Explaining different types of computer use among primary school teachers

Abstract

In order to identify differences in determinants of supportive and class use of computers, path modelling was applied in a sample of 468 primary school teachers. Independent variables were categorised in three levels: demographics (age and gender), computer experience (computer training, computer experience expressed over time, intensity of computer use), and attitude measures (general computer attitudes, attitudes toward computers in education, and technological innovativeness).Supportive and class use of computers are not related to the same set of variables. Supportive computer use was mainly predicted by computer experience variables and general computer attitudes. Strongest predictors of class use were technological innovativeness and gender. Yet, the degree of explained variance for class use of computer was considerably lower compared to supportive computer use. These results indicate the limitations of explaining complex forms of professional computer use on the basis of both individual determinants and quantitative models. The article concludes with some practical implications and recommendations for further research.

Why teachers use digital learning materials: The role of self-efficacy, subjective norm and attitude

“…Although the unique contribution of both attitude and self-efficacy in predicting teachers intention to use DLMs is lower, they both still explain the largest proportion of variance. This finding regarding attitude is in accordance with previous studies (Cuban 2001;Teo et al 2007;Kersaint et al 2003;van Braak et al 2004;van Braak 2001a;van Braak 2001b) that have acknowledged the importance of a positive attitude towards ICT for a successful adoption of ICT in classroom practices. As DLM usage requires teachers to use ICT as well, these findings are little surprising.…”

“…Moreover, this study also acknowledges the impact of attitude. Other authors (Cuban 2001;Teo et al 2007;Kersaint et al 2003;van Braak et al 2004;van Braak 2001a;van Braak 2001b) assert that notwithstanding the potential of ICT, effective implementation of technology (i.e., actual use) is highly dependent on positive attitudes. Attitude is considered to be a key variable in IMBP and will, therefore, take a central role in the current paper.…”

ICT integration in the classroom: Challenging the potential of a school policy

“…Furthermore, the impact of teachers' perceptions of ICT school policies on ICT integration in the class was studied. Finally -taking into account previous research (van Braak et al, 2004) -additional relevant teacher variables were included in the analyses in order to examine their relative impact on ICT practice as compared to the impact of school policy-related variables.…”

“…In this respect, many studies have focused on measuring the impact of variables at class level (micro level), such as computer attitudes (Albirini, 2006;Demetriadis et al, 2003;van Braak, Tondeur, & Valcke, 2004), computer experience (Becker, 2001;William, Coles, Wilson, Richardson, & Tuson, 2000), and gender differences (Shapka & Ferrari, 2003;Volman, van Eck, Heemskerk, & Kuiper, 2005). The focus on these individual factors has oriented research focusing on ICT integration towards 'individual blame' rather than 'system blame' (Tang & Ang, 2002).…”

“…In addition, teachers' perceptions about the ICT school policy are examined in order to investigate whether these perceptions are vital for successful implementation. Finally, a number of factors at teacher level, which were found to be effective in a previous study (van Braak et al, 2004), were added to the model in order to consider and compare their impact on school policies when explaining ICT integration in the classroom.…”