Teacher Attitudes toward Use of Technology in Teaching (TATUT2): Survey on Propensity to Use Technology for Instruction

Janice W. Butler and James Telese

University of Texas at Brownsville

Purpose

• To examine teachers’ attitudes toward technology integration

Literature Review

• Technology is pervasive• General agreement - technology is important in

education approaches (Ertmer, Gopalakrishnan & Ross, 2001; Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007; Shattuck et al., 2011; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010).

• National Educational Technology Plan 2010 stresses technology same (U.S. Department of Education, 2010)

Continued

• Critical to engage students with technology• Digital divide – important to use technology at

school• Effective use of technology can make a

difference in academic success (Becker, 2000, 2001; Cuban, Kirkpatrick, & Peck, 2001; Niederhauser & Stoddart, 2001)

• No change evident (Cuban, Kirkpatrick & Peck, 2001; Maddux & Johnson, 2006; Project Tomorrow, 2009)

Teacher Attitudes

• Attitudes largely determine teacher behavior• Teachers attitudes largely determine technology

behavior• One of the most significant barriers appears to

be teacher attitudes (Dexter, Anderson, & Becker, 1999; Ertmer, 2005; Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010; Griffin & Ohlsson, 2001; Niederhauser & Stoddart, 2001; Palak, & Walls, 2009; Riel & Becker, 2000; Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer, 1991, 1997)

Technology Surveys

• 2003 instrument, Perceptions of Computers and Technology - teacher attitudes and beliefs about computers

• Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) and Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Information Technology (TAT), include a heavy focus on computers

Sample

• Rural school district in deep south Texas• Grant funded intensive staff development and

mentoring program for technology integration• District wanted to better understand attitudes

after intervention• Survey developed• Given to all teachers – nearly 100% response

rate

Instrument and Analysis

• Developed using National Council of Mathematics publication

• Exploratory factor analysis• Principal component extraction• Varimax rotation of 23 self-report attitudes

• Screened by examining descriptive statistics, inter-item correlations and univariate and multivariate assumption violations

Continued

• Variables interval like, variable pairs to be bivariate normally distributed, and independent

• Variable-to-cases ratio adequate• Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was

0.95• Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant, p<0.001,

indicating sufficient correlation

Continued

• Kaiser-Guttman retention criterion of eigenvalues greater than 1.0, a three-factor solution provided clearest extractions

• Three factors accounted for over 50% of variance• Positive Propensity• Negative Propensity• Professional Concerns about integrating technology

 

Factor

Positive Propensity

Negative Propensity

Professional Concerns

I hope to be able to excite my children about content through technology usage.

0.793 -0.184 -0.087

It is very important for students to actively engage in the use of technology to learn.

0.779 0.017 -0.262

I am happy to help children use technology for hands-on activities.

0.766 -0.263 -0.085

I hope to be able to excite my students about my content by including technology in the lesson.

0.765 -0.155 -0.089

I am willing to spend time learning technology for use in content exploration.

0.735 -0.135 0.009

I plan to integrate technology into all subject areas that I teach.

0.709 -0.274 0.101

 

Factor

Positive Propensity

Negative Propensity

Professional Concerns

I enjoy demonstrating technology tools in the classroom.

0.708 -0.327 0.032

Learning technology is as important as learning reading, writing and math.

0.698 -0.049 -0.207

Technology usage is one of my preferred strategies.

0.645 -0.356 0.114

I enjoy using hands-on technology activities to teach content.

0.644 -0.191 -0.097

Using technology in teaching is important. 0.620 0.034 -0.258

I feel comfortable with technology content appropriate for my grade level.

0.594 -0.289 0.062

I am interested in working on curriculum for my grade level that includes students using technology.

0.508 -0.179 0.205

 

Factor

Positive Propensity

Negative Propensity

Professional Concerns

I am afraid that children will ask me questions about technology that I cannot answer.

-0.104 0.717 0.026

I am afraid that I am unable to adequately use technology in teaching.

-0.114 0.752 -0.014

I have a difficult time learning to use technology. -0.179 0.745 -0.093

In the classroom, I fear that lessons using technology will not turn out as I expected.

-0.131 0.668 0.272

I dread teaching using technology. -0.256 0.628 0.238

Using technology in teaching takes too much time. -0.260 0.594 0.291

Using technology in teaching takes too much effort.

-0.297 0.562 0.400

 

Factor

Positive Propensity

Negative Propensity

Professional Concerns

Learning my content is more important for students to learn than learning how to use technology.

-0.052 0.162 0.727

If my lesson using technology does not go well, it might affect my PDAS evaluation.

0.028 0.307 0.416

I am not looking forward to using technology in my classroom.

-0.191 0.391 0.180

Discussion