Towards Modelling the Technology Integration in Elementary School. A Diachronic Study of Teachers’ Digital Practices During and After Covid-19 Lockdown

Overview & Synopsis

Different studies have highlighted changes in pedagogical practices in elementary school and several of them question the potential impact of lockdown. The objective of our research is: to analyse the TEL practices of French elementary school teachers in 2020 and 2021, to determine and qualify the levels of technological integration, and to identify the factors explaining the (non-)integration of technology. We conducted a survey and analysed the responses of 572 teachers on their practices and work contexts in 2020 and 2021. By combining a cluster analysis technique on the reported practices and a covariance analysis between the obtained classification and other variables, we identified 3 groups of practices (stabilized, emerging, underdeveloped) and 5 classes of teachers (traditional, interpretative, reproductive, explorer, innovator) according to the way they use technology in vs. outside of the classroom and for traditional vs. constructive learning methods. The impact factors are personal (like the perception of the added value of TEL), contextual (like the equipment offered at the school) and related to the experience of remote work in 2020 (like the feeling of isolation). In the light of our results, we propose recommendations: to foster greater digital integration that goes hand in hand with teachers’ professional development and to conduct future diachronic analysis of practices.