Influencing Factors and Integration of ICT into Teaching Practices of Pre-service and Starting Teachers

Abstract

Teachers need to be competent in integrating ICT into education to support teaching and learning process. This study aims to investigate both the pre-service and starting teachers’ perceptions for ICT-related variables—perceived ICT competence, perceived competence in ICT integration, attitudes towards ICT, anxiety around ICT usage, external barriers to ICT integration, ICT-related courses, pedagogical knowledge, and prior experience concerning the use of ICT— with regard to their integration of ICT into teaching practice to explore to what extent they integrate ICT into education. Quantitative data were collected from 200 pre-service teachers from the subject areas of Turkish language, social sciences, elementary mathematics and science in their fourth year of training programmes and 105 starting teachers who have been teaching not more than for three years in the mentioned subjects. T-test and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. It was found out that perceived competence in ICT integration, computer anxiety, perceived ICT competence and pedagogical knowledge variables significantly predicted the teachers’ integration of ICT into teaching practices. The results showed that their integration of ICT was limited to basic level and demonstrative purposes and they underused simulated tasks for experience, discovery and experiment. Implications and suggestions were put forward for the teacher training and professional development trainings to enable teachers to use ICT more competently and confidently in education.