Elementary special education teachers’ thinking while planning and implementing technology-integrated lessons

This collective case study of three elementary-level special education teachers investigated their knowledge, decision-making, reasoning, and actions while planning and implementing technology-integrated instruction in schools for students with learning differences. The results contribute to a strand of research that focuses on how teachers exhibit technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) in their thinking and practice and add to the scarce literature on the TPACK framework in special education contexts. The researchers conducted and recorded three interviews and two observations, using stimulated recall to identify instructional decisions. Qualitative thematic analysis of transcripts, individual case studies, and a cross case analysis revealed the kinds of knowledge and reasoning teachers employed when making decisions regarding technology integration. Technological pedagogical knowledge predominated their statements regarding technology-related decisions. The findings illustrate the interconnected ways in which the teachers engaged in educational processes that reflected TPACK and technological pedagogical reasoning and action (TPR&A). They made numerous planning and in-the-moment decisions related to comprehension, transformation (e.g., selection, representation, preparation), instructional interactions (e.g., adaptation, scaffolding, management), evaluation, reflection, and new comprehension. The findings suggest that professional development efforts should not only address technological knowledge and skills but also seek to improve teachers’ decision making and reasoning processes for planning and implementing technology in learning environments that include students with learning differences.