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: Irfan Soylemez

Date: 6/5/2016

Cite the reviewed article in APA format:

Waxman, H., Boriack, A., Yuan-Hsuan, L., & MacNeil, A. (2013). Principals'
Perceptions of the Importance of Technology in Schools. Contemporary
Educational Technology, 4(3), 187-196.

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

What are principals' point of view of innovation in integrating technology in

schools?

Do principals' view of innovation vary by years of experience and

gender?

Purpose of the research:

The research aims to reflect that school leaders play a significant role in
determining technology use. Both gender and years of experience influence how
principals perceive the functions of technology in their schools. This could affect
the technology leadership of principals, which may influence the success of
technology implementation in schools whether or not technology is integrated in
their schools.
In order to encourage the integration of technology in schools, the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) developed the National Education
Technology Standards (NETS) for students, teachers, administrators, technology
coaches, and computer science teachers (ISTE, 2009).

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

Participants:
A sample of 311 principals from a large metropolitan area in the southwest region
of the U.S. responded to a cognitive interview questionnaire that addressed
public school principals about their perceptions regarding the importance of
technology for their schools. The questionnaire was administered by graduate
students in the Educational Leadership program at a major, urban doctoralgranting university located in the south central region of the U.S.
Procedures:
The questionnaire was administered by graduate students in the Educational
Leadership program at a major, urban doctoral-granting university located in the
south central region of the US. In a metropolitan area 311 principals were asked
to take the questionnaire. The admins were grouped by their years of experience
and genders. Years of experience and gender have influence of different
responses to the survey. The survey asked questions to school leaders about
technology integration into public schools. If schools are integrating in to
technology, how does it affect admins, teachers or students and how can the
whole campus can get the advantage of technology in campus/classroom. How
admins/teachers use technology? How can instruction can get a better quality via
technology? These are some of the questions and discussed items.
Data Collection Methods/Data Source:
Data were collected through observations; documentation (i.e., handbooks,
technology policies, and lesson handouts); and interviews with teachers, staff,
and students.

Data Analysis:
The sample consisted of 126 males and 184 females. A range of years of
experience was present with 104 participants having 0-3 years of experience, 82
participants having 4-7 years, 55 participants having 8-11 years, 32 participants
having 12-15 years, and 31 participants having greater than 15 years of
experience. The survey that addressed public school principals perceptions
related to the major functions of technology in their schools. In order to
encourage the integration of technology in schools, the International Society for
Technology in Education (ISTE) developed the National Education Technology
Standards (NETS) for students, teachers, administrators, technology coaches,
and computer science teachers. The NETS for Administrators (NETS-A) contain
five standards: (a) visionary leadership, (b) digital age learning culture, (c)
excellence in professional practice, (d) systemic improvement, and (e) digital
leadership. These standards are the skills and knowledge that school
administrators and leaders need to successfully integrate technology in their
schools (ISTE, 2009).
Principals Perceptions of the Major Function of Technology (Table 1.) (a)
communication 34.5%, (b) instruction 27.7%, (c) data sharing and management
13.6%, (d) a resource14.5%, (e) administrative tasks10.0%, and (f) student
learning 9.7%.
Analysis of the interview data began with a process of data reduction. The
participants responses were read several times to become familiar with the data.
The data was then coded into meaningful categories. Once the categories were
established, another researcher independently coded a 10% sample of
responses to determine the consistency of the coding. The inter-coder reliability
results revealed a high level of agreement (Cohens kappa = .94).

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

Table 2. Principals Perceptions of the Major

Male

Female

Function of Technology by Sex Major Function of

(n=126)

(n=184)

Technology
Communication
Instruction
Data sharing and management
Resource
Administrative tasks
Student learning
As indicated by Table2 gender varies from one another

32.5 %
32.6 %
15.0 %
15.9 %
12.0 %
7.2 %
in principal

35.9 %
24.6 %
15.2 %
13.6 %
8.7 %
11.5 %
perception of

technology.
Table

Principals

0-3

4-7

8-11

12-15

>

15

Perceptions of the Major

Yrs.

Yrs.

Yrs.

Yrs.

Yrs.

Function of Technology by

(n=104)

(n=82) (n=55)

(n=32)

(n=31)

38.5 %
24.1 %
10.6 %
21.2 %
6.7 %
9.6 %

32.9%
30.4%
18.3%
7.3 %
12.2%
14.6%

28.1 %
31.3 %
21.9 %
12.5 %
15.6 %
12.5 %

35.5 %
38.7 %
19.4 %
25.8 %
19.4 %
6.4 %

Years of Experience Major

Function of Technology
Communication
Instruction
Data sharing & Management
Resource
Administrative tasks
Student learning

30.9 %
23.6 %
14.6 %
9.1 %
3.6 %
3.6 %

As shown in Table 3 the principals with The two major functions of technology
with the highest percentage were communication and instruction. The highest
percentage for principals with 0-3, 4-7, and 8-11 years of experience was in
communication (39%, 33%, and 31%, respectively) followed by instruction (24%,
30%, and 24%, respectively).

DISCUSSIONS
Conclusions/Implications (for your profession):
In the conclusion, it is specifically pointed out that principals have a positive attitude
toward adopting, use and follow-up technology, but they also fear technology. In this
context, we can say that evaluating the positive or negative attitude of principals as a
whole is an important variable for successfully integrating technology into schools. It is

believed that principals with a negative attitude will not be effective in integrating
technology into the school, while principals with a positive attitude will be more effective
in integrating technology into learning-teaching processes. When gender is considered
at this research we analyzed shows us principals' impression in their schools are
changed by sex and years of experience.

REFLECTIONS
Students Reflections (changes to your understanding; implications for your
school/work):
According to my understanding, the main idea of the article is the school leaders have to
be equipped with the technology of the school which is the critical and essential
component to lead school community in introducing, implementing and sustaining those
technologies at the school in an effective way. Thus the school leaders should know and
have the requirements of its being psychologically readiness, open minded. If the
principal has the fear of implementing technology or educational activities to their
campus, most of the time they fail to do so. According to the study, positive attitude is the
key for the principals to adapt technology. In order principals to increase the efficiency of
the technology at the campus they need to attend workshop focused on the technology
implement. The influence seen that the length of experience builds viewpoint of
innovation use in training changes for principals. To my experience, the senior principals
are more eagerly to use technology in all areas. I was expecting new principals more
interested in integrating technology in schools.

References:

Waxman, H. C., MacNeil, A., & Lee, Y. H. (2006, November). Principals

perceptions of successful school leadership. Paper presented at the annual
convention of the University Council of Educational Administration, San Antonio,

TX.
Yu, C. & Durrington, V. A. (2006). Technology standards for school
administrators: An analysis of practicing and aspiring administrators perceived
ability to perform the standards. NASSP Bulletin, 90, 301-317.