Comparison of preservice and in-service teachers' attitudes and perceived abilities toward integrating technology into the classroom.

摘要

This study examined preservice teacher attitudes toward and expected technology integration practices as compared to in-service teachers' attitudes toward and actual (self-reported) practice of technology integration. The research questions were as follows: Do differences exist between the perceptions of preservice (at student teacher level) and in-service teachers with regard to the benefits of and readiness to integrate technology into their teaching?, Do differences exist between preservice teachers' expected practice of integrating technology into their future teaching and in-service teachers' self-report practice of integrating technology into their teaching?, Do differences exist between the self-reported technology skills of preservice and in-service teachers? and Do results vary on the basis of level of perceived technology skill?;The study involved 112 preservice and 118 in-service teachers. Data were collected with two online surveys: the Technology Skills Assessment (TSA) and the Teacher Technology Questionnaire (TTQ). The TSA was comprised of 48 items designed to assess teachers' self-reported technology and integration skills while the TTQ included 20 items designed to assess teacher perceptions concerning impact of technology on classroom instruction and student learning, and teacher readiness to integrate technology into their teaching.;The research questions were addressed via the following types of data analysis' Multivariate Analysis of Variance, t-test, and a 2 x 2 Multivariate Analysis of Variance. This study revealed significant differences between the perceptions of preservice and in-service teachers with regard to technology integration. Specifically, the preservice as compared to the in-service teachers revealed a greater level of confidence to integrate technology and more positive beliefs in the benefits of using technology to improve teaching and learning. However, these differences were not evidenced when examining perceptions on the basis of self-reported technology skill levels. Both preservice and in-service teachers who reported above average technology skills revealed significantly more positive attitudes and perceptions about technology integration than those who indicated less skill. These findings confirm the need to continue preservice and in-service initiatives to not only better prepare our teachers to effectively integrate technology into the classroom, but to also increase their technology skills.