The Interplay of School Readiness and Teacher Readiness for Educational Technology Integration: A Structural Equation Model

• Published in: Computers in the schools Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: Petko, Dominik, Prasse, Doreen, Cantieni, Andrea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Routledge 02.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic readiness; Complexity; Education; Educational Technology; Elementary School Teachers; Foreign Countries; Head Start project; Influence of Technology; School Readiness; Structural equation modeling; Structural Equation Models; Teacher Attitudes; teacher skills; Teacher Surveys; Teachers; techer beliefs; Technological Literacy; Technology Integration; Technology utilization; Switzerland
• ISSN: 0738-0569; 1528-7033
• DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2018.1428007

Decades of research have shown that technological change in schools depends on multiple interrelated factors. Structural equation models explaining the interplay of factors often suffer from high complexity and low coherence. To reduce complexity, a more robust structural equation model was built with data from a survey of 349 Swiss primary school teachers. It confirms that educational technology integration is dependent on individual teachers' readiness, which is in turn influenced by school readiness. Teacher readiness to integrate educational technology is based on perceived skills and beliefs. Facets of school readiness include educational technology resources in classrooms, perceived importance of technology integration, goal clarity, head teacher support, as well as formal and informal exchange among teachers.