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RunningHead:

TechnologyIntegrationandImplementationinAboriginalandRuralSchools

TheDigitalDivide:
TechnologyIntegrationandImplementationinAboriginalandRuralSchools

AllisonKostiuk
EmilyAldred
BrendanClark
SaraMartin

ETEC500
GroupAssignment2
UniversityofBritishColumbia
ProfessorErcikan
April3,2016

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Abstract
ThisstudyexaminestheconceptoftheDigitalDivideinthecontextofBritish
ColumbiaandwesternCanada.RuralandIndigenouseducationalsettingsdonotoftenhavethe
sameaccesstoinformationtechnologyastheirurbanandnonindigenouscounterparts
(AssemblyofFirstNations,2012).Themaincontributingfactorsintheimplementationof
technologywithinAboriginalandruralcommunitiesincludeconnectivity,hardware,skills,and
access(Beaton,Carpenter,&KNET.,2014LookerandThiessen,2003Kimery&
Amirkhalkhali,2011Kawaliak,Wells,Connell,&Beamer(2012)Voice,2006).A
mixedmethodsapproachwillbeusedtocollectquantitativesurveydataaswellasqualitative
interviewdatawhichrelatestothesecontributingfactorsandbarrierstoimplementing
technology.Theconclusionsofthisresearchstudywillfocusontheexperiencessharedby
interviewsubjectswhichwillbroadenourunderstandingofthebarrierstotechnologyinthese
settings,thechallengesfacedbytheeducatorsoperatinginthesesystems,andsomelocal
solutionsthathavebeenusedtoimproveaccesstotechnology.

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PurposeoftheStudy
Thepurposeofthisstudyistoexamineanddescribethechallengesschoolsfacewhen
implementingtechnologyinAboriginalandruralcommunities.Theobjectivesofthisstudyare
todetermineandunderstandthespecificchallengesAboriginalandruralcommunitiesface
whichcommunitiesfacethegreatestchallengesandthesolutions,ifany,thesecommunities
haveestablishedtocircumventthehurdlesassociatedwiththeimplementationoftechnology.
Thisisvaluableandsignificantresearch,as28%ofCanadasAboriginalpopulationisaged14
andunder(MacdonaldandVieira).Understandingthatthefastestgrowingpopulationof
Canada,andnonindigenousstudentsinruralcommunities,needtohaveaccesstoreliable
technologyandsupportintheclassroomwillensurethattheyaremorelikelyandabletobe
contributingcitizens,whichbenefitsallCanadians.Thisresearchwillhelpaidgovernmentand
Aboriginalpolicymakersinfundandsupportallocationaswellaseducationalcurriculum
design.

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Perspectives
ManyareasinWesternCanadahavesteadyandreliableaccesstotechnologyhowever,
withinAboriginalandruralcommunitiesinWesternCanadamanychallengesexist.The
AssemblyofFirstNationsin2012foundthatonly48%ofFirstNationsschoolshavefully
equippedtechnology,andonly67%reportgoodconnectivity(p.34).Themaincontributing
factorsintheimplementationoftechnologywithinAboriginalandruralcommunitiesinclude
connectivity,hardware,skillsandaccess(Beaton,
Carpenter,&KNET
.,2014Lookerand
Thiessen,2003Kimery&Amirkhalkhali,2011Kawaliak,Wells,Connell,&Beamer(2012)
Voice,2006).
OfferingsteadyandreliableInternetconnectiontoruralareasisexpensivetherefore
serviceandconnectionislimitedwhichmakestheimplementationoftechnologydifficult.In
someAboriginalcommunities,itisnotedthattheamountoffundingreceivedinlocalschools
doesnotmatchthatofcurrenteducationalcosts,suchasteachersalaries,schoolsuppliesand
equipment(AssemblyofFirstNations,2012).WhilenoteveryAboriginalorruralcommunity
sharethesameissues,manyexperienceunderfundingandpoorfacilitiesthatultimatelyaffect
theoverallimplementationoftechnologyinthesecommunities(BeatonandCarpenter,2014
LookerandThiessen,2003).Anotherfactorthatcontributesnegativelytotheimplementationof
technologyinAboriginalorruralcommunitiesisthelackofsupportavailable.Inremoterural
areasassistanceorsupportisavailable,howeveritisoftenonaveryparttimebasis.Notonlyis
technologysupportunavailableatalltimes,teachersalsolacktheappropriatetechnicaltraining
necessary(LookerandThiessen,2003).

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AlthoughAboriginalandruralcommunitiesstrugglewithtechnologyimplementation
duetofinancialandgeographicalreasons,manygovernmentinitiativesarebeingformedto
createmoreequitableaccesstoallareasofCanada(KimeryandAmirkhalkhali,2011).Federal
Programssuchas,CommunityAccessProgram,SchoolNetandBRANDplayanimportantrole
ingivingAboriginalpeople...accesstoICT(AboriginalVoiceNationalRecommendations).

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DescriptionofMethods
Thisstudywilluseamixedmethodsresearchapproachbyintegratinganexplanatory
sequentialdesign.Theprojectwillbeginwiththecollectionandanalysisofquantitativedata
obtainedthroughasurveysentouttoparticipants.Thesedatawillprovideguidancetothe
researchersbyidentifyingasubsetofthepopulationofwhichtoobtainthenextphaseof
qualitativedata.Thesecondsetofdatawillbeacquiredthroughinterviewsconductedbythe
researchers.Byimplementinginterviewsintotheresearchproject,researcherswillbeableto
delveintothethoughts,beliefs,andperceptionsoftheparticipantsinregardstotheresearch
topic(Mertler,2016,p.152).Thesequalitativedatawillthenbeanalyzedandinterpretedin
termsofdescribingthequantitativeresultsobtainedinthefirstphaseofdatacollection(Mertler,
2016).

ThepopulationinthisstudywillconsistofschoolsidentifiedasanAboriginalorrural

schoolinBritishColumbia.ThispopulationisidentifiedthroughtheBCRural&Multigrade
TeachersAssociation(http://www.bcruralteachers.org/
),RuralTeachers
(http://www.ruralteachers.com),
andtheFirstNationsSchoolsAssociationofBritishColumbia
(http://www.fnsa.ca/)ontheirwebsiteorthroughcontactinformationavailableonthese
websites.Dependingontheresultingpopulationnumbers,participantsavailable,andresults,
researchersmaychoosetoidentifythesesamepopulationsinthewesternCanadianprovincesof
Alberta,Saskatchewan,andManitoba.
Researcherswilldeveloponecrosssectionalsurveythroughtheonlineplatform,
Survey
Monkey
.Asurveyinvitationwillbesentoutelectronicallybyemailtothepopulationidentified

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above.Thesurveyinvitationwillinformpotentialparticipantsofthepurposeofthisstudyand
thattheiranswerswillremainanonymousontheresearchreport.Thissurveywillbeopento
accessforatimeperiodoftwoweeks.Afteroneweek,areminderemailwillbesenttopotential
participants.Surveyquestionswillgatherdemographicinformationusinganominalscaleto
identifyschoollocationbydistrict,Aboriginaldesignation,jobtitle,andgradelevel.Attitudinal
andbehaviouralquestionswillalsobeincorporatedintothesurveyusinganordinalscaleto
measureparticipantsownfeelingsabouttechnology,perceivedfeelingsofotherschool
employeestowardstechnology,howtechnologyisusedintheschool,andwhattechnologyis
usedintheschool.Postsurvey,participantswillbeaskedtogivetheircontactinformationso
thatresearchersareabletopotentiallycontactparticipantsafterdataanalysistorequestan
interviewforthesecondphaseoftheresearch.

Theresearchteamwillperformallinterviewsusingthesameinterviewguide.Thisguide
willserveasasemistructuredinterviewfortheresearcherstoconduct.Interviewquestionswill
bedevelopedasaresultofthereviewandanalysisofthequantitativedatagatheredfromthe
survey.Duetovaryinglocationsofresearchersandparticipants,interviewswillbeconducted
electronicallyusingavideoconferenceon
GoogleHangouts
orbyteleconference.Allinterviews
willberecordedforresearcherstoanalyzeafterphasetwoofthestudyiscomplete.
Participationwillbesoughtthroughemailcommunicationsfirstlywithschoolprincipals
andthen,withprincipalpermission,emailedtoemployeesofeachidentifiedschool.Thesurvey
willhaveatwoweekdeadline.Datawillbecollected,analyzed,andorganizedtobeginphase
twointhefollowingmonth.Interviewswillbeconductedoveranothermonthstime.Thisdata
willbeanalyzedandcomparedtodatafromphaseone.Resultswillbedrawnandoutlinedover

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thefollowingweeks.Thetotalamountoftimetoconductthisstudywilloccuroverone
semesterstime(aperiodof34months).

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DescriptionofDataSources
Dataforthisstudywillbecollectedfromparticipantsinbothquantitative(survey)and
qualitative(interview)forms.Initialdataanalysesofquantitativedataobtainedinphaseonewill
beusedtoidentifyasubsetoftheparticipantpopulationtointerviewinphasetwo.Thesurvey
platform,
SurveyMonkey
,willcollectquantitativedatatoidentifytheparticipants,their
demographics,aswellastheirattitudesandbehaviourstowardstechnologyattheirschool.All
datawillbestoredelectronicallyonthe
SurveyMonkey
platform.Oncethetwoweekperiodof
thesurveyisupandalldataiscollecteditwillbeanalyzedbytheresearchteam.Participants
willbeorganizedintoAboriginalandruralsubgroups,andthenfurthercategorizedbylocation
withinthesesubgroups.Researcherswilldeterminepossibleinterviewcandidatesbyidentifying
atleastonetechnologystrugglingschoolfromeachschooldistrictorregionintheprovincefor
bothAboriginalschoolsandruralschools.Potentialinterviewcandidateswillbecontactedby
emailtoarrangeatimeforresearcherstoconducttheinterview.Thisprocesswilloccuroverthe
courseofonemonth.Usingrecordingsoftheseinterviews,researcherswillanalyzethe
responsesanddrawmoreconcreteconclusionsofthequantitativeresultsobtainedinphaseone.

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Results
Theresultsofthisstudywillconsistofquantitativeandqualitativedata.Surveydata
fromtheinitialphaseofthestudywillhelpdeterminetheruralandIndigenousschoolswhich
willbethefocusforthesecondphaseofdatacollection.Weexpectthatthesurveydatawill
revealalargesampleofeducatorsandinstitutionswhichareaffectedbygeographyandpolicy
whichnegativelyimpactstheiraccesstoinformationtechnology.Thesurveydatawillhelp
describethesampleandthevariousculturesandhistorieswhicharepresentintherepresented
population.Thesecondphaseofthestudyconsistsofqualitativedatacollectionthrough
interviews.Theresultsoftheinterviewphasewillhelpbegintocreateadetaileddescriptionof
howbarriersandbeliefsaroundtechnologyplayoutinavarietyofsettings,asexplainedby
individualswhoplaykeyrolesintheseeducationalenvironments.Looker&Thiessen(2003)and
TheAssemblyofFirstNations(2012)suggestfunding,accesstosupport,andpoliticalpolicy,as
mainsourcesofthedigitaldivideinruralpopulations.Becausecolonialpolicyhasplayedoutin
eachuniqueindigenouscultureinadifferentway,weexpecttouncoveragreaterdepthof
qualitativedatathroughinterviewswhichwilluncoverimportantthemesandlessons.Comparing
theissuesfoundinruralnonindigenousschoolstoAboriginalschoolsmayalsorevealissuesin
educationalpolicywhichhavebeenshapedbyethnicityandgeography.

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EducationalSignificance
Ourresultswillallowscholarstocomparetheoriesanddatawithlivedexperience.The
resultsofthisstudywillbeusefulforscholarsinvestigatingtheuseoftechnologyinIndigenous
andruralsettingsandthosecontributingtothelargertopicoftheDigitalDivide.Researchers
havefoundquantifiabledataregardingtechnologyuseinAboriginalandruraleducational
settings(AssemblyofFirstNations,2012,Looker&Thiessen,2003)andsomeindigenous
scholarshavearguedforsomecautionwhentheseuniquecommunitiesattempttocreate
knowledgeandculturethroughdigitalmeans(Bowers,Vasquez&Roaf,2000).Thedata
collectedinthisstudywillhelpscholarsuncoverconnectionsandthemesthatemergebetween
variousIndigenoususesandattitudestowardstechnologyandpublicpolicy,infrastructureand
geography.

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References

AssemblyofFirstNations.(2012).APortraitofFirstNationsandEducation.
ChiefsAssembly
onEducation,PalaisdesCongresdeGatineau,Quebec
,October13,2012.
Beaton,B.,Carpenter,P.,&KNET,K.O.(2014,May).Acriticalunderstandingofadult
learning,educationandtrainingusinginformationandcommunicationtechnologies
(ICT)inremoteFirstNations.In
annualmeetingoftheCanadianAssociationforStudy
ofIndigenousEducation,BrockUniversity,St.Catherines,Ontario
.
Bowers,C.A.,Vasquez,M.,andRoaf,M.(2000).
NativePeopleandtheChallengeof
Computers:ReservationSchools,Individualism,andConsumerism
.AmericanIndian
QuarterlyVol.24,No.2(Spring,2000),pp.182199
Kawalilak,C.,Wells,N.,Connell,L.,&Beamer,K.(2012).ELearningAccess,Opportunities,
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Kimery,K.M.,&Amirkhalkhali,S.(2011).Informationandcommunicationtechnologiesand
aboriginalpeoplesincanada:Informationseeking,communitybuilding,andaccess
challengesingeographicallyandsociallymarginalizedpopulations.
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JournalofManagementandInformationSystems,15
(4),41.
Looker,DianeandVictorThiessen.(2003)ThedigitaldivideinCanadianschools:factors
affectingstudentaccesstoanduseofinformationtechnology.ResearchDataCentre.

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Macdonald,A.&Vieira,P.(2015,April)CanadasAboriginalPopulation:Growing,but
Troubled.TheWallStreetJournal.Retrievedfrom
http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2015/04/20/canadasaboriginalpopulationgrowing
buttroubled/
Mertler,C.A.(2016).Introductiontoeducationalresearch(8thed.).SAGEPublications.
Smith,C.,&Wobst,H.M.(2005).
Indigenousarchaeologies:Decolonizingtheoryandpractice
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NewYorkLondon:Routledge.
http://lib.myilibrary.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/Open.aspx?id=25622
Voice,A.,desLibrisDocuments,KTACentreforCollaborativeGovernmentStaff,&Crossing
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