Education Commons^™

Perceptions Of Classroom Technology Use Among Adult English Learners, Mandy Chien

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess adult English Learners’ perceptions of using Microsoft Teams in classes. Specifically, the study aims to explore the strength and direction of the correlation between the elements of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and using Microsoft Teams in English language courses. This study addressed the following research question: What are the strengths and directions of the correlations between the elements of the technology acceptance model and the use of Microsoft Teams among adult ELs?

The researcher utilized a quantitative methods approach to investigate the relationship between TAM variables and the use of Microsoft …

How Technology Mediated Social Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Case Study, Rashi Seth-Parmar

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in California were forced to shut their doors to students and staff during spring semester 2020. The school closures forced teachers to migrate their lessons to online platforms and forced students to learn using various online modalities. Students no longer had the traditional access to their teachers, administrators, or peers, which caused an imbalance in their social learning. This phenomenological qualitative study offers administrators and teachers best practices in fostering student social learning while utilizing distance learning or online learning specifically for K-12 students. The best practices are derived from the lived experiences of …

Exploratory Case Study Of Teachers Finding Support From The Global Educator Facebook Group During The Emergency School Closures Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Maureen A. Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

The emergency school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students and teachers across the globe. This study explored how the Global Educator Collaborative Facebook group, with over 125,000 members, supported teachers as they adapted to distance learning instruction amid emergency school closures. Through the Facebook group, teachers built a community to share questions, challenges, and seek support from their peers. This study explored how teachers participated in the Facebook group between February 2020 and December 2021 and whether their participation represented Wenger’s criteria for a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). An exploratory case study design …

Latine Family Math Engagement: A Phenomenological Study Of Co-Design Approaches, Susana Beltran-Grimm

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics achievement at school entry is the strongest predictor for eighth-grade performance, regardless of race, gender, or family socioeconomic status. Yet, California Latine children continue to lack in math proficiency, struggling with concepts such as knowledge of numbers, counting, and spatial and pattern skills development. Existing literature has demonstrated that Family Engagement support children’s development. However, Latine parents often feel less comfortable doing math themselves and in participating in their children's math learning. This interpretive phenomenology research study was designed to uncover participants’ cultural repertoires and learning experiences to explore how Latine families perceived and engaged in co-design workshops to …

Creating A Collaborative Culture: Can Online Learning Circles Spark Innovation And Promote Intrapreneurship?, Christian Deveaux Greer

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional organizational structures can be stubbornly inflexible and woefully under-optimized for cross-departmental project collaboration. Leaders seeking to innovate within the confines of these structures often have to empower themselves to create ad hoc agile teams that foster creative problem-solving, unlock social capital, and generate value early and often. As the President & CEO of a nonprofit science center in the Midwest, I have discovered that some of our most valuable ideas have sprouted and bloomed because distributed leaders, operating essentially as intrapreneurs, discovered ways to use their informal social networks to break through silos and successfully collaborate across departmental lines. …

Forward Solutions In Digital Learning Transformation: A Study In Navigating 21st-Century Organizational Learning For Learning & Development Professionals, Malika Afiya Viltz-Emerson

Theses and Dissertations

While there is a substantial volume of information on digital transformation in companies and basic knowledge of the learning functions in organizations, there is little academic research on the skilling required of Learning and Development Practitioners or Professionals (LDPs) and the impact 21st century digital transformation has on their role. This mixed methods study shares lived experiences and the perceptions of LDPs and identifies challenges with which they are faced. Overall, the study explores transformation of LDPs within the construct of organizations and the digital evolution. The study reviews how LDPs are adapting to the rapid changes and the evolution …

Improving Student Attitudes Towards Stem Education By Building Self-Efficacy Through Robotics Education, Kevin Obillo

Theses and Dissertations

The United States must grow its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) trained workforce in order to fill the jobs projected to be in demand. One of the ways in which this can be done is to tap into the vast population of minorities and women who are underrepresented in the STEM fields. The United States has been looking for ways to improve STEM participation in these groups for many years now, through outreach, legislation and innovative academic programs. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact that a robotics education enrichment program had on elementary, predominantly Latinx …

#Livingwhileblack: A Mixed-Method Exploratory Analysis Of The Social Media Documentation Of Racism Via Twitter And Interviews, Judy A. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

African Americans have endured marginalization related to racial and cultural disparities. #LivingWhileBlack has become a unique repository of all related experiences that Black people are encountering, while performing every day, seemingly mundane tasks and activities. The #LivingWhileBlack hashtag went viral on Twitter (https://twitter.com/), allowing users, including Black Twitter (https://twitter.com/), to use the international platform to share their own Black story and experience. The three research questions that were explored included the following. First: How are profiling events related to #LivingWhileBlack events documented, reported and expressed by Social Media Users? Second: How are others/people using Twitter (https://twitter.com/); affected by various incidences …

What Drives Educators: A Mixed Methods Study On The Impact Of Motivations And Attitudes On Technology Integration Practices In The K-8 Classroom Setting, Janel Ann Reyneke

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the rapid pace at which emerging technologies are evolving, many educators fell apprehensive toward shifting their pedagogy to stay relevant with technology adoption practices and 21st Century learning expectations. There is limited research connecting the adoption practices of early and late adopters to individual inherent motivational preferences. The goal of this multi-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study sought to produce detailed findings of early and late adopters' tendencies and establish a connection to their motivation and integration practices. Additionally, this research sought to discover the impact that attitudes and perceived/actual barriers have on resistance to technology integration.

K-8 …