Impact on Social Change: Benefits and Barriers to School Culture and the Integration of M-Technology

Abstract

This paper examines benefits and barriers of m-technology in its growing use in education through a survey conducted at a Canadian teacher education institution (n=350). Topics included are the types of mobile technology devices and how their uses have been rejected and accepted as a socially-situated construct for learning in schools. Issues for new teachers range from the dollar cost of using the devices to the cost of time in learning about these devices. The paper concludes with a central issue of why some devices do not remain in the social construct but are adopted for short periods of time and do not last because barriers prevent their sustainability. The research for this paper was supported in part by a grant from the Imperial Oil Academy for the Learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology.