Abstract:

Technology integration is teachers’ practice of integrating technology into their instructional design, instructional delivery and self-learning. Prior research (e.g., Poitras, et al., 2018) suggests that teachers should regulate their technology using practices since self-regulated learning (SRL) accounts for the deployment of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to monitor and evaluate learning performance and outcomes (Winne & Hadwin, 1998). Previous findings show that teachers who exhibit higher SRL abilities outperformed those with lower SRL in terms of acquiring technology-relevant knowledge and designing technology-infused lessons (e.g., Kramarski & Michalsky, 2009). Recent SRL theory assumes that SRL is a multi-dimensional psychological construct involving cognitive and affective dimensions, and the affective aspects like emotion states influence learners’ enactment of SRL (e.g., Baker et al., 2010). As Pekrun et al. (2002) noted, positive reciprocal linkage has been found between students’ positive emotions and perceived self-regulation. Accordingly, understanding learners’ emotional states is of importance in the context of self-regulated learning. In the domain of technology integration, some researchers have investigated teachers’ SRL (e.g., Poitras, et al., 2018) and some focus on teachers’ technology emotions (e.g. Kay, 2007). However, there is a dearth of studies that examine relations between teachers’ self-regulation of learning and their emotions in technology integration. This paper examines the role of teachers’ emotions on technology use in their self-regulation of technology integration. We included 70 participants who are pre-service and in-service English teachers. The participants completed two surveys regarding their SRL and emotions in using technologies. The SRL questionnaires were adapted from Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich et al., 1991) and technology emotion survey was adapted from Epistemic-related Emotion Scales (Pekrun et al., 2016). Multiple regression analysis was conducted and revealed that three emotions (i.e., enjoyment, confusion, and anxiety) were significantly correlated with teachers’ SRL (all ps < .01) and can significantly predict teachers’ SRL, R2 = .263, interpreting 26.3% of variances in SRL, ((F(3, 65) = 7.74, p < .001). The results further indicated that anxiety (B = -.346, p < .05) and enjoyment (B = .316, p < .05) were significant predictors of teachers’ self-regulation. It means that the more teachers feel anxious, the less they will use SRL strategies in technology integration. Conversely, teachers with more enjoyment in using technology will use more SRL strategies because enjoyment is positively correlated with teachers’ SRL. Confusion (B = -.041, p = .762), however, was found not significant predicting teachers’ self-regulation according to the results obtained from the multiple regression. This study examines teachers’ technology emotions and its influence in teachers’ SRL in technology integration. The results are in line with previous findings that positive emotions and SRL are in positive associations (e.g., Pekrun et al., 2002). The results of this study can inform teachers about how to foster self-regulation by regulating their own emotions when developing technology-integrating skills. It also makes implications for teacher educators the importance of enhancing teachers’ emotion regulation abilities.

Keywords:

Teachers' self-regulated learning, teachers' emotions, technology integration.