Changing teachers attitudes towards teaching with technology Silvester

Changing teachers’ attitudes towards teaching with technology Silvester Draaijer (‘dryer’) and Judith Schoonenboom (‘skoan’nboam’) Office for Educational Services vrije Universiteit amsterdam

Overview Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • • Introduction teachers, technology and attitudes Our research in context: our course, research design Outcomes of our research Discussion 2

Teachers, technology and attitudes Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • Improving teachers’ professional development interventions for deploying ICT in higher education – – – Teachers Subject knowledge Didactical principles Technology Attitudes – Interventions (courses, coaching, talks, self-study, support, projects etc. ) 3

Attitudes Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • Inspired by, but different from: Tp. B (Ajzen), TAM (Davis), 4 Emodel (Collis) • Attitude -> intention -> use • Elements of attitude: importance, effect, ease of use • Attitudes toward designing and conducting a specific teacher activity using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) 4

Our Introductory Course Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion “Using a VLE to support Active Learning” Practical Skills Didactical Skills Using a VLE (hands-on) Case Studies (discussion, reflection, inspiration) Didactical knowledgde Reading material (self study) Application to own teaching practice 5

Research design Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion – Pre-test – Post-test – 18 subjects • Questionnaire with 4 (imp, eff, eou, int) x 17 = 68 questions – – Transmission model (teacher centered) Independent learning model (student centered) Interaction learning model (community of learners) Negotiation model (learning community) 6

Outcomes: three clusters of activities Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • With respect to the intention to use a VLE, the activities investigated cluster into three groups, in which the teacher – Provides the students with information – Arranges teacher-student and student-student communication – Supports and arranges independent collaborative learning • Overall, the intention to use a VLE is highest for informationrelated activities, lower for communication and lowest for collaboration. 7

Example: intention to use a VLE after the course 8

Changes in individuals; stages of intention Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • Intention and changes in intention in individuals show successive stages in which individuals intend to use a VLE for: – Nothing – Information + Communication • Intention to use a VLE for Information + Communication + Collaboration hardly observed in our subjects 9

Changes in individuals; stages of intention Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion 10

Influence of attitudes on intention to use a VLE: communication 7 6 5 4 Mean scores Score -> 3 Intention to use VLE 2 1 Importance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Ease of use Subject -> 11

Influence of attitudes on intention to use a VLE Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • Influence of attitudes on the intention of individuals: – No intention without importance – Ease of use pulls down intention – Influence of effectiveness remains unclear • ‘Group attitude’ towards the activity types – Information: important and easy – Communication: important but more difficult – Collaboration: less important and more difficult 12

Combining stages of intention and the influence of attitudes: changes in attitudes Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • Two changes: – Importance: an increase in importance in all three activity types in a majority of the subjects. – Ease of use: distinction between people who change toward finding using a VLE easier and people who change toward finding using a VLE more difficult. • Size of both changes is strongest in collaboration, and quite strong in communication. Only slight changes with respect to information. 13

Achievements Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • • Three sorts of activities in a VLE Diff. stages in intentions + Changes Relation between Importance, Ease of Use and Intention Changes in Attitudes (Importance, Ease of Use) • What we haven’t achieved yet: • Relation with elements of the course 14

Discussion Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • What to do with different stages? – ph 1: information – ph 2: communication – Ph 3: collaboration 15

Discussion Introduction Our research in context Outcomes Discussion • What to do with relation Importance, Ease of Use, and Intention? 16

To be continued. . • • • More research to conduct Paper in preparation E-mail addresses: s. draaijer@icto. vu. nl j. schoonenboom@icto. vu. nl 17