Current Barriers in Educational Technology

Hsu, P. (2016). Examining Current Beliefs, Practices and Barriers About Technology Integration: A Case Study. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 60(1), 30-40. doi:10.1007/s11528-015-0014-3


In education, there are always barriers stopping educators from completing everything they want to complete.   No school district has unlimited funds or the time to do everything they want to get done.  Throughout education, school districts have tried to keep up with the ever-improving world of technology.  According to Hsu (2016), there were four barriers that impeded implementation of technology (p.30). Among these were "students' lack of computer skills, teachers' lack of training in technology, teachers' lack of time to implementation of technology-integrated lessons, and teachers' lack of technical support" (Hsu, 2016, p. 31).   

Many educators feel that the integration of technology into the classroom will lead to increased student achievement, although there is little data to support this.  One of the main issues that has been found with implementing technology in schools is that teachers do not know how to effectively teach the technology.  However, a number of research studies (Ertmer 2005; H s u2012, 2013; Levin and Wadmany 2008) have reported that the majority of teachers limit their classroom technology uses to such low-level tasks as conducting practice drills and/or utilizing computers as a free-time or reward activity(Hsu. 2016, 32).   Obviously, low-level tasks are not going to improve student achievement.

Another major barrier to implementation is the lack of time to implement the technology integrated lessons.  Many young teachers struggle to find the time to find the time to complete everything they want to get done in the classroom and struggle to find more time to implement the technology correctly.  Also, to add to the barriers are classrooms that are not student-centered and rely on the teacher for all knowledge.  Unfortunately, there are still many classrooms that are teacher centered and in this type of learning, the focus is on rote memorization and not skill building.  

The main caveat to the issue of time is the fact that many teachers feel like they do not have the support in their school to implement the technology.  What if the technology fails?  Who should they go to to learn about the new application on the device?  Paid tech liaisons in each department would be a way to ensure success when implementing the technology.  Using SIP time, departments meetings and other staffed events would help teachers fully implement technology correct and with the support they deserve.