Technology Integration and Its Challenges in Swedish Primary Schools

Abstract: Integrating technology into schools is a complex issue. Educators do not just use a single technology in their classroom, but they plan and design their instructional activities so that the use of one technology can be combined with other instructional activities relevant to the topic at hand. This research was conducted as part of a master's thesis that aimed to investigate and understand the integration of technology and its challenges in Swedish elementary school. The framework in which educational technologies are to be introduced, accepted, and successfully used in the classroom needs to be right. To achieve this goal, the study posed three research questions. These questions are, "What educational technologies are used in elementary schools? How do teachers use or integrate educational technologies when planning and implementing activities to achieve learning objectives? What are the factors/challenges that influence the integration of technology in elementary classrooms from the teachers' perspective?"  The researcher explored these research questions through a thematic analysis of five semi-structured interviews, one face-to-face interview, and four Microsoft forms interviews, as well as three classroom observations.  The results of this study indicate that teachers have a positive view of the use or integration of technology in the classroom, with the exception of one teacher who expressed reservations about the use of ICT in grades 4 and 5. Furthermore, the results show that there is a lack of both knowledge and competence regarding the use and integration of educational technology in the classroom.