Barriers to the effective use of technology in Education

In assessing the barriers to the effective use of technology in Education I have focused on the role of the teacher and how a teacher makes use technology in teaching. Research has shown that barriers to using technology effectively when teaching can be as follows: teachers don’t have the time to keep up with the latest developments in software or find the most suitable one for their classroom; this is also due to training being generic rather than specific to each teacher and their needs for specific subject knowledge and possibly training being offered at unsuitable times (Cuban et.al, 2001, pp.813-834). Teachers are also often too worried about what can go wrong with technology and mobile technology ( power cuts, equipment not working as it should) so they don’t even use it to begin with or they use it in a minimalistic manner.

Whilst the learner can present some barriers to learning when using technology such as special learning needs or limited background knowledge (depending on their age), I believe these can always be overcome in order to ensure technology is used in an effective way. The next biggest barriers are the lack of suitable teacher training and lack of confidence which leads to teachers using technology mainly for instruction and presentation purposes rather than creating engaging and interactive activities which would enable and enhance learning.