Exploring the Culture of Instructional Information/Communication Technology Use in an Educational Context

• In Event: Aspects of Learning Cultures: A Dialogic Approach to Meta-Ethnography of Learning and Teaching

Abstract

Purpose
While instructional technologies have often been heralded as solutions to the challenges of classroom instruction (Cuban & Cuban, 2009), the reality is that technologies come to take on particular significances within different educational institutions. Though they may not be the ones who decide what technologies end up in the classroom, teachers are often the ones who decide how, and how often instructional information/communication technology (ICT) gets used (Hodas, 1996). In order to understand instructional ICT in terms of need, efficacy, and even appropriate use, it is necessary to take into account the culture of an educational context and the relationships instructors have with ICT. This study drew on ethnographic methods to explore the culture of technology in a South Korean college EFL program. For the purposes of this presentation, the focus will be on methodological and conceptual aspects of the study of school cultures and technology that have significance for wider research in educational ethnography.

Theoretical framework
While not a full ethnography, this case study draws on what Gee and Green (1998) term the ethnographic perspective. It focuses on the knowledges, behaviors, and norms of a particular group, delving into shared meanings and understandings. In particular, this study focused on the meanings, understandings, and usages of instructional technology. In order to interpret these phenomena, analysis drew on theories of technological interaction such as the social shaping of technology (Kline & Pinch, 1999; Pinch & Bijker, 1984), as well as affordance theory (Gibson, 1979) and ideologies of technology (Bax, 2003; Kozinets, 2008).

Data Sources and methods
This ethnographic case study (Angers and Machtmes, 2005) delved into the instructional technology use of three English instructors at a South Korean instructional college, exploring the ways they understood, represented, and used technology from multiple angles so as to present a multifaceted picture of their personal and professional relationships to instructional technology. Data was collected over a five month period. In order to aid thick description and triangulation, a variety of data collection methods were used: A questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, a focus group interview, classroom observations, video-cued interviews, card sorting, and document analysis.

Results
This presentation will focus less on the findings of the study, and more on lessons learned regarding the studying of the significance of technology within learning cultures. This includes discussion of methods of data collection and analysis, status and technology use, the role of technology training, and dynamics of teacher perceptions of and beliefs about technology.

Scholarly Significance
These insights have implications for educational research that takes an ethnographic perspective, whether looking at technology use as a focus or as one aspect of a holistic view of a school culture. This presentation aims to provide methodological, analytic, and conceptual tools for approaching this phenomenon.

Author

• Brandon Sherman, Indiana University - IUPUI