How Teachers' Uses of Technology Vary by Tenure and Longevity

Abstract

In spite of large expenditures on and increased access to educational technologies, a concern remains that computer-based technologies are not being integrated into regular instructional practices. While there is evidence to support the hypothesis that newer teachers' familiarity with technology leads to increased technology integration, a question remains about whether technology use is not only related to the number of years they have been in the teaching professional, but also the number of years they have been teaching at their current school. To examine this issue, this research presents the findings from the analysis of survey data collected from the 2,864 teachers. The data show that the relationship between technology use, the amount of time teachers have been teaching throughout their career, and the number of years they have been at their current school varies according to the ways in which technology use is defined. This article discusses the variety of relationships that were observed in the data and their implications for pre-service and in-service teacher training.