Internet in teachers' professional practice outside the classroom: Examining supportive and management uses in primary and secondary schools

In recent years there has been widespread interest in the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools. While most studies primarily focus on the use of ICT in teaching and learning, little attention has been given to their incorporation as a professional tool outside the classroom. Using a digital inequality approach, the aim of this paper is to develop and test a model of the factors that affect teachers' professional use of ICT, particularly the Internet, in primary and secondary schools. One thousand four hundred and five (1405) teachers from a representative sample of 536 primary and 273 secondary schools in Spain were surveyed. The dependent variables include attitudes towards the professional use of ICT and the use of the Internet in professional practice. The explanatory variables are the socio-demographics, school-level information, frequency of Internet access within and outside the school, educational ICT training, digital literacy, and organisational development. Controlling for socio-demographics and school-level information, multiple regression analyses are used to make inferential judgements and test the separate effects of the independent variables. Findings suggest that technological factors and organisational practices are important predictors of ICT appropriation for professional purposes.

[1]  K. Sahl,et al.  Tracing Teachers’ Use of Technology in a Laptop Computer School: The Interplay of Teacher Beliefs, Social Dynamics, and Institutional Culture , 2002 .

[2]  Johannes A.G.M..  The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. , 2000 .

[3]  Tena B. Crews,et al.  Assessing the technology training needs of elementary school teachers , 2000 .

[4]  K. PedroHepp,et al.  Technology in schools : education, ICT and the knowledge society , 2004 .

[5]  M. Hammond,et al.  'Fitting it in': A study exploring ICT use in a UK primary school , 2007 .

[6]  K. Frank,et al.  Factors Affecting Technology Uses in Schools: An Ecological Perspective , 2003 .

[7]  Margaret J. Cox,et al.  Effects of ICT: Do we know what we should know? , 2007, Education and Information Technologies.

[8]  Judy M. Parr,et al.  Revisiting and reframing use: Implications for the integration of ICT , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[9]  Willem J. Pelgrum,et al.  Pedagogy and ICT Use : In Schools Around the World Findings from the IEA Sites 2006 Study , 2008 .

[10]  Mary Webb,et al.  A review of pedagogy related to information and communications technology , 2004 .

[11]  Achilles A. Armenakis,et al.  Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Organizational Diagnosis , 2008 .

[12]  W. Burke,et al.  Reinventing organization development , 2005 .

[13]  M. Warschauer.  Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide , 2003 .

[14]  S. Hick,et al.  Inequality and the digital divide : myths and realities , 2002 .

[15]  Julio Meneses,et al.  Putting Digital Literacy in Practice: How Schools Contribute to Digital Inclusion in the Network Society , 2010, Inf. Soc..

[16]  Julio Meneses,et al.  L'escola a la societat xarxa : Internet a l'educació primària i secundària. Informe final de recerca (volum II) , 2007 .

[17]  Peter Scrimshaw,et al.  ENABLING TEACHERS TO MAKE SUCCESSFUL USE OF ICT , 2004 .

[18]  Jean Underwood,et al.  Capturing complexity through maturity modelling , 2004 .

[19]  Lisa A. Heaton,et al.  A study of west virginia p--12 teachers' use of the internet as a professional and instructional tool , 2006 .

[20]  Eszter Hargittai,et al.  Survey Measures of Web-Oriented Digital Literacy , 2005 .

[21]  M. Valcke,et al.  Development and validation of a model of ICT integration in primary education , 2007 .

[22]  Susan Gibson,et al.  Visions and realities of Internet use in schools: Canadian perspectives , 2004, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[23]  Henry Jay Becker,et al.  How Exemplary Computer-Using Teachers Differ From Other Teachers: Implications for Realizing the Po , 1994 .

[24]  Donald Anderson,et al.  ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT: THE PROCESS OF LEADING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE , 2011 .

[25]  Manuel Castells,et al.  The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society , 2001 .

[26]  Johan van Braak,et al.  A multidimensional approach to determinants of computer use in primary education: teacher and school characteristics , 2008, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[27]  Paul Shafer,et al.  From Unequal Access to Differentiated Use: A Literature Review and Agenda for Research on Digital Inequality , 2004 .

[28]  M. Valcke,et al.  Explaining different types of computer use among primary school teachers , 2004 .

[29]  Johan van Braak,et al.  The impact of primary school teachers' educational beliefs on the classroom use of computers , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[30]  C. Teddlie,et al.  SAGE Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social & Behavioral Research , 2010 .

[31]  W. Burke,et al.  Reinventing organization development : new approaches to change in organizations , 2005 .

[32]  Abdulkafi Albirini,et al.  Teachers' attitudes toward information and communication technologies: the case of Syrian EFL teachers , 2006, Comput. Educ..

[33]  Jean Underwood,et al.  The Impact of Technology: Value-Added Classroom Practice , 2010 .

[34]  Jeou-Shyan Horng,et al.  Factors influencing technology integration in teaching: a Taiwanese perspective , 2006 .

[35]  B. Somekh.  Factors Affecting Teachers’ Pedagogical Adoption of ICT , 2008 .

[36]  Jean Underwood,et al.  Understanding the Impact of Technology: Learner and School Level Factors , 2010 .

[37]  P. Abrami,et al.  Implementing Computer Technologies: Teachers' Perceptions and Practices , 2006 .

[38]  Bahaman Abu Samah,et al.  Factors Affecting Teachers' Use of Information and Communication Technology. , 2009 .

[39]  J. Webster,et al.  Teaching Effectiveness in Technology-Mediated Distance Learning , 1997 .

[40]  Martin Valcke,et al.  Understanding structural and cultural school characteristics in relation to educational change: the case of ICT integration , 2009 .

[41]  J. Meneses,et al.  Quality schooling in the Network Society: a community approach through the everyday use of the internet , 2012 .

[42]  Paul DiMaggio,et al.  From the 'Digital Divide' to 'Digital Inequality': Studying Internet Use as Penetration Increases , 2001 .

[43]  P. J. Tichenor,et al.  MASS MEDIA FLOW AND DIFFERENTIAL GROWTH IN KNOWLEDGE , 1970 .

[44]  R. G. Baird.  Learning to Change: ICT in Schools , 2002, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[45]  Steven C. Currall,et al.  Research Methods in Management and Organizational Research: Toward Integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques , 2003 .

[46]  Andrew Jones.  A review of the research literature on barriers to the uptake of ICT by teachers. , 2004 .

[47]  Laura M. O’Dwyer,et al.  Examining Teacher Technology Use , 2003 .

[48]  S. Salleh.  An examination of factors influencing Bruneian secondary teachers' use of information and communication technology in teaching: a survey exploration , 2005 .

[49]  Leah A. Lievrouw,et al.  Information and equity , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[50]  Marjolein Drent,et al.  Which factors obstruct or stimulate teacher educators to use ICT innovatively? , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[51]  R. Lentz.  The e‐volution of the digital divides in the US: a mayhem of competing metrics , 2000 .

[52]  Penni Tearle,et al.  ICT implementation: what makes the difference? , 2003, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[53]  S. Mumtaz.  Factors affecting teachers' use of information and communications technology: a review of the literature , 2000 .

[54]  Antoni Badia,et al.  La integraci??n de internet en la educaci??n escolar espa??ola. Situaci??n actual y perspectivas de futuro , 2009 .

[55]  W M,et al.  Table of Contents , 2020 .

[56]  Johan van Braak,et al.  Student teachers' thinking processes and ICT integration: Predictors of prospective teaching behaviors with educational technology , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[57]  D. Bullock.  Moving From Theory to Practice: An Examination of the Factors That Preservice Teachers Encounter as the Attempt to Gain Experience Teaching with Technology During Field Placement Experiences , 2004 .

[58]  Alaa Sadik.  Factors Influencing Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Personal Use and School Use of Computers , 2006, Evaluation review.

[59]  Antoni Badia,et al.  La integración de internet en la educación escolar española. Situación actual y perspectivas de futuro , 2009 .