When utilizing technology to support EL students, teachers play an essential role in supporting student academic development. Simply requiring that students use technological tools provided by districts is inadequate in ensuring that supports are in place to facilitate and support EL learning. Therefore, to adequately support ELs through technology, teachers must build a stronger sense of self-efficacy and be trained on the effective use of technology. With higher confidence levels through training, teachers will be more likely to utilize technology in purposeful and meaningful applications to support EL students.

While technology has been integrated into the classroom for many years, knowing how to use it to support EL students requires a different skill set. A study on how technology can enhance the experience of EL students found that technology is most beneficial in supporting EL students when teachers first feel comfortable using the technology to support the learner (Lecocq, 2015). A higher sense of self-efficacy is essential because if a teacher does not feel comfortable using technology, most likely, it will not be integrated in a way that can support EL students' growth. It was also noted that teachers with more adaptable qualities and a growth mindset would be more open to using technology to support ELs (Shahbazi, 2020.) These studies show that both mindset and confidence play a huge factor in the teacher's decision to integrate technology to support EL students.

Teachers will display lower rates of technology integration if they are not comfortable with the tools in the classroom. Therefore, many researchers have recognized the need for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training (Darling-Aduana et al., 2018; Røkenes & Krumsvik, 2016; Shahbazi, 2020). A study that examined EL student teachers found that the teachers requested more training and time to experiment with digital storytelling resources to become more competent. These requests demonstrate that new teachers want the chance to use and understand digital tools before attempting to integrate them into their teaching. Andrei (2019) identified that teachers could benefit from training to get students to use technology as a scaffold for their content and language learning. School administration leaders should not assume that all teachers will know how to utilize technology to scaffold and support ELs but instead provide adequate training on the use of technology in education. This importance of training was underscored by Darling-Aduana et al. (2018). Their study found that if teachers were highly trained, they would have more expertise in resolving technology issues, affording more time to support EL students with instructional practices. They noted that teachers with higher ICT skills could adapt their digital lessons to create a better learning environment for ELs.

Teachers with higher confidence and more training in supporting EL students will then be more purposeful and efficient with how they use technology. Teachers with higher ICT skills can plan digital scaffolds and supports that engage EL students in academic learning. In one study, teachers used digital jumpstarts (DJ), essentially short video clips, to present information. Researchers found that when teachers provided these videos with embedded language support, it helped students make connections between the content and their daily life (Jones et al., 2022). This demonstrates that if teachers know how to utilize the technology, they can purposely integrate different multimedia tools that provide support and meaningful learning for EL students. Shabazi (2020) examined how the iLit program supported and differentiated instruction for EL students but also noted that "it requires personalized and meaningful experiences attained through teachers adapting the material through choice and their awareness of their student's strengths and areas of need" (p. 23). Therefore, even with technological support, the teacher must be adaptable and intuitive when adapting resources to support all students in their class. Wolf and Lopez (2022) asserted that teachers using digital formative assessments with EL students were highly engaging due to a digital platform providing visual features, read-aloud options, and interactive interphase. This demonstrates that technology can offer EL students extra support when it comes to vocabulary and can be more engaging. Nevertheless, utilizing technology to support EL students ultimately revolves around the teacher's confidence, training, and purpose for integrating technology.