Evaluating the Use of ICT in Education: Psychometric Properties of the Survey of Factors Affecting Teachers Teaching with Technology (SFA-T 3 )

Transcription

1 Papanastasiou, E. C., & Angeli, C. (2008). Evaluating the Use of ICT in Education: Psychometric Properties of the Survey of Factors Affecting Teachers Teaching with Technology (SFA-T 3 ). Educational Technology & Society, 11 (1), Evaluating the Use of ICT in Education: Psychometric Properties of the Survey of Factors Affecting Teachers Teaching with Technology (SFA-T 3 ) Elena C. Papanastasiou University of Nicosia, Cyprus // papanast@msu.edu Charoula Angeli Department of Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus, Tel: // cangeli@ucy.ac.cy ABSTRACT There are a number of measurement instruments in the field of education whose aims are to measure various aspects of educational technology. However, the psychometric properties of such instruments are not always determined, and their use is not always appropriate. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the survey of factors affecting teachers teaching with technology (SFA-T3) when used with a sample of Greek Cypriot teachers. The results of this study show that the reliability evidence obtained from the responses to the questionnaire was satisfactory. The construct validity evidence was also determined based on a factor analysis that created ten easily interpretable factors. Some gender differences have also appeared in the teachers responses on the various factors, which is in accordance with similar literature that exists in other countries as well. Keywords Assessment of ICT, SFA-T 3 instrument, Psychometric properties Introduction Countries all over the world have identified the significant role of information and communication technology (ICT) in improving education (Kozma & Anderson, 2002; Pelgrum, 2001; Hennessy, Ruthven, & Brindley, 2005; Goodison, 2003; Kangro & Kangro, 2004), and have invested heavily in increasing the number of computers in schools and in the networking of classrooms (Pelgrum, 2001). Furthermore, many researchers have predicted that the importance of educational technology in the classroom will continue to increase (Becker & Ravitz, 2001). However, the integration of technology in the school curriculum continues to be a complex and challenging process (Cooper, 1998), and the seamless integration of computers in teaching and learning has yet to be achieved (Kozma & Anderson, 2002). The teacher s role in the integration of computers in schools is obviously very important, and every educational reform effort should take into consideration teachers knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes (Cuban, 2000). Shahan (1976) argues that one important concept of school reform is the human element, which embraces emotions, feelings, needs, beliefs, and pedagogical assumptions. Similarly, Fullan s (1982, 1991, 2000) theory of school change also emphasizes that the alteration of mindsets, such as pedagogical assumptions, values, and beliefs, is a key factor to any educational change effort. Watt (1980) states that beliefs and attitudes play a fundamental role in the way that teachers deal with ICT in the classroom. In other words, dealing effectively with ICT relates not only to knowledge of the capability, limitations, applications, and implications of ICT, but also to individuals attitudes and perceptions regarding ICT tools. Veen (1993) stated that the effective implementation of ICT depends upon users having a positive attitude towards it. He showed that schools can go only so far to encourage ICT use, and that actual take-up depends largely on teachers personal feelings, skills, and attitudes towards ICT. This implies that teachers who have positive attitudes toward ICT and perceive it to be useful in promoting learning will evidently integrate ICT in their classroom more easily than others (Becker & Riel, 2000; Cox, Preston, & Cox, 1999; Pedretti, Smith-Mayer, & Woodrow, 1999; Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer, 1997). Unfortunately, research evidence (Cuban, 2000; Becker & Ravitz, 1999; Bosch & Cardinale, 1993; Brush, 1998; Darling-Hammond, 1990; Ely, 1995; Hunt & Bohlin, 1995) indicates that technology reform efforts have failed because teachers beliefs, skills, and attitudes were never taken into consideration. Teacher behavior, though, is not only a function of their abilities, skills, and attitudes, but also a function of their surrounding work environment. ISSN (online) and (print). International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS). The authors and the forum jointly retain the copyright of the articles. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than IFETS must be honoured. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from the editors at kinshuk@ieee.org. 69

2 Social informatics is an area of research that systematically examines the design, uses, and consequences of technology by taking into consideration the context of the organization, the people who work within the organization, and the interactions between people and technology (Denning, 2001; Friedman, 1998; Kling, 2000). One key idea of social informatics is that ICT in practice, is not set apart and viewed as if it had a life of its own, independent of social intentions, power, and privilege (Apple, 1986, p. 105), but is socially shaped. The uses of technology in an organization are contingent upon several social and technical dependencies. The concept of sociotechnical systems is used to describe the interdependencies between technology and people, and to explain that the culture of an organization and people s beliefs, attitudes, and feelings play an important role in shaping the organization s mood and determining the effectiveness of the integration of technology in the organization (Kling & Lamb, 2000; Kling, 2000; Markus & Benjamin, 1987). Also, as Hoy and Miskel (2001) point out, the style of leadership in an organization will also play an important factor in successfully integrating ICT in work practices, so in the context of a school system, a principal who encourages the use of ICT in teaching and allows teachers to create collaborations within the school and between schools for the exchange of ideas will play a significant role in successfully institutionalizing the change effort. Thus, the effective use of technology in different organizational settings is directly associated with the intertwining of technical and social elements (Friedman, 1998; Heracleous & Barrett, 2001; Kling, 2000; Mulkeen, 2003; Senteni, 2006), and undoubtedly the mere focus of most studies on what students learn from technology has left a gap in understanding why and how teachers use or do not use technology to teach in schools. From this perspective, we constructed the survey of factors affecting teachers teaching with technology (SFA-T3), the aim of which is to examine factors that may possibly impede teachers efforts to teach with technology in the school. Such factors are those of (a) teachers knowledge of technology tools, (b) teachers frequency of using technology for personal purposes, (c) teachers frequency of using technology for instructional purposes in different content areas, (d) teachers attitudes toward technology, (e) teachers self-confidence in using technology in teaching and learning, and (f) school climate. In this paper, we seek to determine the psychometric properties of SFA-T3, and more specifically, to determine the reliability and validity evidence of the instrument, in addition to an examination of the item statistics. It is likely that these factors will help to shed light on some of the factors that may affect teachers who teach with technology. The timing of this study is particularly important since large amounts of funding are currently being placed in schools in Cyprus in an effort to equip all classrooms with computers. Therefore it is imperative to determine specifically where the teachers in Cyprus stand in relation to computer technology to ensure that the integration of computers in schools is effective. However, the psychometric properties of the instrument first need to be established before the technology is more widely used, and before the data are analyzed more deeply. Methodology The sample of this study included 578 teachers who were teaching in the public elementary schools of Cyprus during the academic year The average age of the teacher participants was years of age, with a minimum age of 22 years and a maximum age of 59 years. On average, the teachers in the sample had years of work experience, with a maximum of 39 years of experience. For five teachers (0.9% of the sample), the data were collected in their first year of teaching. Almost 78% of the teachers in the sample were females (which is quite representative of the gender breakdown in elementary schools in Cyprus [Statistical Service, 2003]), while the remaining 22.2% were males. In terms of computer usage and experience, 96.2% of the teachers in the sample indicated that they had a computer in their homes. In addition, 70.1% indicated that they had completed professional development courses related to basic computing skills. Description of the SFA-T 3 The questionnaire consisted of seven sections. The first section included demographic data related to teachers age, teaching experience, educational background, number of computer labs in each school, number of computers in each 70

3 lab and teachers classrooms, teachers ownership of a personal computer, gender, and teachers participation in an ICT professional development training program. The other six sections were used to obtain information related to (a) teachers knowledge of computer software, (b) teachers frequency of software use for personal purposes, (c) teachers attitudes towards integrating ICT in teaching and learning, (d) teachers self-confidence in integrating ICT, (e) teachers frequency of using ICT for instructional purposes in the classroom, and (f) school climate and support. More specifically, the second section of the questionnaire used a Likert-type scale from 1 to 5 (with response options as follows: I cannot use it, I can use it to a small extent, I can use it satisfactorily, I can use it well, I can use it very well) to measure teachers knowledge of various software. The third section used a 5-point Likert-type scale to measure the frequency of software use for personal purposes. The response options were those of never, once or twice a semester, once or twice a month, once or twice a week, almost every day. Similarly, the fourth and fifth sections measured the teachers attitudes and self-confidence with a 5-point Likert-type scale (completely disagree, disagree, neither disagree nor agree, agree, completely agree). The sixth section, which measured the teachers frequency of using various computer programs in classroom practices, teachers had to write how many times a week they typically used software in their teaching. Finally, the last section of the questionnaire measured school climate and support based on a 5-point Likert-type scale that ranged from completely disagree to completely agree. The SFA-T 3 is shown in Appendix 1. Results Item properties and characteristics As a first step in the analyses, descriptive statistics were performed for each of the variables of the questionnaire to determine whether there were any floor or ceiling effects in the questionnaire. The majority of the items on the questionnaire performed well on this test. Therefore, on the Likert scale, for items that could range from 1 to 5, the average response for each item ranged from 1.09 to However, one section of the questionnaire, the one dealing with the frequency of specific software use in specific content areas, had very strong floor effects, and therefore, very small variance. Because of the very low frequency with which software programs are actually used in various school subjects in schools in Cyprus, these average amounts of use per week ranged from 0 to 0.86 times. This could partly be due to the small number of computers that exist in the public elementary classrooms in Cyprus. The most frequently occurring cell for this series of questions was that of word-processing use for the subject of Greek, which had a maximum number that equaled 20 times per week. The least frequently occurring cell was that of using Model- It in the subject of English, in which no teachers had used it. Because of these floor effects, it was considered more appropriate to create new items by combining the items with the low means. The one category of new items included the total frequency with which any type of software was used in specific content areas (e.g., how many times computers were being used in mathematics per week). The other category of new items included the total frequency of specific software uses for all content areas altogether (e.g., how frequently Word was being used each week). The examination of the item means was now acceptable. The means for software usage ranged from 0.29 to (Table 1). On average, English was the subject in which software programs were used the least, while Greek was the subject in which software programs were used the most. Table 1. Descriptive statistics of computer software use in different content areas per week Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation English Science Religion Geography History Mathematics Greek

4 However, floor effects existed for the items that measured specific software usage since the means ranged from 0.02 to 1.6 (Table 2). The lowest mean was for the use of a modeling software, Model-It, while the most frequently used software was Word. Table 2. Descriptive statistics of specific software use per week Minimum Maximum Mean S.D. Modeling software (e.g., Model-It) Database software (e.g., Access) Authoring software (e.g., HyperStudio) Teleconferencing software Concept mapping software (e.g., Kidspiration) Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) Presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) Internet Educational CDs Word processing software (e.g., Word) Construct validity In order to determine the construct validity of the constructs measured in this questionnaire, an exploratory factor analysis was performed with SPSS Since the questionnaire was divided into distinct sections that were not comparable to each other, and which also had different measurement scales, the factor analysis was performed separately for each section of the questionnaire. The varimax rotation was used in these analyses for the clearer interpretation of the factors, while the eigenvalues cut-off point for the creation of the factors was set to 1.1. The results are shown in Table 3. Computer software knowledge The first factor analysis that was performed was based on 14 items that asked the teachers to do a self-report on their knowledge regarding various computer software programs. The analysis produced two factors that explained 58.07% of the variance of these 14 items. The first factor that explained 31.98% of the variance is composed of six items that measure teachers self-reported ability to use common-use software applications. These common-use applications are those that one is most likely to learn how to use in a technology training course or a basic computing course. Such computer programs include Word, Internet, , PowerPoint, Excel, and Paint. The second factor that explained 26.65% of the variance included eight items that measured teachers skills in using specialized software applications (e.g., Model-It, Stagecast Creator, Kidspiration, and Hyperstudio), or generalpurpose applications (e.g., Access, FrontPage, and Publisher), which teachers infrequently use because either they do not know how to use them or they do not have a need for them. Frequency of personal computer software use The second factor analysis that was performed examined 15 items that measured the frequency of using computer software for personal purposes, as it was reported by the teachers themselves. The results are shown in Table 4. This analysis also produced two factors, which explained 48.86% of this section s variance. The overall breakdown of the factors was very similar to the factor breakdown of the knowledge of computer software section of the questionnaire. The first factor that was composed of eight items accounted for 25.11% of the total variance. This factor, called use of common applications, included the , the Internet, educational CDs, Word, etc. The second factor was composed of seven items and accounted for 23.74% of the variance of this section of the questionnaire. This factor, which was labelled use of specialized applications, included the use of more specialized applications such as Stagecast Creator, FrontPage, Kidspiration, Model-It, etc. 72

5 Table 3. Rotated component matrix of knowledge of computer software factors Knowledge of common software applications Knowledge of specialized software applications Internet Word PowerPoint Excel Paint Model-It Stagecast Creator Kidspiration HyperStudio Access FrontPage Publisher Logo Table 4. Rotated component matrix of frequency of personal computer software use factors Frequency of using: Use of common applications Use of specialized applications Internet Word Educational CDs Excel PowerPoint Paint Educational games Stagecast Creator Model-It HyperStudio FrontPage Logo Kidspiration Publisher Other factors As shown in Table 5, the remaining items of the questionnaire produced six factors that explained 55.83% of the variance. The first factor, Confidence in using ICT, was composed of eight items that measured teachers confidence in using the computer for instructional and learning purposes in the classroom. This factor explained 13.43% of the total variance. Items that composed this factor included I feel confident that I can select appropriate software to use in my teaching, I feel confident that the computer will help students understand concepts better, I feel confident that I can use the Internet in my lessons to meet certain learning goals, I feel confident that I can use to communicate with my students, I feel confident that I can teach my students how to make their own web pages, I feel confident that I can design technology-enhanced learning activities for my students, I feel confident that I can use PowerPoint in my class, and I feel confident that I can teach my students to select appropriate software to use in their projects. 73

6 The second factor, Encouragement from colleagues, included eight items that explained 12.41% of the variance of this section of the questionnaire. Some items included in this factor were I often exchange ideas about technology integration with other teachers, Other teachers encourage me to integrate computers in teaching and learning, The inspector encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning, The principal encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning, There are other teachers in my school who use computers in teaching and learning, Often in our faculty meetings we discuss the subject of integrating computers in the school curriculum, The ICT coordinator encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning, and Teachers in my school are well informed about the value of computers in teaching and learning. The third factor, called the anxiety factor, measured teachers comfort level in using the computer with students. This factor was composed of five items that explained 9.93% of the variance of this section of the questionnaire. Such items included The use of computers in teaching and learning scares me, The use of computers in teaching and learning stresses me out, If something goes wrong I will not know what to do to fix it, I feel comfortable with the idea of the computer as a tool in teaching and learning, and The idea of using a computer in teaching and learning makes me skeptical. The fourth factor, labelled Beliefs about the value of the computer, was composed of seven items that explained 8.40% of the variance. Items included in this factor were The computer helps students learn because it allows them to express their thinking in better and different ways, The computer helps students understand concepts in more effective ways, The computer helps teachers to teach in more effective ways, Whatever the computer can do, I can do equally well, The use of the computer as a learning tool excites me, The computer is not conducive to student learning because it is not easy to use, and The computer is not conducive to good teaching because it creates technical problems. The fifth factor measured the technology infrastructure in the school. This factor explained 6.67% of the variance and was composed of four items, which included The technical support in my school is adequate, The technical infrastructure in my school is adequate, A variety of computer software is available for use in my school, and The instructional support in my school is adequate. The last factor, which was composed of only three items, explained 5.00% of the variance and was labelled The computer as an agent for change since it measured teachers beliefs on such issues. Items included The computer will change the way students learn in my classes, The computer will change the way I teach, and The computer is a valuable tool for teachers. Table 5. Rotated component matrix of computer attitudes and integration factors Component Confidence in using ICT Encouragement from colleagues Anxiety Beliefs about the value of the computer Technology infrastructure The computer as an agent for change I feel confident that I can select appropriate software to use in my teaching I feel confident that the computer will help students understand concepts better I feel confident that I can use the Internet in my lessons to meet certain learning goals I feel confident that I can use to communicate with my students I feel confident that I can teach my students how to make their own web pages I feel confident that I can design technology-enhanced learning activities for my students

7 I feel confident that I can use PowerPoint in my class I feel confident that I can teach my students to select appropriate software to use in their projects I often exchange ideas about technology integration with other teachers Other teachers encourage me to integrate computers in teaching and learning The inspector encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning The principal encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning There are other teachers in my school who use computers in teaching and learning Often times in our faculty meetings we discuss the subject of integrating computers in the school curriculum The ICT coordinator encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning Teachers in my school are well informed about the value of computers in teaching and learning The use of computers in teaching and learning scares me The use of computers in teaching and learning stresses me out If something goes wrong I will not know what to do to fix it I feel comfortable with the idea of the computer as a tool in teaching and learning The idea of using a computer in teaching and learning makes me skeptical The computer helps students learn because it allows them to express their thinking in better and different ways The computer helps students understand concepts in more effective ways The computer helps teachers to teach in more effective ways Whatever the computer can do, I can do equally well The use of the computer as a learning tool excites me The computer is not conducive to student learning because it is not easy to use The computer is not conducive to good teaching because it creates technical problems The technical support in my school is adequate The technical infrastructure in my school is adequate A variety of computer software is available for use in my school The instructional support in my school is adequate The computer will change the way students learn in my classes The computer will change the way I teach The computer is a valuable tool for teachers Inter-factor correlations The intercorrelations of the ten factors that were created in this questionnaire were also examined. According to the overall results of this analysis, as shown in Table 6, with the exception of seven pairs of factors, the rest of the factor 75

8 pairs were significantly correlated with each other. The highest correlation between pairs of factors was between the factor of use of common applications with the factor of knowledge of common applications (r = 0.789). This is understandable since one has to have a good knowledge of computer software programs to be able to use them for personal or professional matters. The second highest correlation was between the factor of use of specific applications with the factor of knowledge of specialized applications (r = 0.695). The rational for this relationship is the same as the rational presented for the common software applications. The technology infrastructure in the school was one of the variables that was correlated with very few factors. It was correlated with the factor of encouragement from colleagues (r = 0.561), with computer confidence (r = 0.182), with computer anxiety (r = 0.141) and correlated with teachers beliefs about the value of the computer (r = 0.085) although this correlation is extremely small. This indicates that the technological infrastructure in a school is closely related to the support that teachers have from their colleagues to use computers, while it is slightly related to the teachers computer confidence and anxiety. Computer anxiety is one of the factors that was significantly correlated with all of the remaining factors. The highest correlations were with the factors of utilization of common software (r = 0.648) and with the factor of knowledge of common software (r = 0.618). The factor of computer confidence was significantly correlated with all of the other factors. It was correlated among others with the factor of knowledge of common software (r = 0.625), of specialized software (r = 0.481), use of common (r = 0.640) and specialized software (r = 0.346), as well as with the factors of computer anxiety (r = 0.599), and teachers beliefs about the value of the computer (r = 0.420). Table 6. Intercorrelations of the 11 factors of the questionnaire Knowledge of common software applications Knowledge of specialized software applications Use of common applications Use of specialized applications Computer confidence Encouragement by colleagues Computer anxiety Beliefs about the value of the computer The computer as an agent for change Knowledge of specialized.618** software applications Use of common.789**.600** applications Use of specialized.359**.695**.473** applications Computer confidence.625**.481**.640**.346** Encouragement by.142**.108*.236** ** colleagues Computer anxiety.618**.421**.648**.283**.599**.230** Beliefs about the value of.333**.240**.370**.170**.420**.196**.496** the computer The computer as an agent.245**.168**.285** **.155**.316**.394** for change Technology infrastructure **.561**.141**.085*.057 ** p < 0.01 level (2-tailed) * p < 0.05 level (2-tailed) 76

9 Internal consistency After creating each factor, we estimated its internal consistency with Cronbach s alpha. The reliability estimate of the knowledge of common software applications was The reliability of the knowledge of specialized software applications was 0.83, which is also considered a high reliability estimate. The next factor, which measured the use of specific applications, equaled 0.78 which is adequate, while the reliability of the factor that measured the use of common software applications equaled The reliability of the computer confidence factor equaled The reliability of the encouragement from colleagues factor equaled The reliability of the computer anxiety factor was The reliability for teachers beliefs about the value of the computer and the technology infrastructure in the school were both The reliability of the factor determining the computer as an agent of change was the only low reliability and was found to be This was most likely because this factor was composed of only three questionnaire items. The reliability estimates of all factors are presented in Table 7. Background differences Additional analyses were performed to determine if there were gender differences on the subscales of this questionnaire based on the respondents gender. Previous research has found that male teachers tend to use computers and technology more frequently than females. What remains to be seen is if such a relationship also holds true for teachers in Cyprus. For that, we rely upon this questionnaire. Table 7 includes a series of ten separate ANOVAs that were performed to determine if gender affected these ten factors. An alpha level of 0.01 was used for these analyses to avoid the existence of inflated alpha estimates. Overall, six of the factors demonstrated with statistical significance that there were gender differences in relation to computer use and attitudes. More specifically, the males in the sample were more knowledgeable about common software (F = 6.28, p = 0.012), as well as more specialized software than were the females in the sample (F = 11.89, p = 0.001). The males in the sample also used common software (F = 21.69, p < 0.000) and specialized software (F = 13.75, p < 0.000) more frequently than did the females. In terms of the factor of computer anxiety, males had higher levels of computer anxiety than females (F = 24.69, p < 0.000). Finally, males regarded the computer as a tool in teaching and learning more highly than did females (F = 8.87, p = 0.003). Factor Type III Sum of squares Table 7. Tests of between-subject effects df Mean F Sig. R 2 Females Males Reliabi square lity Knowledge of common * software applications Knowledge of specialized * software applications Use of common * applications Use of specialized * applications Computer confidence Encouragement from colleagues Computer anxiety * Beliefs about the value of * the computer The computer as an agent for change Technology infrastructure

10 Discussion ICT has become an integrated part of our daily lives, so it won t be long before it also becomes an inseparable part of students and teachers lives. However, the integration of technology in the school curriculum is a complex and challenging process (Cooper, 1998) that needs to take into account numerous socio-technical factors such as teachers computer skills, confidence, and attitude toward ICT, the use of ICT in teaching and learning, technology infrastructure in the school, school climate, etc. This study deals with the results and the psychometric properties of the instrument SFA-T 3, whose aim is to examine factors that may impede teachers efforts to teach with computers in the school. Despite the fact that there are different instruments in the field of educational technology that can be used to collect data about various aspects of teachers use of computers, at the moment there is not a single instrument that can be used to attain information about all aspects of this area. Moreover, none of the pre-existing instruments have been adapted and validated on a Greek sample of teachers. In addition, the existing instruments do not holistically examine the intertwining of technical and social factors in a school system and only measure isolated elements such as, for example, teachers attitudes toward computers. Finally, the psychometric properties of many of these tests are not always determined, thus their appropriateness of use is not always existent. Undoubtedly, the use of one instrument to collect information related to all aspects of technology integration will not only be easier for teachers to complete due to its length, but it will also enable researchers to attain complete information about various aspects of teachers attitudes toward ICT as well as use of ICT. The results of this study show that the responses to the questionnaire have a reliability coefficient that is adequately high. In addition, the construct validity evidence is based on a factor analysis that created ten easily interpretable factors, namely, (a) knowledge of common software applications, (b) knowledge of specialized software applications, (c) use of common applications, (d) use of specialized applications (e) computer confidence, (f) encouragement by colleagues, (g) computer anxiety, (h) beliefs about the computer s value, (i) the computer as an agent for change, and (j) technology infrastructure. However, the results of this study also show that important factors that do play a role in the successful integration of ICT in schools are those of teachers actual knowledge and use of various computer software for professional and personal purposes, teacher confidence and attitudes toward technology, the technology infrastructure and support in the schools, as well as teachers beliefs about the use of technology as an agent for change. A distinctive but not surprising result of this study is the large amount of variance that is accounted for by the factors dealing with teachers frequency of computer use and their confidence in using computers for instructional purposes. This result can have significant implications for the amount of exposure to computers that teacher-education students can have. If the frequency of computer use, even on a personal level, can have significant effects on the successful integration of ICT in the school classroom, then it might be important for teacher-education programs to increase the number of educational technology courses that students must take during their studies. It is possible that teachers who become more familiar with the use of computer technology in teaching and learning during their studies could also develop more positive attitudes towards ICT and might therefore be more likely to use it in their real classrooms. Finally, this could also result in teachers providing higher levels of support to each other in relation to computer use in their classrooms. Increased ICT exposure at the college level is also likely to decrease the magnitude of gender differences that exist in relation to computer use and attitudes. The results of this study are consistent with those of the international bibliography that found that male teachers reported greater levels of confidence with computers than did female teachers (Russell & Bradley, 1997). This result might be due to the fact that males are more likely to use computers for personal use. However, by exposing both males and females to educational technology within university course settings, such differences are bound to decrease. A limitation of this study lies in the fact that this was a self-report, and it is likely that some of the teachers may have responded in socially desirable ways. It would be useful and interesting to perform a test-retest reliability on the questionnaire. Cross-validation is also essential to establish the congruence between the teachers beliefs about their ICT skills and ICT use with the opinion of an external observer. Once congruence is established, more detailed research would have to be performed on this dataset to determine how ICT can be integrated in schools more effectively. 78

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13 Appendix 1 FACTORS AFFECTING TEACHERS TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY (SFA-T 3 ) Copyright of Charoula Angeli, Department of Education, University of Cyprus PART ONE: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Please circle or write your answer in the space provided. Age: Years of teaching experience: Years of studying abroad: Years of teaching experience in your current school: How many years ago were computers introduced for the first time in your school? How many computer labs are there in your school? How many computers are there in each lab? How many computers are there in your classroom? Grades you teach (circle your answers): Elementary: Upper Elementary: Middle School: High School: If other, please specify: Do you have a home computer (please circle)? 1. Yes 2. No Gender (please circle): 1. Female 2. Male Have you participated in professional development courses related to the integration of computers in teaching and learning? 1. Yes 2. No 81

14 PART TWO: KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE Please circle your answer: I cannot use it I can use it to a small extent I can use it satisfactorily I can use it well I can use it very well Word processing (e.g., Word) Databases (e.g., Access) Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) Graphics (e.g., Paint, Photoshop) Multimedia authoring software (e.g., HyperStudio) Presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) Internet Concept mapping (e.g., Kidspiration, Inspiration) Publishing software (e.g., Publisher) Webpage authoring software (e.g., FrontPage) Programming languages (e.g., Logo, C ) Modeling software (e.g., Model-It, Stella) Microworlds/Simulations (e.g., Stagecast Creator, Interactive Physics)

15 PART THREE: FREQUENCY OF SOFTWARE USE FOR PERSONAL PURPOSES Please circle your answer: I use the computer to: Never Once or twice a semester Once or twice a month Once or twice a Almost every week day Play games (e.g., FIFA, Solitaire) Make presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) Process text (e.g., Word) Publish materials (e.g., Publisher) Prepare spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) Create graphics (e.g., Paint) Communicate (e.g., ) Access the Internet Develop web pages (e.g., FrontPage) Develop multimedia (e.g., HyperStudio) Author microworlds/simulations (e.g., Stagecast Creator) Map concepts (e.g., Kidspiration, Inspiration) Model complex systems (e.g., Model-It, Stella) Program the computer (e.g., Logo, C) Use educational CD

16 PART FOUR: COMPUTER ATTITUDES Please circle your answer: Completely disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Completely agree I feel comfortable with the idea of the computer as a tool in teaching and learning The use of computers in teaching and learning stresses me out If something goes wrong I will not know how to fix it The idea of using a computer in teaching and learning makes me skeptical The use of the computer as a learning tool excites me The use of computers in teaching and learning scares me The computer is a valuable tool for teachers The computer will change the way I teach The computer will change the way students learn in my classes I can do what the computer can do equally as well The computer is not conducive to student learning because it is not easy to use The computer helps students understand concepts in more effective ways The computer helps students learn because it allows them to express their thinking in better and different ways The computer helps teachers to teach in more effective ways The computer is not conducive to good teaching because it creates technical problems

17 PART FIVE: PERCEIVED SELF-CONFIDENCE IN INTEGRATING ICT In some of the following sentences the term integration is used. This term is used to indicate that learners use computers as learning tools in classrooms activities. Please circle your answer: I feel confident that: Completely disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Completely agree I can select appropriate software to use in my teaching I can use PowerPoint in my class I can design technology-enhanced learning activities for my students I can use to communicate with my students I can teach my students to select appropriate software to use in their projects I can teach my students how to make their own web pages I can use the Internet in my lessons to meet certain learning goals The computer can help students understand concepts more easily How many times a week do you integrate computers in teaching and learning? Language Arts Math History Geography Science English as a second language Religious studies Internet Word processing (e.g., Word) Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) Databases (e.g., Access) Presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) Microworlds (e.g., Stagecast Creator) Simulations (e.g., Interactive Physics) Modeling (e.g., Model-It) Concept mapping (e.g., Kidspiration, Inspiration) Teleconferencing Educational CDs 85

18 PART SIX: SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SUPPORT Please circle your answer: Completely disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Completely agree Other teachers encourage me to integrate computers in teaching and learning The ICT coordinator encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning The principal encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning The inspector encourages me to integrate computers in teaching and learning I often exchange ideas about technology integration with other teachers There are other teachers in my school who use computers in teaching and learning In faculty meetings, we frequently discuss the subject of integrating computers in the school curriculum Teachers in my school are well informed about the value of computers in teaching and learning A variety of computer software is available for use in my school The technical support in my school is adequate The instructional support in my school is adequate The technical infrastructure in my school is adequate