The Impact of Technology Centered Instruction and Implementation Measures on Student Performance

This study was conducted to compare the impact of technology-centered instructional methods on student performance in literacy to the impact of non-digital instructional practices. Additionally, this research was designed to identify specific program implementation measures used during the implementation of the prevailing instructional method and identify what link existed between these measures and the performance of students. The researcher examined quantitative and qualitative data obtained from both public data sources and from a survey administered to teachers in eight school districts in Missouri. The participants responded to questions that provided the researcher with quantitative and qualitative data to be used in completing the research study. This data was used to determine: a) if a relationship existed between the utilization of technology-centered practices and performance on state assessments, b) if a relationship existed between implementation methods of technology and performance on state assessments, and c) whether the performance experienced by these schools was in line with perceptual data. The information gathered throughout this research provided the researcher insight into current instructional practices, comparative data sets to isolate the most effective balances of technology during instruction, and an analysis of effective implementation measures. The researcher found that there was no definitive correlation that existed between student performance and the focus areas of the study. When looking at the data from the survey, the perceptions of teachers did show to support the idea that technology does have an impact on performance, but that it was not supported as the primary reason for student performance. The findings of this study would be useful to educational decision-makers and school leaders in making informed decisions in regards to the selection of instructional methods