Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Weber, Roberta K.

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined secondary teachers’ technology selfefficacy, their professional development activities regarding mobile handheld devices, and how those activities affect their use of mobile devices as instructional tools. Additionally, this study also explored teachers’ perceptions of other factors that act as barriers or enablers to their use of such devices. The study included 104 middle and high school teachers who taught in a large, urban public school district in the Southeastern United States. Data were collected through the administration of an electronic survey and semi-structured interviews. The researcher utilized multiple regression and moderator analyses, as well as qualitative analysis of the interview data. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed teachers’ technologyrelated self-efficacy to be a significant predictor of their instructional use of mobile handheld devices. However, secondary teachers’ level of professional development was found not to contribute significantly to the model. The moderator analysis too revealed professional development to be a nonsignificant factor. The findings of the qualitative phase of the study revealed secondary teachers’ awareness of their varied and fluid technology-related self-efficacy, as well as those factors that modify it. Qualitative data also revealed four categories of essential elements that teachers must have in order to most effectively implement mobile handheld devices within their pedagogy: intellectual capital, emotional capital, social-cultural capital, and technological capital. When lacking, these elements can represent barriers to teachers’ implementation of mobile handheld devices. Targeted professional development and increased funding to minimize the digital divide are recommended to reduce these barriers. The findings of the study inform designers of professional development programs, school and district and secondary teachers, as they are all stakeholders in the process of increasing the effective implementation of mobile handheld devices as instructional tools.

Extent

212 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004649

Format

pdf

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