Digital Technologies and the Barriers K-12 Teachers Face: A Phenomenological Study During a Global Pandemic

The COVID 19, global pandemic has brought upon many changes in the world we live in today. The educational community has had to accept the drastic changes in teaching and learning through embracing digital technologies more rigorously than ever before. Specifically, in Long Island, New York, once the initial cases of COVID 19 were identified, educational institutions were challenged with enabling instruction remotely. Teachers faced the reality of mandatory implementation of digital technology in the curriculum. This research sought to identify the phenomenon of how teachers have experienced known barriers to using digital technologies during a global pandemic; specifically, when teachers had no choice but to embrace these modalities to best educate students. This phenomenological study surveyed teachers in Long Island, New York to ascertain a better understanding of their experiences related to the extrinsic and intrinsic barriers faced while adopting, integrating, and implementing digital technologies in the classroom during the COVID 19 global pandemic. Themes emerging from the essence of the phenomenon included three major points that are recommended for teachers to use as a model to guide them in creating a digital classroom; (a) accepting change, (b) breaking barriers, and (c) checking for self-efficacy. The abc’s Model for a Digital Classroom Teacher evolved from this research can guide not just teachers but can encourage other diverse occupations to adopt, integrate, and implement digital technologies in a wide variety of disciplines