Abstract:
Students are beneficiaries of the educational system, yet little is known about their
perceptions of the system. Furthermore, despite an increased focus on educational
technology, many questions persist. Several previous studies about technology
perceptions have focused on high school and college students. This study was designed
to explore elementary students’ perceptions of educational technology.
A qualitative study was conducted in a third grade and a fifth grade classroom,
where 16 technology lessons were observed between November 2009 and February 2010.
Both classroom teachers were currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program in
Instructional Technology. In addition to the observations, 24 focus-group interviews
were conducted with 3 students in each group. An inductive, grounded approach was
used for data analysis.
This study began with a conceptual framework consisting of three main parts:
Technology and Its Affordances, Teachers as Designers of Curriculum, and Students’
Experienced Perceptions. The focus of this research was at the intersection of those three
areas, that is Students’ Perceptions about Educational Technology. Specifically, the goal
of the study was to find out what students like about technology, what they dislike about
technology, and how they work with others during technology activities.
Data analysis revealed that most of these students maintained a positive
perception about educational technology despite some frustrations with issues of
functionality. Furthermore, most of these elementary students believed that technology
makes their school work more enjoyable as well as improving its quality.
This study suggests that teachers take students’ technology perceptions into
account when designing lessons. It also offers additional recommendations for classroom
use.
