfunctionsoftechnologywiththehighestpercentagewere
communicationandinstruction.Thehighestpercentageforprincipalswith03,47,and
811yearsofexperiencewasincommunication(39%,33%,and31%,respectively)
followedbyinstruction(24%,30%,and24%,respectively).Principalswith1215and
morethan15yearsofexperiencehadthehighestpercentageininstruction(31%and
39%,respectively)followedbycommunication(28%and36%,respectively).Theother
fourcategoriesshowedvariedpercentagesbyyearsofexperienceandtheyaredisplayed
inTable3.
Table1,Table2andTable3canbefoundintheirentiretystartingonpage192ofthearticle.

DISCUSSIONS
Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):

Theresultsfromthepresentstudysuggestthatprincipalsviewtechnologyasimportant
forcarryingoutcommunicationandinstruction.Theyalsoseetheimportanceofusing
technologyfordatasharingandmanagement,asaresource,foradministrativetasksand
forstudentlearning.Thisindicatesthatprincipalshaveapositiveviewoftechnologyand

areusingtechnologythemselves.Noneoftheprincipalsinthestudy,however,discussed
theirvisionoftheroleofeducationaltechnologyintheirschools.

REFLECTIONS
Students Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your
school/work):

Technologyintheclassroomisatopicfordiscussionineveryschoolbuildingand
classroom.Studentsareusingtechnologyeverywhere;theyneedtobeusingitinthe
classroomaswell.
WhenIbeganthisreadIthoughttheyoungerprincipals,orprincipalswithlessyearsof
experience,wouldbetheprincipalsmorefortechnologyallthewayaround.However,
afterreadingthearticleitseemsthattheleadersofthebuildingneedtohavemore
trainingtobecomfortablewiththetechnology.Morecomfortwithtechnologywillcome
withmoreuseoftechnologyonthecampusasawhole.Thereisanoverwhelming
positiveattitudeforincreasingtechnology;theproblemisthattheprincipals,and
teachers,generallyknowlessabouttechnologythanthestudents.Moretrainingfor
leadersneedstobeprovidedtoensuretheleadersareuptospeedwiththetechnology
beingusedintheclassrooms.
Technologyisimportantandthatisacrossgender,ageandexperienceoftheprincipal
surveyed.Thetrickisimplementingitinapositivewaysincethestudentsareverytech
savyatthistime.Weneedtoensurethestudentsareusingtechnologyinapositiveway
andforthepurposesintendedinaschoolsetting.