An investigation of the relationships between technology use and teachers' self-efficacy, knowledge and experience

Abstract

Dramatic changes have occurred in the area of technology development and society's use of technology in daily life and the workplace. Yet in many classrooms, technology integration remains a significant challenge for educators, creating a digital disconnect that threatens to handicap students as they graduate and compete for jobs in the 21st century.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether teacher self-efficacy, teacher knowledge, and teaching experience influence levels of technology integration in the classroom. The research question asked was: How well do measures of self-efficacy, teacher knowledge and teaching experience predict teachers' scores on a state measure of classroom technology use? More specifically: (1) What is the relationship among self-reported teachers' self-efficacy, teacher knowledge, and teaching experience? (2) How well do they predict technology integration?

Based on the existing literature on the topic of teacher integration of technology into classroom instruction, the study hypothesized that these factors would play a significant role in predicting technology use. Research was conducted using four knowledge subscales in the form of surveys to quantify the existence and extent of these relationships.

The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a correlational matrix, and hierarchical regression. There were 44 usable surveys (N=44). This study yielded mixed results. While technology knowledge was proven to be a significant predictor of overall technology proficiency, teacher self-efficacy and teaching experience were not. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) variables were consistently a statistically significant predictor of all three dependent variables (Using Technology in the Classroom, Using Technology to Support Learning, and Overall Proficiency). The higher the teachers' TPACK scores, the more technology use and proficiency they reported.

The outcome of this research suggests avenues for teacher education programs, professional developers and administrators. Giving administrators, professional developers, and teacher education programs a better understanding of some of the factors that impact effective use of technology in the classroom may give them a better chance at equipping educators to take advantage of the technological tools available in the 21st century.