INVESTIGATING GREEK TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Over the last three decades a number of studies have focused on the psychological factors that influenced the uptake of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in schools. The results of most of the studies show that the uptake of ICT depends on the teachers’ attitudes towards computers. This study investigated the attitudes towards Information and Communication Technology of 104 Greek teachers who were in programme training at the Athens School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (A.S.PE.T.E.). In particular, this study was focused on the following research questions:
•What are the level of ICT self-efficacy and the ICT attitudes among the Greek teachers?
•Do the dimensions of the ICT attitudes (computer enthusiasm, anxiety, acceptance and productivity) interact one with another?
•Are there any statistically significant relationships between ICT self-efficacy and the four dimensions of the ICT attitude?
•Are there any statistically significant relationships between gender, age, and ICT experience and ICT self-efficacy and ICT attitudes?
•Do the teachers’ ICT self-efficacy and ICT attitudes impact their intention to use ICT for teaching purposes?
The Teachers’ Attitudes toward Computers Questionnaire (TAC) was utilized to gather the data. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) to make observations about the teachers’ individual characteristics (gender, age, ICT experience, years of experience, and ICT use for teaching purposes). Multiple regression analysis was used for identifying associations between the sub-scales of ICT teachers’ attitudes and between self-efficacy and the four sub-scales of ICT attitudes. A two-tailed t-test used to determine if any significant differences between teachers’ individual characteristics and self-efficacy and ICT attitudes were evident. Finally, the analysis of the open-ended part of questionnaire was based on qualitative content analysis.
The results showed that students have positive attitudes towards computers and had a somewhat low computer anxiety. Prior computer knowledge and experience seem to be an important factor in determining the attitude of students towards computers. Also, frequent computer use was directly related with more confidence and lower anxiety in using computers, as well as more liking and perceived usefulness of computers. The findings of the current study can be used to shape future ICT policies and ICT teacher training programmes in order to improve the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning.
The structure of the paper is as follows: The first section briefly reviews the literature on studies of teachers’ attitudes towards computers. In the second section the research design is presented and the third section discusses the results from the analysis. Finally, the fourth section presents the implications that arise from the results of the study.