A comparison of in-service teachers’ conceptions of barriers to mobile technology-integrated instruction and technology-integrated instruction

Abstract

Researchers have identified three orders of barriers to probe teachers’ conceptions of technology-integrated instruction, namely extrinsic obstacles, intrinsic obstacles and the lack of design thinking. However, few studies have investigated barriers to teachers’ mobile technology-integrated instruction and compared them with the barriers to their technology-integrated instruction. This study recruited 20 in-service teachers with experience in adopting mobile learning (in practice) to compare their conceptions of the two kinds of barriers. Firstly, we utilised the phenomenographic method and subsequently transformed qualitative interview data into quantitative data. The research results found an additional crucial barrier, namely classroom management. Thus, this study revealed four classifications of barriers to (mobile) technology-integrated instruction. Moreover, teachers with less experience in adopting mobile learning confronted more obstructions to mobile technology-integrated instruction than to technology-integrated instruction at the first-order level (i.e., extrinsic obstacles). On the contrary, teachers with more experience in adopting mobile learning encountered more barriers related to design thinking upon the educational integration of mobile technology over conventional technology. This study provides the field with new insights into understanding teachers’ conceptions of barriers to the adoption of emerging technology-integrated instruction and sheds light for researchers and policymakers who are working on teacher professional development.

Implications for practice or policy:

• This research reveals a framework of the four orders of barriers for providing an understanding of teachers’ barriers to advanced technology-integrated instruction as the technology grows.
• More courses involving design thinking for mobile learning should be provided as part of teacher training.
• Future research should carefully explore the effective solutions for eliminating the barriers to mobile technology-integrated instruction.