Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Physical education teachers--Iowa--Attitudes; Educational technology--Iowa; Educational technology; Physical education teachers--Attitudes; Iowa; Academic theses;
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Iowa physical education teachers regarding the importance of various technologies available for use in a physical education classroom. A second purpose was to determine the access to and usage of selected pieces of technology. Data were compared based on years of teaching experience and gender. A questionnaire was sent to Iowa physical educators to determine access and use of 20 different pieces of technology. Teachers also ranked the importance of each technology as "Important," "Somewhat Important," or "Not Important." Results of the study indicated the most accessible technologies available to physical education teachers included the Internet, video recorder, digital camera, TVNCR/DVD player, desktop publishing software, presentation software, and e-mail. Fewer teachers had "newer" technology, such as a TriFIT Assessment System, PE Manager software, handheld computers, and virtual reality equipment available to them. The most often used technologies included the Internet, e-mail, and grading software, with more than 65% of all teachers using each. Less than 10% of all research participants used electronic literature search, virtual reality equipment, interactive media, WebCT, PE Manager software, PDAs, and TriFIT Assessment Systems. A significantly larger number of women used the Internet and digital cameras while a significantly larger number of men used grading software. A significantly larger number of teachers that had been teaching for more than 25 years reported using a video recorder more often than those teaching for fewer years. The reasons for these differences are unknown. Most teachers felt that the Internet, e-mail, and grading software were important in the field of physical education. The least important technologies included electronic literature search, virtual reality equipment, and WebCT. A significantly larger number of women felt that digital cameras and presentation software were important in the field. Significantly fewer of those teaching for more than 25 years felt that online courses and workshops were important than their counterparts that had been teaching for fewer years. It appears that there is an incongruity between the usage of the "newer" technologies and their perceived importance, with teachers' ratings of importance higher than usage rates. Although the reasons for this gap between usage and perceived importance is unknown, one speculation is that much of the "newer" technology is relatively expensive, especially for an educational budget; therefore, teachers may not have the resources to purchase such technology. Further research is suggested to determine why teachers do not use technology labeled as "important."
Year of Submission
2006
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services
First Advisor
Larry Hensley
Second Advisor
Carol Phillips
Third Advisor
Windee Weiss
Date Original
2006
Object Description
1 PDF file (61 leaves)
Copyright
©2006 Jennifer Hadler
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Hadler, Jennifer, "Iowa Physical Educators’ Access to Usage of, and Perceived Importance of Technology in the Field of Physical Education" (2006). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1870.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1870
Comments
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