INTERNET USE FOR LESSON PREPARATION BY …...INTERNET USE FOR LESSON PREPARATION BY PRE‐SERVICE...

INTERNETUSEFORLESSONPREPARATIONBYPRE‐SERVICETEACHERS:AMIXEDMETHODSSTUDY

by

TajinderUppal

Athesissubmittedinconformitywiththerequirements

forthedegreeofMasterofArtsGraduateDepartmentofHumanDevelopmentandAppliedPsychology

OntarioInstituteforStudiesinEducationUniversityofToronto

©CopyrightofTajinderUppal2011

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INTERNETUSEFORLESSONPREPARATIONBYPRESERVICETEACHERS:AMIXEDMETHODSSTUDY

MasterofArts2011TajinderUppal

GraduateDepartmentofHumanDevelopmentandAppliedPsychologyUniversityofToronto

AbstractThisexploratorystudyexaminedhowpre‐serviceteachersusetheInternetwhile

preparinglessonplans.Participants(N=30)preparedaliteracy‐focusedlessonusingthe

Internetastheironlyresource.Datawerecollectedthroughscreencapturetechnology,

trackingwhereparticipantswentandhowtheyusedtheInternet,andafterwards,

participants’reflectionswereobtainedthroughstructuredinterviews.Mostparticipants

firstvisitedtheGooglesearchenginetofindinformation,ortheOntariocurriculum

documenttocheckthegradelevelexpectations.Participantsconductedthreeormore

Googlesearchesonaverage,andgovernment,commercial,teacherhosted,and

organizationsiteswerethemostoftenvisited.Thesesiteswereusedtofindmore

informationontheselectedlessonplan,generateideasbyseeingwhatlessonsare

availableonline,lookformaterialsforthelesson,checkcurriculumexpectationsand/or,in

afewinstances,copyalessonplandirectlyfromawebsite.Manyparticipantsreported

regularlypreparinglessonsintheobservedmanner.

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Acknowledgements

Thisstudywouldnotbepossiblewithouttheguidance,supportandexpertiseofmy

supervisorandmentor,Dr.DaleWillows.Shehasshapedmygraduatecareerandinspired

metremendously.Herincredibleworkethicmotivatesmeeachdaytoworkharderand

sacrificethoseextrahoursofsleep.Iwouldalsoliketothankmysecondreader,Dr.Joan

Mossforherfeedback.Also,thankyoutotheentireLiteracyWebsiteteamandmySchool

andClinicalChildPsychology(SCCP)classmatesforanyassistancetheyprovided,in

particular,DaniellaBiondic.Icouldnotaskforbettercolleaguestosharethisgraduate

schooljourney.

IwouldalsoliketothankDr.MichelePeterson‐Badali,Dr.JoeDucharmeandonce

more,Dr.DaleWillowsthatreviewedmyapplicationforthemaster’sSCCPprogram.They

sawthepotentialinmetobesuccessfulinsuchanintellectuallystimulatingandmotivating

programwithincrediblyknowledgeablefaculty.Withoutthem,Iwouldnothavehadthe

opportunitytoconductthisstudy.

Averyspecialthankyougoestomyhusband,forhispatienceandunderstandingas

wellashislovingsupport.Heis,quitesimplyput,awonderfulpartner.Heacceptsand

lovesmeunconditionally,despitemymanyquirks.

Additionally,Iwouldliketothankthe30pre‐serviceteachersthattookthetimeout

oftheirbusyscheduletoparticipateinthisstudy.Thedatatheyprovidedwasextremely

valuableandguidedthispaper.

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TableofContents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………………….iii

TableofContents……………………………………………………………………………………………………….....iv

ListofTables……………………………………………………..……………………………………………………….....vi

ListofFigures………………………………………………………………………………...…………………………….vii

ListofAppendices…………………...…………………………………………………………………………………..viii

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 TeachersandTechnologyUse…………………………………………………………………...2

1.2 InternetUseduringLessonPreparation…………………………………………………….5

1.3 ObjectivesofthePresentStudy………………………………………………………………...6

2. Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7

2.1MixedMethodsResearchApproach………………………………………………………….7

2.2Design………………………………………………………………………………………....................8

2.3DataSources………………………………………………………………………………..................8

2.4Participants……………………………………………………………………………….................11

2.5Procedure………………………………………………………………………………….................12

2.6DataAnalyses…..……………………………………………………………………………………12

3. Results…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

3.1QuantitativeResults………………………………………………….………….........................14

3.2DescriptiveQualitativeExplorationResults………….……….………….................…15

4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………….………………23

4.1IntegrationofMixedMethods:OverviewofMajorFindings……..………………23

4.2LimitationsandFutureResearchDirections……….………………..…………………26

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4.3Conclusions……………………….………………………………………………..…………………28

5. References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31

6. Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………34

7. Figures…..………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………38

8. Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………………...………………39

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ListofTables

Table1.CategoriesandSubcategories.

Table2.SearchActivity:NumberofSearches.

Table3.SearchActivity:SelectingfromSearchResults.

Table4.WebsitesViewed:TypesofWebsitesVisited.

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ListofFigures

Figure1.MixedMethods:ConvergentParallelDesign.

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ListofAppendices

AppendixA.DefinitionsofLessonPlanChoices

AppendixB.LessonPlanMatrix.

AppendixC.LessonPlanningQuestionnaire.

AppendixD.DemographicQuestionnaire.

AppendixE.ConsentFormsandLetters.

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1.Introduction

Teachersfrequentlyusecomputer‐basedtechnologytosupporttheirteaching

(Bebell,Russell&O’Dwyer,2004;Becker,1999).Morespecifically,theyareusing

computerstoaccessandusetheInternet.AccordingtoAkinoglu(2009),teachersindicate

thatthemostbeneficialfeatureoftheInternetistheeasyaccesstoinformationthatit

provides.Althoughithasbeenwellresearchedthatteachersareusingcomputersand

Internetfrequently,littleisknown,however,aboutthewhat,when,whyandhowofWorld

WideWebinformationusebyeducators.Intheresearchliteratureontechnologyusein

education,untilrecently,theprimaryemphasishasbeenonexaminingtheeffectof

technologyonstudentlearning.Overthelastfewyears,though,therehavebeenan

increasingnumberofstudiesonteachers’useoftechnology.Neverthelessmanykey

questions,particularlyaboutInternetusebyteachersintheirprofessionalpractice,have

eithernotbeenconsideredatallorhavereceivedonlycursoryattention.Infact,thereisa

minimalamountofpublishedliteratureinthisarea.Questionssuchasthefollowing

remainunanswered:HowareteachersnavigatingthroughtheInternet?;Whichwebsites

aretheyusing?;andHowdotheyfindthesewebsites?;and,morespecifically,Howdo

teachersuseeducationalwebsitesforlessonpreparation?

SmithandMeyen(2003)assertedthattheInternethasthepossibilityto

revolutionizeteaching.Onlinetoolsforteachersincluderesearch‐basedinstructional

methods,classroominterventions,effectivelessonplans,applications,andsimulations.

Teachersarethekeytoimplementinganyeducationalreform(Cuban,1993),andwebsites

havethepotentialtoprovidepractical,accessible,andresearch‐basedtools(Wasburn‐

Moses,2006).Thismakesitcrucialthattheresearchcommunitybegintoexaminehow

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thesetechnologiesinfluenceteachingandinstruction(Karchmer,2001)andhowtheyare

actuallybeingused.Therefore,thepurposeofthisexploratorystudyistoexaminehow

pre‐serviceteachersareusingtheInternetwhilepreparinglessons,withthegoalofusing

theobtainedinformationtoguidethedevelopmentofanevidence‐basedliteracyeducation

websiteand,thus,facilitatethedisseminationofeffectiveteachingstrategiesthroughthe

Internet.

1.1 TeachersandTechnologyUse

Becker(1999)recognizedthatInternet’srapidgrowthwaslikelyinfluencing

teacherandstudentuseandexaminedtheiruseinthe1998NationalSurvey.Inthefirst

publishedresultsreportofthesurvey,amajorityoftheteachersreportedthattheyhad

accesstotheInternetbothathomeandatschoolandmadeuseofitregularly.Theyfurther

indicatedthattheywereusingtheInternettofindinformationresourcesthatcouldbe

usedintheirlessons(68%)aswellasutilizinge‐mailtocommunicatewithotherteachers

(16%).ThesefindingsledBecker(1999)toconcludethat“alongwithwordprocessing,the

Internetmaybethemostvaluableofthemanycomputertechnologiesavailabletoteachers

andstudents”.

Duringfurtherexamination,inthethirdpublishedreportofthe1998National

Survey,Becker,RavitzandWong(1999)foundthatteachers’frequentlyusedtheInternet

notforinstructionalpurposesbutfor“professionalusesoftechnologyrelatedtotheirday‐

to‐dayneedssuchasmakinghandouts,keepingrecordofstudentgradesandwriting

lessonplansornotes”.Oneofthemostfrequentusesoftechnologyreportedbyteachers

wasmakinghandoutsforclasswith66%oftheteachersreportingthattheywereusing

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technologytomakehandoutsatleastweekly.Inaddition,almosthalfoftheteachers

reportedusingacomputeratleastweeklyforrecordkeepingandstudentgrading(49%)

and68%reportedusinge‐mailoccasionallyforcommunicationwithparents.Most

noteworthyfindingwasthatalmosthalfofthesurveyedteachersreportedusingthe

Internettomakelessonplansornotes(42%).Overall,Beckeretal.(1999)foundthat“the

majorityofteacherswereusingtechnologytosupporttheirteaching,andmuchofthisuse

occurredoutsideofclasstime”(Bebell,Russell&O’Dwyer,2004).

TheNationalCenterforEducationStatistics(NCES)alsoconductssurveysthat

examinepublicschoolteachers’accessanduseofcomputersandtheInternet.Intheir

2000report,theyconfirmedBeckeretal.’s(1999)findingsandfurtherexaminedthe

differentusesoftechnologybyteachers.Itwasdiscoveredthatteachersarefrequently

usingcomputersnotonlyduringinstructionbutalsoforcreationofinstructionalmaterials,

gatheringinformationforcreationoflessonplans,recordkeeping,usingemailto

communicatewithcolleaguesandpostingassignmentsandhomeworkontheInternet.In

thesummaryreportoftheNCESsurvey,Rowand(2000)statedthatteachersare:

usingtechnologyto/forthefollowing(indescendingorderoffrequencyofuse):

creatinginstructionalmaterials,keepingadministrativerecords,communicating

withcolleagues,gatheringinformationforplanninglessons,presenting

multimediaclassroompresentations,accessingresearchandbestpracticesfor

teaching,communicatingwithparentsorstudents,andaccessingmodellesson

plans(Bebell,Russell&O’Dwyer,2004;NCES,2000;Rowand,2000).

OftheteachersthatcompletedtheNCESsurvey,lessthan10percentofteachersreported

usingthecomputerortheInternettoaccessmodellessonplansoraccessresearchand

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bestpracticesexamples(NCES,2000).

Afterreviewingtheliteratureonteachers’useofcomputer‐basedtechnology,

Russell,Bebell,O’DwyerandO’Connor(2003)notedwhatismeantby“technologyuse”

varieswidelyacrosstheliterature:

Technologyusebyteachersincludesuseofcomputerstodeliverinstruction,

askingstudentstousetechnologytodevelopproductsortofacilitatetheir

learning,emailing,preparinglessons,andmaintainingrecordsaswellas

personaluse.Toexaminewhetherthemanydifferenttechnologyusesreported

byteachersareonedimensional,Bebell,Russell,andO’Dwyer(2004)performed

afactoranalysisof44Use,Support,andEffectofInstructionalTechnology

(USEIT)teachersurveyitems,eachofwhichfocusedonaspecificuseof

technology.Analysesyieldedsixdistinctfactors(orcategories)ofteacher

technologyuse:teacheruseoftechnologyforpreparation,teacheruseof

technologyfordelivery,teacherdirectedstudentuseoftechnology,teacheruse

oftechnologyforspecialeducationandaccommodation,teacheruseofemail,

andteacheruseoftechnologyforrecordinggrades.

Outofallthecategories,teachersreportedusingtechnologyforpreparationandwork‐

relatede‐mailingmostoften(Bebell,Russell&O’Dwyer,2004).

Supportingthesefindings,ArchambaultandCrippen(2007)foundthatteachers

infrequentlyusetechnologyintheclassroomduringinstruction;insteadteachersoftenuse

technologyoutsideoftheclassroom.Morespecifically,theyareusingtechnologyinorder

toprepareforteachingaswellasmakinguseofe‐mailforprofessionalcommunication.

ThesefindingsledArchambaultandCrippen(2007)toconcludethattheskillsteachers

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havedeveloped,whetherthroughtheirownexperiences,professionaldevelopment,orpre‐

servicetraining,maybeleadingtosubstantialuseoftechnologyoutsideoftheclassroom

buthavehadsmallereffectsoninstructionalusesintheclassroom(Archambault&

Crippen,2007;Cuban,2001).

Overall,the“examinationoftechnologyuseshowsthatthemajorityofteachers’use

oftechnologygoesonbehindthesceneswithlessonpreparation,grading,andprofessional

emailuseratherthaninstructionaluseorteacher‐directedstudentuse”(Becker,1999;

Beckeretal.,1999;Cuban,2001;NCES,2000;Russell,Bebell,O’Dwyer,&O’Connor,2003).

However,teachersarelessfrequentlyusingcomputer‐basedtechnologyfortaskssuchas

accessingresearchandexamplesofbestpractices(NCES,2000).

1.2InternetUseduringLessonPreparation

“Lessonplanningisconsideredacriticalbutcomplextaskinprovidingeffective

instruction”(Wang&Wedman,2003).“Experiencedteacherscreatelessonplansinan

efforttodeterminetheirinstructionalactivitiesregardingspecificsubjectmatterandnew

teacherscanutilizeeffectivelessonstobepreparedandtoorganizethecontent,materials,

andmethodsfortheirteaching”(He&Hartley,2010).Earlyon,teachersaretaughtthe

importanceoflessonplanningandtheyspendasignificantnumberofhoursoftheircareer

preparinglessons.ThedevelopmentoftheWorldWideWebhashadasignificantimpact

oneducation,especiallythelessonplanningprocess:theInternethasprovidedasettingfor

teacherstofindandsharelessonplans(He&Hartley,2010).Currently,thousandsof

lessonplansareavailableonlineandincreasingly,“generalandspecialeducatorsreport

theInternetasaresourcetosupplementlessonpreparationandaccessrelevant

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informationtobeusedininstruction”(Arcehmbault&Crippen,2007;Bebell,Russell&

O’Dwyer,2004;Smith&Meyen,2003;Tinker,2001).

ArchambaultandCrippen’s(2007)exploredteachers’useofparticularwebsitesand

askedthemtoidentifywebsitestheyfoundexcellentforuseineducation.Outofthe127

websitesratedasexcellent,amajority(58%)ofthesiteshadsometypeoflessonplanning

bank.Thevastmajorityoftheteachersinthisstudywereusingthe“Internetprimarilyfor

gatheringlessonplanssinceteachersidentifiedawebsiteasoutstandingwhenit(a)had

hadsometypeoflessonplanningdatabasedesignedforsharingideasforteachinga

particularlessonand(b)containedbackgroundinformationinpreparationforteachinga

givenlesson”(Archambault&Crippen,2007).

WhenteachersusetheInternettheyarefacedwithsuchanabundanceof

informationandthechallengethen,formanyteachers,becomesfindingresourcesinan

“efficientmanner,reviewingandidentifyinginstructionallyappropriateresourcesto

enhancecurrentcurriculumandconstructinganeffectivedeliveryformattoensure

appropriateintegrationandsubsequentlearning”(Higgins,Boone&Williams,2000).

ResearchhasnotdirectlyexaminedhowteachersseekandselectresourcesontheInternet.

AlthoughitiswellknownthatteachersareusingtheInternetduringlessonpreparation

andthattherearemanywebsitesavailableforlessonpreparationonline,itisstillunclear

howexactlyteachersareusingtheInternetduringlessonpreparation.

1.3ObjectivesofthePresentStudy

Themainobjectiveofthisstudywastoexaminehowpre‐serviceteachersareusing

theInternetwhileplanningaliteracy‐focusedlesson.Duetotheexploratorynatureandthe

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lackofpreviousresearchinthisarea,thisquestionwasaddressedusinganinformal

descriptivequalitativeapproach.

Inaddition,totheoveralldescriptiveexploration,theresearchexaminedanumberof

specificquantitativequestions:

1) Dopre‐serviceteachersownanduseacomputerwithInternetaccess?

2) Howmucharepre‐serviceteachersusingtheInternetasaprofessionalresource?

3) Howmucharepre‐serviceteachersusingtheInternetduringlessonpreparation?

Basedontheliteraturereview,itwasexpectedthatmostofthepre‐serviceteachers

wouldownacomputerwithInternetaccess,usetheInternetoftenasaprofessional

resourceandduringthetimespentpreparinglessons,pre‐serviceteacherswouldbeusing

theInternetasaresourceasignificantportionofthattime.

2.Methods

2.1MixedMethodsResearchApproach

Sincequalitativeandquantitativeresearchprovidesdifferentperspectivesandeach

hasitslimitations,inordertoaddresstheresearchquestionsadequatelyandtella

completestory,amixedmethodsresearchapproachwasutilized(Bryman,2006).Mixed

methodsresearchistheprocessofcollecting,analyzingandmixingbothqualitativeand

quantitativedatawhilegivingprioritytobothformsofdatainasinglestudy(Creswell&

PlanoClark,2011).Duetotheexploratorynatureofthepresentstudy,mixedmethods

researchenablestheansweringofquestionsthatcannotbeansweredbyquantitativeor

qualitativeapproachesalone.

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2.2Design

Amixedmethodsconvergentparalleldesignwasdeemedmostappropriateto

answertheresearchquestions(becauseitprovidesanopportunityforcomplete

understandingofatopic)andwasappliedtothepresentstudy(Figure1).Thequantitative

andqualitativedatawerecollectedconcurrently,bothmethodsprioritizedequally,andthe

strandswerekeptindependentduringanalysisandthentheresultsweremixedduringthe

overallinterpretation(Creswell&PlanoClark,2011).

2.3DataSources

Eachparticipantcompletedacombinationofquantitativeanddescriptive

qualitativemeasuresasdescribedbelow.Quantitativemeasuresweredesignedtoevaluate

howmuchtheparticipantsareusingtheInternetandtechnologyasateachingresource

andmorespecifically,forpreparationoflessonplans.Thepurposeofthequalitative

descriptiveaspectoftheresearchwastoobservehowteachersareusingtheInternetwhile

planningalesson.Giventhevirtuallackofpriorresearchinthetopicareaofthis

exploratorystudytherewerenopreviouslydevelopedmeasuresonwhichtorely.Thus

thepresentresearchbrokenewgroundinitsexaminationoftheimportantquestionof

howpre‐serviceteachersutilizetheInternetwhilepreparinglessonplans.

TheLessonPlanningTask

Forthedescriptivequalitativeexploration,theparticipantsdecidedonalessonplan

tocompleteselectingfromeightchoicesatvariouselementarygradelevelsandwith

differentliteracycomponentsoffocus.TheeightchoicesincludedJuniorKindergarten

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ConceptsaboutPrint,KindergartenPhonemicAwareness,KindergartenVocabulary,Grade

1Letter‐SoundAssociations,Grade2ReadingFluency,Grade3TeachingDifferent

Genre/TextTypes,Grade4WritingNon‐NarrativeandGrade5ReadingComprehension

Strategies.Definitionswereprovidedforeachliteracycomponentthattheywereaskedto

planalessonandteach(AppendixA)inordertohelpparticipantsmaketheirchoiceand

clarifywhatexactlytheyneededtoteach.Participantswereaskedtocomeupwithone

straightforwardactivitythattaughttothegradelevelandtheliteracycomponentthey

selected.Itwasemphasizedthatthelessondidnotneedtobelengthyorrunovermultiple

teachingdays,insteaditcouldbesomethingthatcouldbeexecutedinshorttimeframe

duringasingleschoolday.Participantshad20minutestoplantheirlessonandtheycould

usetheInternetasaresourceinanymannertoassistthemwhileplanningtheirlesson.

However,althoughtheycouldusetheInternetforanything,itwastheonlyresourcethey

hadaccesstoduringthislessonpreparationtime.Extratimewasgivenifparticipants

neededafewextraminutestofinishthetask(uptothreeminutesifneeded).Camtasia

software,acuttingedgescreencapturetechnology,wasusedtocapturethecomputer

screenandvideorecordallInternetuseduringthelessonplanningtime.Alongwithvideo,

thissoftwarealsorecordedtheaudio.Althoughparticipantsrarelyspokewhilepreparing

thelesson,itwasahelpfultoolwhentheydecidedtocommentonwebsitesviewedorthe

taskathand.

Whileplanningtheirlessons,participantsdescribedtheirlessonplanbyfillingin

theLessonPlanmatrix(AppendixB).Participantswereinstructedtowritepointform

notesandaverybriefexplanationofthelesson.Tofurtherreducetheamountoftime

requiredtodescribethelesson,thismatrixwasdesignedandsegmentedintodifferent

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sections,eachrequiringdifferentpiecesofinformationregardingthelesson.Participants

wereaskedtocheckofftheirlessonplanselection,describelessongoals,circlehow

studentswouldbegroupedduringthelesson(wholeclass,smallgroup,pairsand/or

individual),listanymaterialsthatwouldbeneededtoexecutethelessoneitherbythe

teacherorthestudents,iftherewasanyclassroomsetup(forexample,arrangingthedesks

intoacircle),indicatehowmuchtime(inminutes)wasrequiredtoprepareforthelesson

(forexample,makingmaterials,handouts,etc.)andhowmuchtime(inminutes)was

neededtoactuallyexecutethelessonplanwiththestudents.Participantsalsodescribedin

astep‐by‐stepfashion,howtoprepareforthelessonaswellasimplementthelessoninthe

classroom.Ifparticipantshadenoughtime,theyalsofilledinideasonhowtoassess

whetherthestudentshadlearnedthelessongoals,howtoadaptthelessonand

differentiateinstructionforstudentswithEnglishastheirsecondlanguage,havealearning

disability,etc.andpossibleideasforhowthelessoncouldbeextendedfurther.Anyother

informationoradditionalcommentstheparticipantswantedtosharecouldbenotedinthe

additionalcommentsbox.

StructuredInterviewAfterLessonPreparation

Duringthestructuredinterviewafterthelessonplanwasprepared,participants

wereaskedtoanswerquestionsaboutthelessonplanningtaskandhowtheyplantheir

lessonsoutsideofthepresentstudy’scontext.Thestructuredinterviewincludedopen‐

endedquestions,specificquestionsaboutInternetusageduringlessonpreparationaswell

asfollow‐upquestions(AppendixC).Forexample,“Isthishowyouusuallygoabout

planningalesson?”Iftheparticipantansweredno,theywereaskedinafollow‐upquestion

todescribehowtheytypicallyplantheirlessons.Otherquestionsaskedduringthe

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interviewincluded“Doyouusebooks,Internet,supervisingteacher,CourseMaterials

and/oranotherresourcenotlistedinyourteachingplacementtoaidwithlesson

planning?”and“Ifyouthinkoftheamountoftimeyouspendplanninglessonsas100%,

whatpercentofthattimedoyouusetheInternettohelpwiththeplanningofyour

lessons?”.

DemographicsStructuredInterview

Participantswerealsoaskedtoanswerdemographicquestions.Thisinterviewalso

includedopen‐endedquestions,specificquestionsaswellasfollow‐upquestions.The

questionsexaminedparticipants’Internetandtechnologyuseasaprofessionalteaching

resource(AppendixD).Forexample,“Whattechnologydevicesdoyouuse?”;“Howmany

hoursdailydoyouspendingusingyourtechnologicaldevices?”;“Whenyouareonyour

computerdoyounormallyalwayshaveanInternetbrowseropen(includinginthe

background)?”;“HowmanyhoursdoyouspenddailyontheInternetforpersonal,teaching

andschoolpurposes?”;and“HowvaluableofaprofessionalresourceistheInternetinyour

teaching?”.

2.4Participants

Thesampleconsistedof30pre‐serviceteachers,24females(80%)and6males

(20%)ranginginagefrom22to39(M=25.83,SD=4.19).Allparticipantswereenrolled

intheBachelorofEducationElementary(Primary/Junior)programattheOntarioInstitute

forStudiesinEducationoftheUniversityofToronto(OISE/UT).Participantswere

recruitedusingflyerspostedaroundOISE/UTandbytheauthorvisitingteacher

preparationclassroomsinOISE/UTandtalkingbrieflyaboutthestudy.

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Author/interviewer’scontactinformationwasprovidedontheflyersaswellasatthe

classroomsvisited.Ifpre‐serviceteacherswereinterestedinparticipatinginthestudy,

theywereaskedtocontacttheinterviewer.ParticipantsreceivedachoiceofaCAD$20

SpectrumEducationaloraChaptersgiftcardfortheirparticipation.

2.5Procedure

TheOfficeofResearchEthicsattheUniversityofTorontoapprovedthepresent

study.Individualinterviewsessionswithpre‐serviceteacherswereconductedinaprivate

roomattheuniversitylibrarybytheauthor.Eachinterviewsessionbeganwiththe

interviewerobtaininginformedconsenttoparticipateinthestudy(AppendixE),audiotape

theinterviewsessionandvideorecordthecomputerscreenduringthelesson‐planning

task.Interviewerfirstexplainedthelessonplanningtaskandparticipantswereaskedto

plantheirlesson.Thiswasfollowedbythestructuredinterviewthatconsistedofquestions

regardinglessonpreparation,Internetuse,technologyuseanddemographics.Internetuse

whileparticipantsplannedtheirlessonwasvideotaped(usingscreencapturetechnology)

andaudiorecorded.Theirresponsestointerviewquestionswerehandandaudiorecorded.

Eachinterviewsessionwas1to2hoursinduration.

2.6DataAnalyses

QuantitativeAnalysis

Forquantitativedatacollected,descriptivestatisticsandfrequencieswere

calculatedusingSPSStodeterminepatternsinthedata.Alloftheinterviewquestionswere

transcribedinpointformbytheauthorandthenenteredintoaspreadsheet.Thirty‐three

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percentofthedatawasre‐transcribedandthespreadsheetre‐enteredbyatrained

graduatestudent.Thiswasthencomparedtotheoriginaltranscriptionsandspreadsheet

dataandnodiscrepancieswerefound.

QualitativeAnalysis

Qualitativemethodologywasutilizedtoaddresstheresearchquestions,which

exploredhowteacherspreparealessonplanusingtheInternet.Thestructuredinterviews

andlessonplanningtranscriptswereanalyzedthematicallyusingstrategiesfromgrounded

theorymethodology(Strauss,1998).Specifically,participantsInternetusewastranscribed

(bytheauthorand33percentofthedatawasre‐transcribedbyatrainedgraduate

student).ThenQSRNvivo9softwarewasusedtosegmentandlabeltranscriptsinto

navigationactionsthatrepresentedmeaningfulideasorcodes.Similarcodeswere

aggregatedandrefinedintoconceptsandeventually,subcategories.Finally,these

subcategorieswereamalgamatedandsortedtoformoverarchingcategories.These

categoriesrepresenttheoverallareasoffocusforInternetusewhilepreparingaliteracy‐

focusedelementary‐levellesson(Corbin&Strauss,2008).

Particularcodesandsubcategoriesextractedfromthequalitativedatawerethen

transformedintoquantitativedatausinganadaptedcountingapproachbecause

“subjectingquantizeddatatostatisticalanalysisaidsintheinterpretationofthemixed

methodsresults”(Onwuebuzie&Teddlie,2003).Inthepresentstudy,frequencyof

occurrenceofobservablecontent(extractedfromthedataasacode)wascalculatedby

countingthefrequencyofeachcodewithinasubcategory(Onwuebuzie&Teddlie,2003).

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3.Results

3.1QuantitativeResults

DopreserviceteachersownanduseacomputerwithInternetaccess?

Allofthepre‐serviceteachersreportedowningalaptop(76.67%),adesktop

(3.33%)orboth(20%)butnotallofthemutilizedboth.Ofthe20%thatownedbotha

desktopandlaptop,6.67%usedboth,3.33%usedtheirdesktopand10%usedtheirlaptop.

Participantsreportedusingtheirdesktop(M=3.50,SD=1.92)andlaptop(M=3.44,SD=1.88)

forasignificantnumberofhoursdaily.Duringthetimespentusingtheircomputer,76.67%

pre‐serviceteachersindicatedthattheyalwayshaveanInternetbrowseropen(inthe

backgroundofwhattheyareworkingoniftheyarenotdirectlyusingit).Thesefindings

demonstratethatnotonlydopre‐serviceteachersusetheircomputerdaily,buttheyare

alsousingtheInternetdaily.

HowmucharepreserviceteachersusingInternetasaprofessionalresource?

UseofInternetasaprofessionalresourcewasexamined.Whetherpre‐service

teacherswereintheschoolortheteachingplacementportionoftheprogram,they

reportedusingtheInternetforacomparablenumberofhoursdaily(school:M=4.03,

SD=1.59;placement:M=4.08,SD=1.64),howeverpersonalusevarieswhenintheschool

termversusplacementterm.Whileinschool,personaluseofInternet(M=2.29,SD1.39)

exceedsuseforschool(M=1.66,SD=1.02).Whileintheirplacement,placementrelateduse

(M=2.52,SD=1.29)exceedspersonaluse(M=1.58,SD=1.03).Duringtheplacementterm,of

thetotaltimethatpre‐serviceteachersreportusingtheInternetforteaching/placement

relateduse,themajorityofthattimeisspentlessonplanning(M=54.07%,SD=18.13),

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followedbybecomingfamiliarwithinformationexpectedtoteach(M=32.60%,SD=15.99).

However,incomparison,lessofthattimeisspentlearningaboutcurrentresearch

literature(M=6.87%,SD=9.27).

WhenaskedtorankhowvaluableofaprofessionalresourceistheInternetintheir

teachingpracticeon1to5‐pointscale,with1asnotatallvaluableand5asextremely

valuable,pre‐serviceteachersindicatedthatitwasveryvaluable(M=4.26,SD=0.79).

HowmucharepreserviceteachersusingtheInternetduringlessonpreparation?

Intheirteachingplacements,pre‐serviceteachersreportedthattoaidwithlesson

planning,eachandeveryoneofthemusestheInternet(100%),ahighpercentageofthem

usebooks(90%),andrelyonsupervisingteacherattheplacement(86.67%),

colleagues/friends/relatives(63.33%),andcoursematerialsfromOISE/UT(46.67%).

Whenpre‐serviceteachersthoughtofallthehourstheyspentlessonplanningas100%,

theyindicatedthattheyusetheInternetasaresourceasignificantportionofthattime

(M=48.35,SD=27.12).

3.2DescriptiveQualitativeExplorationResults

Thequalitativesectionwasguidedbytheoverarchingquestion:Howarepre‐

serviceteachersusingtheInternetasaresourcewhileplanningaliteracy‐focusedlesson?

TheLessonPlanningTask

Qualitativeanalyseswereconductedonthetranscriptsfromthevideofootageofthe

computerscreencapturesduringthetimetheparticipantsplannedtheirlesson.Ofthe

eightlessonplanchoices,33.33%oftheparticipantschosetowritealessonplanforGrade

3onTeachingDifferentGenre/TextTypes,30%forKindergartenonteachingVocabulary,

16

13.33%forGrade2onReadingFluency,10%forJuniorKindergartenonConceptsabout

Print,6.67%forGrade5onReadingComprehensionStrategies,3.33%forKindergartenon

PhonemicAwareness,and3.33%forGrade4onWritingNon‐narrative.Noneofthe

participantschosetowritealessonforGrade1onLetter‐SoundAssociations.Tonote,one

participantdidnotusetheInternetatallwhileplanningtheirlesson.Althoughtheydidnot

usetheInternetduringthepresentstudy,theydidindicatethatnormallytheywouldhave

usedtheInternettofindbooksthatwouldbeappropriatefortheagegroupthatthelesson

wasdesignedforaswellasanyimagesthattheymayneedforexecutingthelesson.

Analyseswereconductedonthe29participantsthatdidusetheInternet.

Allofthetranscriptsunderwenttheinitialprocessof“opencoding”,whereeach

participant’sactionswerebrokendownintomeaningfulInternetnavigationsteps.During

thisprocess,severaloverarchingcategoriesemerged:FirstStep,SearchActivityand

WebsitesViewedemergedasareasoffocus.Descriptionofeachofthesecategoriesand

theirreceptivesubcategories,ifany,follows(Table1).

Category1:FirstStep

ThefirststepwiththeInternetwhilelessonplanningwasexamined.Amajorityof

theparticipantsfirstusedtheGooglesearchengine(48.28%)orwenttotheOntario

curriculumdocument(48.28%),whileoneparticipantvisitedateacher‐directedwebsite

theywerefamiliarwith(www.eworkshop.on.ca).Thisfindingsuggeststhatthemajorityof

pre‐serviceteacherseitherfirstvisittheGooglesearchenginetofindwebsitesappropriate

andusefulforthelessontheyarecurrentlyplanningortheOntariocurriculumdocument

tochecktheexpectationsforthegradeleveltheyareplanningthelesson.Participantsdid

notappeartohaveparticularwebsitesinmindtovisitwhenpreparingtheirlessonand

17

instead,weresearchingforasitethatcouldprovidethemwithsomethingthatwouldbe

suitableforthelessontheywerepreparing.

Category2:SearchActivity

Toagreatextent,Internetnavigationwhilelessonplanninginvolvedsearchrelated

activity.Thesearchactivitywasbrokendownintothefollowingsubcategories:A)Search

EngineUsed,B)NumberofSearches,andC)SelectingfromSearchResults.

A) SearchEngineUsed

TheGooglesearchenginewaspredominantlyusedbyparticipants(96.55%),with

onlyoneoptingtousetheYahoosearchengine(3.45%).Theseresultssuggestthatthe

majorityofpre‐serviceteachersutilizetheGooglesearchenginewhensearchingtheWorld

WideWeb.

B) NumberofSearches

Thenumberofsearchesbyeachparticipantwassortedbythelessonplanchoice

theyselectedandthenanaveragewascalculated(Table2).Theaveragenumberof

searchesforeachlessonplanchoicevaried:forpre‐serviceteachersthatselectedtoplana

lessonforJuniorKindergartenstudentsonConceptsaboutPrintandGrade4studentson

WritingNon‐Narrative,theaveragenumberofsearcheswas6;forpre‐serviceteachersthat

selectedtoplanalessonforGrade5studentsonReadingComprehensionStrategies,the

averagenumberofsearcheswas5.5;forpre‐serviceteachersthatchosetoplanalessonfor

Grade3studentsonTeachingDifferentGenre/TextTypes,theaveragenumberofsearches

was4.5;forpre‐serviceteachersthatchosetoplanalessonforGrade2studentson

ReadingFluency,theaveragenumberofsearcheswas3.75;forpre‐serviceteachersthat

chosetoplanalessonforKindergartenstudentsonVocabulary,theaveragenumberof

18

searcheswas3.38;andforpre‐serviceteachersthatplannedalessonforKindergarten

studentsonPhonemicAwareness,theaveragenumberofsearcheswas3.Theseresults

reflectthateachparticipantsearchedmultipletimesbeforefindingwhattheywerelooking

for,lookedfordifferentthings(i.e.lessonplans,booksthatworkforthelessonplan),

and/orgaveupsearchingand,asaresult,reliedonpreviousknowledgetowritethelesson

plan.

C) SelectingfromtheSearchResults

AftersearchingeitherwithGoogleorYahoo,theorderofthewebsitesearchresults

thatwerevisitedwascoded(Table3).Thefirstsearchresultwasvisitedthemost(52),

followedbythethird(23)andthenthesecond(20).Tonote,ofthe23linksclickedonat

thesixthresultandabove,only4ofthesearchresultsselectedwentbeyondthefirstpage

ofsearchresults(thefirst10searchresults).Overall,theresultsdemonstratethatpre‐

serviceteachersarelikelytoclickonandvisitthewebsitethatappearsfirst,secondor

thirdinthesearchresults.Therefore,tohaveawebsiteutilizedbyteachers,itneedsto

appearonthefirstpageofthesearchresultsandoptimally,inthefirstthreesearchresults.

Category3:WebsitesViewed

Whenthewebsitesviewedwereexamined,twomainsubcategoriesemerged:A)

TypesofWebsitesVisitedandB)UseofWebsites.Thesesubcategoriescloselyexaminethe

typesofsitesparticipantsarelikelytovisitwhilepreparingalessonandthen,howthe

participantsutilizedthewebsitesthattheyvisitedduringtheplanningofalesson.

A) TypesofWebsitesVisited

Everywebsitethatwasvisitedwhileplanningthelessonwascodedintofifteen

differenttypes,alsoknownasconcepts.Tobecoded,thesitehadtobevisitedbythe

19

participant,ifanotherparticipantalsovisitedthesiteitwascodedagainandifa

participantnavigatedawayfromthesitebutthenre‐visitedadifferentsectionofthesite,it

wasalsocoded.Thetypesofwebsitesthatwerecodedmorethan10timeswillbe

discussed(Table4).Tonote,thelengthoftimeawebsitewasvisiteddidnotinfluence

whetherasitewascoded.Ifthewebsitewasvisitedbytheparticipant,itwascoded.Thisis

significantbecausesomeparticipantsvisitedsitesforaveryshortperiodoftime(attimes

lessthanasecond)andnavigatedtoadifferentsitequickly.

Pre‐serviceteachersvisitedgovernmentsitesthemost,mainlycheckingOntario

curriculumexpectationsinordertocreatetheirlessonplanaccordingly.Commercialsites

werealsovisitedoften,closelyfollowedbyteacherhostedsitedwhichincludedteacher

blogs.Theseteacherhostedsiteshadlessonplans,lessonmaterialsandexplanationsof

whyteachingtheliteracycomponentwasimportant.Pre‐serviceteachersalsooftenvisited

organizationsitesthatincludedevidencebasedsites.

Manyofthewebsitesthatthepre‐serviceteachersviewed,theywouldviewvery

briefly.Itappearedthatifparticipantsdidnotseeorfindsomethingthatmaybeuseable

forthecurrentlessontheywereplanning,theywouldveryquicklynavigateawayto

anotherwebsiteand/orbacktothesearchresultsthatoriginallyledthemtothesite.

B) UseofWebsites

Internetsitesvisitedbyparticipantsappearedtobeusedtoobtainmore

informationontheirlessonplanchoice,generateideasbyseeingwhatlessonsareavailable

online,lookformaterialsforthelesson(i.e.,books,poems,flashcards),checkcurriculum

expectationsand/orcopyalessonplandirectlyfromawebsite.

Aparticipantthatchosetocopyalessonplanfoundonlineexpressed:

20

“Ifthereisstufflikethis,likeactuallessons…likethisseemslikelessonplansthatwe

actuallyuseinteacher’scollegeandthatareavailableonlineyouknow,thisisit!This

isgoodstuff…Thisisperfect.Idon’tevenknowhowIfoundthis.IjustGoogledit.”

AnotherparticipantthatutilizedtheInternettogenerateideasbyseeingwhat’s

availableonlinesaid,

“HonestlyIdon’treallyfindlessonplansIlikeontheInternet,Ijustusethemasa

startingpoint,thenIwriteandthenIusually….rewriteandrewriteandrewrite.”

Itappearsthatpre‐serviceteachersreallywouldlikewelllaidoutlessonplanstobereadily

availableonlinebuttheyseemtobehavingahardtimefindingfree,well‐writtenonesthat

theycanactuallyuseaspresentedonthewebsite.

AparticipantthatusedtheInternettofindmaterialsandcheckcurriculum

expectationsstated,

“I’lljustuseapicturebookandnotusetheInternetreally.I’lluseittofindabook…

andIwouldusemycomputerforthecurriculumandprobablythat’saboutit.”

Thisparticipantpreferredhardcopymaterialsinsteadofonlinelessonplanningmaterials

whilepreparinglessons.

Attimes,someparticipantsdidnotuseanyofthesitestheyvisitedwiththewriting

oftheirlessonplan:

“WhatifIwanttooptoutofusingtheInternet?…ThisisexactlywhatIdo,Iwouldsee

what’soutthereandifIthinkofsomethingonmyown,I’lljustendupoptingtodothat.”

“NoneofthisishelpingandIkindofhadthatideainthebeginning”

“Itdoesn’ttellmeanything,tellsmewhatitisbutdoesn’ttellmehowtoteachit.Just

tellsmeaboutallthesestudies,ohmygoodness!”

21

Althoughpre‐serviceteachersturntotheInternetwhilelessonplanningoften,theydo

becomefrustratedwhentheirsearchyieldsnothinguseful.Amajorityofthetimetheyend

upadaptingideastheyfindonline,thatisiftheyfindany,orgeneratingtheirownideas

becausetheirsearchesandtimespentontheInternetdidnotleadthemtoausefulwebsite

withuser‐friendlylessonplans.

Pre‐serviceteachersfindinglessonplansthattheyfeltwereappropriateorwell

writtenenoughtobecopiedwasrare(n=3)duringthepresentstudy.

InterviewQuestionRegardingLessonPreparation

Aftertheparticipantscompletedthelesson‐planningtask,theywerequestioned

regardinghowtheynormallygoaboutplanningtheirlessonsoutsideofthestudycontext.

Similartotheresultspresentedearlier,pre‐serviceteachersidentifiedtheywouldusethe

followingresourcesduringlessonpreparation:Internet,curriculumdocuments,books,

supervisingteacherattheirteachingplacement,colleagues,andrelative/friendsthatwere

teachers.ParticipantsidentifiedthattheyusedtheInternetasaresourcemostfrequently

whilepreparinglessons:

“Definitelyusetheinternet…ifIpickatopicnotsurewhatIwasgoingtodothengo

ontotheInternetandresearchlessonplansandideasandlookatawholebunchand

generatemyown(lessonplan)usingthoseideas…ifIhaveanideaforthelessonplan,I

wouldpickabookusingtheInternetthat’sappropriate…”

“IwillhavetheideaandGooglesomebroadtermsthatgowithittogetideasofhowto

teachitandgofromsitetosite.”

“DefinitelyInternetfirstanddoacoupleofGooglesearchesfirstuntilIfindsomething

that'sappropriateforwhatI'mlookingfor.”

22

Participantsthatturntothecurriculumdocumentasaresourceexplainedwhy:

“GenerallyIusethecurriculumdocumentandcomeupwithmyownideabecausewhat

I'velearnedisthatthere'ssolittleteachingtimeandyouhavetobehittingthese

expectations,soalwaysusethat(curriculumdocument)asastartingpoint.”

Pre‐serviceteachersthatwerehesitantaboutusingtheInternetstated:

“Iusebooksourcesfirst,don'tuseInternetfirstunlessIreallyknowwhatIwantto

find…Internethastoomanyresourcessoharderformewhilewithabookit'sright

there.”

“Usuallyfirst,Icallmyteacherfriendwhoseagreatteacher,hasgreatideasanda

millionresources…ifIstartfromscratch,Iwouldjustthinkofitfrommyheadorgo

onlineforideasandGoogleideassinceIdon'tknowyetalltheresourcesmyselfand

manyofthemyouhavetosubscribeandIdon'twanttopay.”

Therefore,pre‐serviceteachersaremakinguseoftheInternetduringlessonpreparation

frequently.Thosethatarehesitantseemoverwhelmedbytheabundanceofinformation

online,don’tknowwhichwebsiteswouldbeusefulanddonotwanttosubscribeandpay

foronlineresourcesthatmayormaynotbehelpful.Participantsinthepresentstudy,

althoughallofthemindicateusingtheInternetasaprofessionalresourceoften,theyhave

frustrationsovernotactuallyknowingthewebsitesthatwouldbemostuseful.Although

theyconductsearches,itappearstheirsearcheffortsrarelyleadthemtoasitethatthey

canactuallytakethematerialsorlessonplansdirectlyfromthesite.

23

4.0Discussion

Theprimaryobjectiveofthisexploratorymixed‐methodsstudywastoexaminehow

pre‐serviceteachersareusingtheInternetasaresourceduringlessonpreparation.

Overall,thedescriptivequalitativeexplorationsupportedthequantitativefindingsandalso

illustratedhowpre‐serviceteachersusetheInternetwhilepreparingaliteracy‐focused

lesson.

4.1IntegrationofMixedMethods:OverviewofMajorFindings

Consistentwithpreviousfindings,pre‐serviceteachersinthisstudyreported

havingaccesstoandutilizingacomputerandtheInternetfrequently.Notonlydidthey

indicatethattheyusecomputersandtheInternetbuttheyindicatedthattheydosofor

severalhoursdaily.Inparticular,duringtheirteachingplacement,pre‐serviceteachersare

usingtheInternetforasignificantnumberofhoursasaprofessionalresource:allofthe

participantsinthisstudyindicatedthattheyutilizetheInternetasaresourcetoaidwith

lessonpreparationanddosoforaconsiderableamountofthetotaltimetheyspendlesson

planning.Thesefindingsaswellasthepre‐serviceteachersthemselvesclearlyarticulated

thattheyconsidertheInternettobeanextremelyvaluableprofessionalresource.

FromthescreencapturevideosofInternetusebypre‐serviceteachersduring

lessonpreparation,itwasclearthatthemajorityofthemwereveryfamiliarwithusingthe

Internetforthispurpose.Thisfindingwasexpectedasalloftheparticipants’reported

usingtheInternetduringlessonpreparation.Whilepreparingtheirlesson,pre‐service

teachersfirstconductedGooglesearchestofindwebsitesthatmaybeappropriateoruseful

forthelessontheyhadselectedtoplanorexaminedtheOntariocurriculumdocumentto

24

ensureandcheckthattheywerecreatingalessonthatmetgradelevelexpectations.

UtilizingtheGooglesearchenginebeforedoinganythingelseontheInternetreflectedthat

theparticipantsdidnothaveparticularwebsitesthattheyregularlyvisitedduringlesson

preparationbutinstead,weresearchingforanywebsitethatcameupasaresultofthe

searchtermstheyenteredthatcouldprovidethemwithsomethingthatwouldbesuitable

forthelessontheywerepreparing.Thissignificantfirststepalsoreflectedwhatpre‐

serviceteachersendedupspendingthemajorityoftheirtimeduringthelesson‐planning

task:enteringtermsintothesearchengineandconductingasearch,visitingasitelistedin

thesearchresults,changingthetermsinthesearchengineandconductinganothersearch,

visitinganothersiteandsoforth.Googlewasthemostwidelyusedsearchengine.Pre‐

serviceteachers,onaverage,searchedfromthreetosixtimesduringthelessonplanning

time.Theytendedtoselectfromthefirstthreesearchresultswhenpickingwhichwebsite

tovisitbasedontheirsearchterms.Rarely,didteacherslookbeyondthefirstpageofthe

searchresults.

Pre‐serviceteachersvisitedgovernmentsitesthemost,mainlycheckingOntario

curriculumexpectationsinordertocreatetheirlessonplanaccordingly.Theyalsooften

visitedcommercialsites,teacherhostedsites(thatcontainedlessonplans,lessonmaterials

andinformationonwhyteachingtheliteracycomponentwasimportant)andorganization

sitesthatincludedevidencebasedsites.Manyofthewebsitesthatwerevisitedwereonly

viewedbriefly,iftheparticipantsdidnotseeorfindsomethinguseablequickly,they

navigatedawayfromthesitepromptly.

Pre‐serviceteachersusedthewebsitesvisitedontheInternettoobtainmore

informationonthelessontheywereplanning,generateideasbyseeingwhat’savailable

25

online,lookformaterialsforthelesson(forexample,images,books,poems,flashcards),

checkcurriculumexpectationsand/orcopyalessonplandirectlyfromawebsite.

Ideally,pre‐serviceteacherswouldliketofindsamplelessonplansonlineinthefirst

threesearchengineresultssotheycouldadapttheideatotheirownlearningobjectiveand

classroombutduringthestudy,itwasrarethattheyfoundalessonplanthatmettheir

learningobjectiveswellenoughtobecopied.Itappearedthattheywerehavingdifficulty

findingfree,well‐writtenlessonplansthattheycouldactuallyuseaspresentedonthe

website.Althoughpre‐serviceteachersturntotheInternetwhilelessonplanningoften,

theydobecomefrustratedwhentheirsearchyieldsnothinguseful.Majorityofthetime

theyendupadaptingideastheyfindonline,thatisiftheyfindany,orgeneratingtheirown

ideasbecausetheirsearchesandtimespentontheInternetdidnotleadthemtoauseful

websitewithuser‐friendlylessonplans.

AlthoughteachersreportusingtheInternetasignificantportionofthetimethey

spendlessonplanningoutsidethecontextofthestudy,theyreportmanychallenges.This

includesthenumberofsearchesthatareneededbeforetheyfindanythinguseful,beingled

towebsitesthroughthesearchenginethatdoesn’tprovidelessonplansbutsimply

providesmoreinformationonwhatitis,beingaskedtopayorsubscribetoawebsitein

ordertomakeuseoftheonlineresourceorthelessonplansavailable,andnotfinding

anythingusefulevenafterspendingasignificantamountoftimesearching.Some

participantsexpressedfeelingoverwhelmedandhesitanttoutilizetheInternetduetothe

amountofinformationthatisavailableonline.Regardlessofthesedifficulties,majorityof

thepre‐serviceteachersspecifiedthattheywouldcontinuetolooktotheInternetfor

assistancewithlessonpreparation.

26

Overall,pre‐serviceteachersaremakinguseoftheInternetduringlesson

preparationfrequently.Sincetheydonothaveacollectionofwebsiteaddressesfor

websitesthatwouldbeusefulduringlessonpreparation,pre‐serviceteachersare

searchingandre‐searchingwithdifferentsearchtermsonsearchenginesuntiltheyeither

findausefulwebsiteortheybecomefrustratedfromnotbeingdirectedtowebsitesthat

theycanactuallyjustcopythematerialsorlessonplansand,asaresult,decidetocomeup

withanideaforthelessonplanthemselves.Itislikelychallengingforpre‐serviceteachers

toaccumulateacollectionofwebsitesattheelementarylevelbecausetheyareaskedto

teachanumberofdifferentsubjectsatdifferentgradelevelsduringtheBachelorof

Educationprogram.Someoftheparticipantsmaynothavehadtheopportunitytoplana

literacy‐focusedlessonbeforebeingaskedtocreateoneforthepresentstudy.

4.2LimitationsandFutureResearchDirections

Thisexploratorystudyisafirstattemptatexamininghowteachersareusingthe

Internetduringlessonpreparationusingcuttingedgescreencapturetechnology.Although

considerableresearchexistsonhowmuchteachersareusingtechnologyforvarious

professionalactivities,nostudieshaveexaminedhowteachersareactuallynavigating

throughtheInternetwhilepreparingtheirlessons.Thus,thisstudyisaconsiderable

additiontothetechnologyineducationliterature.Nevertheless,severallimitationsshould

benoted.

Oneofthelimitationstothisstudywasthe20minuteslooselyallottedtimelimitfor

lessonpreparation.Manyparticipantsexpressedthatitmadethetaskstressfulaswellas

27

thattheynormallyspendalotmoretimepreparingalessonwhentheydosooutsidethe

confinesofthestudy.

Secondly,manyparticipantswereunsureabouttheexactnumberofhourstheyuse

theInternetdailywhenreportingthenumberofhoursofInternetuse.Manysaidthey

spendagreatdealoftimeontheInternetbutwereconcernedaboutoverreportingor

underreportingtheexactnumberofhours.

Additionally,fewpre‐service“teachershavetheopportunitytoobservetheir

instructorswritingorusinglessonplans.Thus,pre‐serviceteachersmaydiscountlesson

planningasachore,necessaryfor[this]classandmaybeforstudentteachers,butnotpart

ofthepracticeofteachersintherealworld”(Harwood&Wiggins,2001).Therefore,it

questionshow“real”waswhatwasobservedduringthisstudyandhowmuchdoesitapply

topre‐serviceteachersaftergraduationandmoreseniorteachers.However,fromthe

literaturereview,itwasclearthatteachersareusingtheInternetoftenandtherefore,itis

likelythatthisstudyisareflectionoftheiruse.

Althoughthisstudyexploredandmappedoutnewterritoryfortheuseof

technologyineducationresearchliterature,futureresearchismostcertainlyneededto

replicatethesefindingsduetotheexploratorynatureofthestudyandtheuseofopenand

largelydescriptivequalitativemethodology.Further,thisstudyhadelementarylevelpre‐

serviceteachersasparticipants.Itwouldbetremendouslyvaluabletocarryoutasimilar

studyandreplicatethefindingswithin‐serviceelementaryschoolteachers.

FutureresearchstudiesshouldalsoinvestigateandfollowteachersInternetuse

whencreatinglessonplansintheclassroomandathomeforaset‐periodoftimeduring

schoolyear.Thiswillprovideamoreaccuraterepresentationofteachers’useofInternet

28

asaprofessionalresourcewhiletheyarepreparinglessonsfortheclassroom.Doingthisat

thevariouselementarygradeswouldprovideanaccuraterepresentationofteachers’use

oftheInternet.

4.3Conclusions

Similartopreviousfindingsbyotherinvestigatorsinthecomputer‐technologyuse

ineducationliterature,thisstudyconfirmedthatpre‐serviceteachersarefrequentlyusing

theInternetduringlessonpreparation(Becker,1999;Beckeretal.,1999;Cuban,2001;

NCES,2000;Russell,Bebell,O’Dwyer,&O’Connor,2003).However,thisstudyfurther

addedtotheliteraturebyconfirmingthatpre‐serviceteachersareactuallyusingthe

Internetonadailybasisformultiplehours.

Althoughthisstudydidnotexamineuseofcomputertechnologyintheclassroom,

thesefindingsleadtoquestioningofwhyexactlyteachersaremakinguseofInternet

duringlessonpreparationmoreoftenincomparisontouseoftechnologyintheclassroom

(Archambault&Crippen,2007).ArchambaultandCrippen(2007)andCuban(2001)

concludeditmightberelatedtotheskillsthatteachersmayhavedeveloped.Another

explanationmaybethattheuseoftheInternetspeedsuptheamountoftimeneededfor

lessonpreparationbecauseoftheeasyaccesstothewealthofmaterialsandinformation

availableonline.Theamountofinformationavailableinonecentrallocationislikely

makingthelessonplanningprocessquickerasteacherscansimplyfindmultiplematerials

andresourcesonlineratherthenhavingtorelyonthelibraryorschoolresourcesthatwill

likelybeavailableinavarietyofdifferentlocations.

29

Pre‐serviceteachersalsoarticulatedhowtheyconsideredtheInternettobean

extremelyvaluableprofessionalresource.ThisfindingechoedBecker’s(1999)conclusion

thattheInternetmaybethemostvaluableofthemanycomputertechnologiesavailableto

teachers.Bebell,RusellandO’Dwyer(2004),HeandHartley(2010),SmithandMeyen,

(2003)andTinker(2001)examinedandconfirmedthatteachersaremostoftenusing

technologyandtheInternetforlessonpreparationbuthowexactlytheyareusingthe

Internetwasobservedandrevealedinthepresentstudy.Duetothelackofresearch

literatureinthisarea,theresultsaddedtoafieldsparseindata.

Pre‐serviceteachersreportedoneofthechallengesofusingtheInternetasa

professionalresourceduringlessonpreparationistheabundanceoflessonplansand

lesson‐relatedinformationavailableonline.Theyareusingsearchenginestofind

resourcesinanefficientmannerandthesearchtermsleadtonumeroussearchresultsto

lookthrough.Pre‐serviceteachersthenhavetoreviewthesearchresults,selectwhich

websitestovisit,andthenvisitmultiplewebsites.Whenvisitingthewebsite,theytendto

quicklydecidewhetherthewebsitevisitedwouldbeuseful.Consequently,evenifthe

searchtermstheyenteredresultedinaresearch‐based,veryvaluableandusefulwebsite,if

thewebsitedidnotappearhighlyengagingorusefulduringaquicklookwhenitwas

visited,pre‐serviceteachersarelikelytonavigateawayaswellasdismissthesiteinlater

searchresults(aswasobservedduringthelessonplanningtask).Inthepresentstudy,pre‐

serviceteachersappearedtosporadicallyfindresourcesthatmaybepracticalorappeared

researchbasedbutmoreoftentheywerebecomingfrustratedatthelackofavailability

and/orthedifficultiestheywereexperiencingwhensearchingandre‐searchingfor

resourcesonline.

30

Asreferencedbefore,theInternethasthepossibilitytorevolutionizeteaching

(Smith&Meyen,2003)forthereasonthatteachersarethekeytoimplementingevidence‐

basedpracticesintheclassroomandInternetwebsiteshavethepotentialtoprovide

practical,accessible,andresearch‐basedtools(Wasburn‐Moses,2006).Thepresented

findingssuggestthatteachersarecurrentlysearchingforsuchresourcesfrequentlyand

theywouldabsolutelyutilizepracticalandevidencebasedwebsiteresourceswithclear

lessonplans.Therefore,thesefindingspresentaneminentopportunityfortheeducational

researchcommunity:creatinguser‐friendlyandhighlyengagingwebsiteswithclearand

practicalevidencebasedlessonplansorrelatedinformation.Oncecreated,thesewebsites

mustappearinthefirstthreesearchresultsofcommonlyusedInternetsearchengines.

Thiswouldallowforquickdiscoverybyteachersandsimultaneouslyreducetheir

frustrationsovernotbeingabletolocateusefulonlineresources.Thisstudydemonstrates

thatteachersareextremelylikelytomakeuseofresearchpresentedinthewebsiteformat.

Thisisnotonlybecauseitfitsnicelyintotheirbusyschedulesandtheinformationis

availableinonecentrallocationthatcanbeutilizedbothathomeandatschool,but

becausemanyofthemarepersistentlysearchingforsuchresourcesatthisverymoment.

31

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Teachers’toolsforthe21stCentury.Areportonteachers’useoftechnology.

Washington,DC:NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.RetrievedMay11,2011

fromhttp://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000102.pdf.

NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,U.S.DepartmentofEducation.(2000).Teacheruse

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ofcomputersandtheInternetinpublicschools.Statsinbrief.Washington,DC:

NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.RetrievedJune1,2011from

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000090.pdf.

Rowand,C.(2000).TeacheruseofcomputersandtheInternetinpublicschools.Education

StatisticsQuarterly,2(2),72‐75.

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Tinker,R.(2001).Futuretechnologiesforspeciallearners.JournalofSpecialEducation

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Wang,F.K.&Wedman,J.(2003).Designingandevaluatingaweb‐basedlessonplanning

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Teacher,60(1),70‐75.doi:10.1598/RT.60.1.8

34

TablesTable1CategoriesandSubcategories

FirstStep

SearchActivity

WebsitesViewed

SearchEngineUsed TypesofWebsitesVisited NumberofSearches UseofWebsites SelectingfromSearchResults

35

Table2SearchActivity:NumberofSearchesLessonPlanChoice(N=29)

n

NumberofSearches

AverageNumberofSearchesper

participant(numberofsearches/n)

Grade3TeachingDifferent Genre/TextTypes

10 45 4.5

KindergartenVocabulary 8 27 3.38Grade2ReadingFluency 4 15 3.75JuniorKindergartenConcepts aboutPrint

3 18 6

Grade5ReadingComprehension Strategies

2 11 5.5

KindergartenPhonemicAwareness 1 3 3Grade4WritingNon‐Narrative 1 6 6

36

Table3SearchActivity:SelectingfromSearchResultsSearchResultSelected(N=29)

n

TotalNumberVisited

First 25 52Second 17 20Third 16 23Fourth 8 8Fifth 8 9SixthandAbove 13 23

37

Table4WebsitesViewed:TypesofWebsitesVisitedTypeofWebsites(N=29)

n

TotalNumberVisited

Government 19 30Commercial 17 23TeacherHosted 14 21Organization 10 15

38

FiguresFigure1

MixedMethods:ConvergentParallelDesign

QuantitativeDataAnalysis

QuantitativeDataAnalysis

DataResultsCompared

Interpretation

QualitativeDataCollection

QuantitativeDataCollection

39

Appendices

AppendixA

DefinitionsofLessonPlanChoices

LESSON

BRIEFDESCRIPTION

Conceptsofprint demonstratingforchildrenthepurposeoflettersandprintedwordsandhowtheyareusedinbooksandothertexts

KnowledgeBuilding extendingchildren’sexperience,understandingandexposuretonewconceptstofosterthedevelopmentofknowledge

Vocabulary extendingchildren’sexperience,understandinganduseofalargerepertoireofwords

Phonemicawareness teachingchildrentofocusonandmanipulatethesoundsinspokenwords,toblendthemtogetherintowords(forreading)andtobreakwordsdownintotheirconstituentsounds(forspelling)

LetterSoundassociations

explicit,systematicteachingoftheletter‐soundconnections(40+)andpracticeinusingthemfordecoding(reading)andencoding(spelling/writing)

ReadingFluency promotingspeed,accuracy,andproperexpressioninreadingandwritingthroughextensiveappropriatepracticewithguidanceandfeedback

Reading

ComprehensionStrategies

teaching,modelingandpromotingchildren’suseofavarietyofeffectivestrategiestoimprovetheircomprehensionofwhattheyread

Written

LanguageStructures

providingopportunities,explanations,structuresandpurposestopromotechildren’swritingofawiderangeofnarrativeandexpositorytexts

40

AppendixBLessonPlanMatrix

Lesson:JuniorKindergarten–ConceptsaboutPrintKindergarten–PhonemicAwarenessKindergarten–VocabularyGrade1–Letter‐SoundAssociationsGrade2–ReadingFluencyGrade3–TeachingDifferentGenre/TextTypesGrade4–WritingNon‐NarrativeGrade5–ReadingComprehensionStrategiesLessonGoal/Summary:StudentGrouping:Pleasecircleone. Wholeclass Smallgroup Pairs Individual

ClassroomSetup:

MaterialsRequired:Teacher:Students:

41

TotalPreparationTime: TotalTaskTime:

LessonDescription:Preparation:Implementation:

42

AssessmentIdeas:LessonAdaptations:LessonExtensions/AdditionalComments:

43

AppendixCLessonPlanningQuestionnaire

QUESTIONS AFTER LESSON PLANNING

1. Is this how you usually go about planning a lesson?

Yes

No

If no, how do you usually go about planning your lessons?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

2. Is this how you usually retrieve information from the Internet?

Yes

No

If no, how do you usually retrieve information from the Internet?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

3. What did you find challenging during the lesson planning task?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

4. What do you use in your teaching placement to aid with lesson planning?

Books

44

Internet

Supervising Teacher

OISE/ICS Course Materials

Other: ____________________________________________________________

5. If you think of the amount of time you spend planning lessons as 100%, what percent of that

time do you use the Internet to help with the planning of your lessons?

________%

6. Think about the best lesson you planned using the Internet.

a) How did you do it?___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b) What website(s) did you visit?

1) _______________________________________________________________

2) _______________________________________________________________

3) _______________________________________________________________

c) Feelings about the websites used?

1) _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

2) _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

3) _______________________________________________________________

45

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

7. What other reasons may you use the Internet in your teaching practice other than to aid with

lesson planning?

a) __________________________________________________________________

b) __________________________________________________________________

c) __________________________________________________________________

d) __________________________________________________________________

e) __________________________________________________________________

8. Is there anything else that you would like to share about lesson planning?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

46

AppendixDDemographicQuestionnaire

DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Which program are you in?

Bachelor of Education

Child Study and Education Second Year

Internship

Study

2. What is your gender?

Male

Female

3. What is your age? ______ years

4. What is your ethnicity? _______________________________

5. Was there a gap in education before attending your current program?

Yes

No

If yes, what did you do during this gap? (Employment, volunteering, traveling, etc.)

a) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________

Responsibilities:_______________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


47

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

c) Other: ______________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

6. What did you major in during your undergraduate studies?

____________________________________

7. What is your education field of interest?

____________________________________

8. What is your teaching experience (volunteer and/or employment) prior to the program?

a) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

c) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

48

9. What is the teaching experience (volunteer and/or employment) that you have acquired while

in the program?

a) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

b) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

c) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

d) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

e) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

f) Position Title: ________________________________________________________

Duration: _________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

49

____________________________________________________________________

10. Have you received technology use training in your current program?

Yes

If yes, what kind of training? _______________________________________________

No

If no, do you wish you had received training? __________________________________

11. What technology devices do you own? And what brand are your devices?

Desktop Computer (Mac or PC)

Laptop Computer (Mac or PC)

PDA

Ipod/MP3 Player with Internet Access

Smartphone: iPhone or Blackberry

Tablet PC

iPad

eReader Device

Other: __________________________________________________________

12. What technology devices do you use?

Desktop Computer (Mac or PC)

Laptop Computer (Mac or PC)

PDA

Ipod/MP3 Player with Internet Access

Smartphone: iPhone or Blackberry

Tablet PC

iPad

eReader Device

Other: __________________________________________________________

50

13. How do you use the technology devices you do use? What kinds of things?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

14. How much time daily (in hours) do you spend using technological devices?

Desktop Computer: _____________

Laptop Computer: _____________

PDA: _____________

Ipod/MP3 Player with Internet Access:

Smartphone (iPhone or Blackberry): _____________

Tablet PC: _____________

iPad: _____________

eReader Device: _____________

Other: __________________________________________________________

15. Where do you use the technological devices you do use?

OISE/ICS

Practicum Schools

Home

While commuting/on the way to places

Other:__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

16. How frequently do you use the Internet?

Once a month

Once a week

Once a day

More than once a day (About how many times? ________)

51

17. How frequently do you use the Internet?

Once a month

Once a week

Once a day

More than once a day (About how many times? ________)

18. When you are on your computer do you normally always have an Internet browser open

(including in the background)?

Yes

No

Sometimes

Explain: ________________________________________________________________

19. If you use the Internet daily, how many hours do you spend on the Internet for personal,

teaching and school purposes (differentiating for when your in school and teaching

placement)?

Teaching Placement School

________ Personal ________ Personal

________ Teaching ________ School

________ Total ________ Total

20. If not daily, how many hours do you spend online when you DO use the Internet for

personal, teaching and school purposes (differentiating for when your in school and teaching

placement)?


________ Personal ________ Personal

________ Teaching ________ School

________ Total ________ Total

52

21. What is your level of familiarity with the Internet? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all

familiar

Extremely

familiar

22. What percent of the information you get from the Internet is school related, what percent is

teaching related and what percent is leisure related?


________% Teaching/Practicum ________% School

________% Leisure ________% Leisure

= 100% Total = 100% Total

23. From #22, split the Teaching/Practicum percentage and indicate what percentage of the time

do you obtain the following teaching related information from the Internet?

________% Lesson Planning

________% Learn About the Current Research Literature

________% Become More Familiar with the Information Expected to Teach

________% Other: ____________________________________________________

________% Other: ____________________________________________________

= 100% Total

24. How motivated are you to teach? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not at all Extremely

25. How passionate are you about teaching? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


53

26. How confident do you feel about teaching? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


27. How confident are you in your abilities to effectively use the Internet as a teaching resource?

Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


28. Please circle the websites you have visited from the list below:

www.readingandwritinginstruction.com www.earlyliteracy.com

www.readingrockets.org www.eftr.org

www.iriscenter.com/index.html www.edutopia.org

www.abctorid.com www.primaryteacher.com

www.foundationsforliteracy.ca/index.php www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/core.cfm?L=1

www.rwtta.com www.fcrr.org

www.ldonline.org www.teach4literacy.com

29. What are your favourite literacy websites?

a) _____________________________________________________________________

b) _____________________________________________________________________

c) _____________________________________________________________________

30. What do you like about these websites?

a) _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

54

b) _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

c) _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

31. How important do you consider the content of an Internet site? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all

important

Extremely

important

32. How important do you consider the design of an Internet site? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all

important

Extremely

important

33. How valuable of a professional resource is the Internet in your teaching? Please circle one.

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all

valuable

Extremely

valuable

34. Do you have and frequently use (once a week)

a) Facebook page:

Yes

No

b) Twitter account:

Yes

No

55

c) Another method of social networking:

1) __________________________________________________________________

2) __________________________________________________________________

35. What are your hobbies and interests and do you visit websites regarding these interests?

a) _______________________________________________

Visit Internet Sites:

Yes: ______________________________________________________________

No

b) _______________________________________________


Yes: ______________________________________________________________

No

c) _______________________________________________


Yes: ______________________________________________________________

No

d) _______________________________________________


Yes: ______________________________________________________________

No

36. What do you like about the websites listed in #33?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

56

37. Are you a consumer of the educational research literature?

Yes

No

Is it only in the context of a course?

Yes

No

_______________________________________________________________________

Do you apply the research literature to your teaching?

Yes

No

38. Did you receive training in your current program on how to evaluate research literature

credibility?

Yes

No

39. Is there anything else that you would like to share?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

57

AppendixEConsentFormsandLettersINFORMATION LETTER & CONSENT FORM Dear Participant, My name is Tajinder Uppal. I am a graduate student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). I would like to invite you to be part of a research study that I am doing as part of my master’s thesis research. Dr. Dale Willows will be supervising the study. We are doing this to learn more about how teachers use the Internet in order to learn how to best disseminate research to teachers using the Internet. We are asking you to take part in this research because we believe that your experiences and opinions are valuable information. Description of the Study If you take part in this research study, the session will take about an hour to hour and half. You will be asked to create a lesson plan using the Internet. We will then ask you to explain your information retrieval strategies and the lesson plan you have developed. Then, you will be asked to evaluate and navigate an evidence-based literacy website. A list of questions will be given to you to help you with your evaluation. Finally, you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. Benefits The main benefit of this study is that will help us learn more about pre-service teachers and Internet use. This will allow us to develop teacher resources for the Internet. A second benefit is that you would learn about how research in psychology is conducted. Potential Harms and Withdrawal There are no harms associated with taking part in the study. The only thing that might happen is that you may feel a little uncomfortable talking about yourself and how you feel about some things. If you feel that you don’t want to answer some of the questions, you can tell the research assistant, and talk about it. You may also say that you want to stop, skip a question, or that you need a break and want to continue some other time. Also, if you say that you will take part in the study and then change your mind, which is okay. You can decide at any time to stop taking part in the study. The only consequence is that we would not have the information we need to write the report that we described above. Confidentiality Your answers will only be used for research. No information that reveals your identity will be released without consent unless required by law. I will not put your name or your personal information on any of the activities we do together, or include them in anything that I write or present describing the research results. Only Dr. Willows and members of her research team will be able to look at the finished activities. These will be kept in locked filing cabinets in our research lab for the next 5 years. Electronic data will be stored indefinitely on a secure server. We will use a code on these files instead of your name. Compensation

58

Participation in research is voluntary – you can decide. If you decide to take part in the study, you will receive a $20.00 gift card for Spectrum Educational to purchase teacher resources. Consent – Participation In This Study Is Your Choice It is completely up to you to decide if you would like to be part of my study. If you are interested and would like to be in the study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. As a participant, you may skip any questions that you do not want to answer, ask for a break and/or leave the study at any time. I will be happy to answer any of your questions. If you would like to talk about taking part in this study with someone who is not involved in it, you may call the Ethics Review Office at the University of Toronto at (416) 946-3273. Access to Results A summary of the overall results of this study can be mailed/e-mailed to you about 1 year after the study. If you would like a copy of the results, please place a checkmark in the box �. As well, you can always contact Dr. Willows or me at any time with questions that you may have about the study or its results. Thank you, Tajinder Uppal, BA (Honours) Project Investigator & Master’s Candidate Department of Human Development & Applied Psychology, OISE/University of Toronto [email protected]

59

Consent: “I acknowledge that the research procedures described above have been explained to me and that any questions that I have asked have been answered to my satisfaction. As well, the potential harms and discomforts have been explained to me and I also understand the benefits of participating in the research study. I know that I may ask now, or in the future, any questions that I have about the study. I have been assured that no information will be released or printed that would disclose my identity without my permission, unless required by law. I understand that I will receive a copy of this signed consent. I understand that participation is voluntary and I can withdraw at any time.” I hereby consent to take part in this research. Name (please print) The persons who may be contacted about

the research are: Signature Tajinder Uppal, Project Investigator (416) 303 - 4754 [email protected] Date Dr. Dale Willows, Project Supervisor

(416) 934 - 4505 [email protected] Witness Name Witness Signature

“I agree that the information gathered in this study can be used for future data analysis as long as my personal information (i.e. name) is not used.” Signature

60

VIDEO & AUDIO-RECORDING INFORMATION LETTER & CONSENT FORM Dear Participant, I am asking for your permission to videotape the computer screen and audio-record this session so that I can later type up and analyze what you have said. However, we don’t have to record the interview if you feel uncomfortable having any or all of your answers taped. Your answers will only be used for research. I will not put your name or your personal information on any of the tapes or typed answers. As well, I will not include your personal information in anything that I write or present describing the research results. Only Dr. Willows and members of her research team will be able to hear or look at the interviews. These will be kept in locked filing cabinets in our research lab for the next 5 years. The transcripts will be stored on a secure server indefinitely. A number code will be used on these files instead of your name. As well, the tapes will be destroyed after they have been typed out and analyzed. This will likely happen in the Fall of 2011. There are no likely risks in taping the interview. It is up to you whether or not we record this interview. If you don’t want to have your responses taped, you may still continue with the interview. If you don’t want to participate in the interview, that is also okay. If you give permission to have your answers taped, you will be asked to sign a consent form. Thank You, Tajinder Uppal, BA (Honours) Project Investigator & Master’s Candidate Department of Human Development & Applied Psychology, OISE/University of Toronto [email protected]

61

Video and Audio-Recording Consent – I Allow My Interview To Be Taped: I agree that the interview procedures have been explained to me. All of my questions have been answered to my liking. I have been told and understand that I have the right not to have my interview taped. I also can stop taping at any time. I also know that my records will be kept confidential. I give permission to have my interview responses taped. Name (please print) The persons who may be contacted about

the research are: Signature Tajinder Uppal, Project Investigator (416) 303 - 4754 [email protected] Date Dr. Dale Willows, Project Supervisor

(416) 934 - 4505 [email protected] Witness Name Witness Signature

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