Why does technology integration fail?: teacher beliefs and content developer assumptions in an Indian initiative

Abstract

This paper explores technology integration and the role of teacher beliefs in this integration to assess a ‘smart-class’ initiative that was introduced in 3173 Grade 7–8 classrooms of 1609 public schools in India in 2017. It first reports on the impact of the initiative at the end of its first year, using a sample of 2574 children drawn from 155 project schools and 155 non-project schools. A two-level multivariate analysis did not indicate any significant effect of the project on student subject knowledge, attitude towards subject and subject self-efficacy beliefs. A follow-up interpretive study that used the open-ended responses of 170 project teachers and four in-depth case studies revealed that the e-content supplied supported some traditional beliefs of teachers while challenging others; the latter, however, led to resistance that hindered learning processes. Thus, both support and challenge seem to have led to a reproduction of the traditional classroom, resulting in no significant differences in outcomes between project and non-project classrooms. The paper calls for greater awareness among content developers of how their beliefs can subvert technology integration, and for supportive professional development of teachers that will help them incorporate technology in their pedagogical practice.