TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USE OF ICT

Odyssey Mirza Gulam Mahendra

(odysseymirza.2020@student.uny.ac.id)
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta

Abstract
The fast improvement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has acquired astonishing
changes in current years. Technological advances have altogether affected the political, economic, social,
and educational fields over the globe. As ICT is significant for the educational process, the teachers
should play a fundamental role in adopting ICTs in the teaching-learning process. This background leads
to the question of how to know the teachers' attitudes toward ICT. Many researchers researched teachers'
attitudes toward ICT. Furthermore, experts devised a way or instrument to measure teachers' attitudes
towards ICT use. This article illustrates teachers' attitudes toward the use of ICT in English Language
Teaching. This article argues that with the rapid development of technology in the education field, it is
important to know teachers’ attitudes toward ICT. It, therefore, emphasizes the knowledge of several
factors that influenced teachers' attitudes towards ICT. This article concludes that the urgency of knowing
teachers’ attitudes toward ICT is important so that further research on teachers' attitudes towards ICT will
be carried out more and will help teachers evaluate education policies and create teachers who are ready
to face the advancement of times and technology.
Keywords: ICT, attitudes, teacher

Introduction

The rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has

brought astounding changes in recent years. We are currently facing a social reality in which,
due to technological progress, the world is interconnected, and everything can be located,
exhibited, exchanged, transferred, received, bought, or sold independently of where we are (De
Pablos, 2010). ICT is getting progressively significant in everyday lives and instructive
frameworks. ICT has a perceived potential for learning support, the social development of
information, and the improvement of self-governing learning aptitudes and abilities.

Technological advances have altogether affected the political, economic, social, and
educational fields over the globe. It has become a basic piece of the education system, directly
from schools to colleges. Academic institutions and practitioners, particularly teachers, must
adjust to these changes to confront this information era's new education demands. Technology-
based instructional applications are currently used as an effective alternative to traditional
teaching methods, transforming the isolated, teacher-centered, lecture-based instruction, and
text-bound classrooms into rich, student-focused, interactive knowledge environments. However,
effective use of ICT in teaching and learning is a complex and multifaceted process that includes
various teacher level and school level conditions (Aydin, Gurol, & Vanderlinde, 2016;
Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2011).

In Indonesia, the government applied ICT integration in educating and learning practices.
Indonesia's administration referenced technology as one purpose of educational plan
improvement for all schooling levels in Indonesia. The curriculum is used as a set of directives
for teachers to practice the teaching and learning process. This regulation wrote in the Act of
National Education System No 20 Year 2003, explicitly on Chapter X, Article 36. It tends to be
presumed that the improvement of the educational plan or curriculum applied in Indonesia must
consider the technological development utilized for all training levels and all subjects, including
English subjects. Accordingly, concerning the national regulations of education, the utilization of
ICT in teaching and learning practice is profoundly suggested by the Indonesian government.

As ICT’s utilization turns out to be more significant in the educational setup, many
studies have been conducted and identified factors that influence teachers’ ICT use. These
include teachers’ ICT knowledge and skills (Goktas, Gedik, & Baydas, 2013), their motivation,
workload, and lack of time (Chigona, et al., 2014; Cullen & Greene, 2011; Guoyuan, et al., 2011;
Lee, 2011; Neyland, 2011) anxiety (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012 ), are some of the key elements
identified for the successful adoption and integration of ICT. From some of the key elements
mentioned, the teacher's attitude plays an important role in influencing the effectiveness of ICTs
education from various perspectives (Kusano et al., 2013). Therefore, the urgency of knowing
teachers’ attitudes toward ICT is important since still a few studies focusing on teachers,
particularly in Indonesia.

Teachers’ Attitudes

Teacher attitudes and perceptions of ICT is important as it forms a tendency that helps
them to be favourable or unfavourable towards the usage of the most modern technology in the
field of education. Malagón & Pérez (2016) state that the literature on attitudes is abundant in
sociolinguistics but scarcer in the specific area of teachers’ attitudes towards learning and
teaching. Hogg and Vaughan (2018) mentioned that attitude represents a psychological tendency
towards groups, objects, symbols, or events in some degree of positive or negative. It shows that
attitude is the method of an individual to describe themselves towards a specific issue. At that
point, attitude will impact individual behavior since attitude helps individual sentiments to react
to a specific individual, object, or issue positively or negatively.
 In terms of ICT use in education, attitude can be assumed as the acceptance of users
toward ICT and their future behavior regarding the use of ICT (Albirini, 2006). An individual's
attitude toward ICT utilization will, in general, utilize ICT in the instructing and learning
measure. In this way, as referenced previously, attitude can be perceived as a reaction to
something in a particular way. In this unique circumstance, attitude towards ICT use is how ICT
clients think, feel, and oversee ICT positively or negatively.

The use of ICT in English Language Teaching

There are numerous advantages in several side of teaching and learning to utilizing ICTs
as an educational tools. Students' motivation and confidence are increased when technology is
integrated into classroom instruction (Torff & Tirotta, 2010). Besides motivation and confidence,
computer engagement as a product of technology also improves student's academic achievement
(House, 2012; Mercier & Higgins, 2013). Related to the computer, currently, every computer
equipped with an internet connection, allows us to access information from cyberspace and
communicate easily. Teachers at any grade level can easily create collaborative activities for
students on the web (Holcomb & Beal, 2010).

The combination of hardware with an internet connection and capable software, making
teaching and learning activities easier. Many of devices are still on the beginning of their using
in the education, but they have got high potential as iPads and tablets (Sullivan, 2013).
Researchers found that iPads help special needs students improve basic skills, such as reading
and writing, and increase their attention and interests in learning (Fernandez-Lopez, et al, 2013).

Focusing on benefits for teachers, Voogt (2010) found that teachers who use technology
extensively in their lessons tend to have a high level of confidence in pedagogical technology
skills and focus on a learner-centered approach. Rather than teachers who don't utilize
technology very often, teachers who use technology extensively are more engaged in
professional development activities and collaboration with colleagues.

We can conclude that in this modern era, technology has become an inseparable part of
life. From the facts and data from various sources mentioned above, it has been proven that the
use of ICT in education has had a strong and positive influence. The positive influence of the use
of ICTs for teachers and students is evidence of the importance of applying ICT for teaching and
learning activities.

Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Use of ICT

 In order to understand teachers’ attitudes towards ICT in the academic world, we need to
know previous studies that examine teachers' attitudes towards ICT. Sometimes, teachers are
skeptical of technology because they are afraid that excessive use of technology will cause
changes in their habits so far. Malagón & Pérez (2016) explained that the majority of the
teachers interviewed consider that ICT supposes a great advance for education in general. Still,
as things are now, none of them consider that they have proved a revolution in the field of
education, in part because computers are used to work in the same way as in traditional teaching.
They do not support the excessive use of computers in the language classroom because they
consider that it could interrupt their usual dynamics. The system or the procedure utilized up to
now is, to an enormous degree, answerable for this kind of attitude.

To create integration between the system and the use of ICT itself, the opinion of
teachers as potential users of ICT in teaching and learning activities is needed. Martinovic and
Zhang (2012) examined pre-service teachers' expectations of and attitudes towards the learning
and integrating of ICTs into their teaching and their perceptions of the availability and usage of
ICT. The main results were, there was not enough comfort with ICTs usage among future
teachers, despite skill level; future teachers had high expectations in learning and teaching with
ICTs; access to ICTs was limited in the schools. Another study from Peeraer and Van Petegem
(2011) found out among Vietnamese teachers that the usage of ICTs applications in teaching
practice remains limited, mostly replacing traditional teaching practices. This indicates that
although some teachers have sufficient knowledge to use ICT, sometimes they are limited by
several factors that prevent them from applying ICT in teaching and learning activities.

As an example of the successful integration between the system and the use of ICT, it can
be seen from the research conducted by Rana (2012). She made research among teachers from
India and the results showed that most of the teachers had positive attitudes towards the general
role that ICT could play in education and in the educational process.

Various studies on teacher attitudes towards the application of ICT have been carried out,
which shows that teacher attitudes are an important factor in their decision to use ICT. The
positive attitude of teachers towards ICT will encourage them to use various kinds of hardware
and software that support the use of ICT. Also, with a positive attitude towards ICT, teachers
will be more comfortable using ICT during learning activities. Therefore, teachers' attitude as an
internal driver in using ICT must be considered by considering the benefits of ICT in the
teaching and learning process and the development of student competencies.
Factors Relating Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Use of ICT

As we are probably aware, the ICT is significant for the educational process, so the
teachers should play a fundamental role in the adoption and integration of ICTs in the teaching-
learning process. There are numerous factors, which are affecting this process. These factors are
developing until today. Schiler (2003) states that personal characteristics such as educational
level, age, gender, educational experience, experience with the computer for educational
purpose, and attitude towards computers can influence the adoption of a technology. Kim, et.al.
(2013) research shows that teachers' pedagogical beliefs (e.g., philosophies of teaching and
learning) correlate with their technology integration.

Related to the gender factor, Teo, et.al. (2015) state that female teachers are more
challenged to use technology than male teachers, which affects their attitudes to using ICT, both
female and male teachers. Thus, it shows that teachers’ gender can influence their attitudes on
ICT use. However, Rana (2012), based on the finding in her research, states that there are no
gender differences in teacher training attitudes towards ICT. Still, it is possible to see differences
in attitudes concerning age.

Several studies discussing teacher age's effect on their attitudes towards ICT say that age
is indeed an important factor in their attitude towards ICT. This is directly proportional to the
experience of using ICT in their lives. Şahin-Kizil (2011) states that teachers’ attitudes toward
using ICT vary with age and teaching experience. Additionally, Huang, Teo, and Zhou (2017:
17) proved that the younger teachers as the new generation are more confident in facing
technology development than the older ones.

Besides, the ability of teachers to use ICT also affects teachers' attitudes towards ICT
itself. Nair, et al. (2012) found a significant difference between teachers’ attitudes of ICT use
based on those who attended the ICT training and those who do not attend the training. It seems
that the teachers who attended the ICT training will be ready to use ICT with their ICT
competencies, which have been obtained from the workshops. Furthermore, in ICTs knowledge,
Peeraer and Van Petegem (2011) state that the factors currently determining the usage of ICTs in
teaching practice are ICTs skills and computer confidence.

Measuring Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Use of ICT

 With the importance of teachers 'attitudes towards ICT, experts devised a way or
instrument to measure teachers' attitudes towards ICT use. Talking about instruments to measure
teacher attitudes towards using ICT, the instrument needs to be made by paying attention to
several factors. Bas, G., et al. (2016) state that it is very important to take a research tool into
account local conditions. If some research tool is valid and reliable in some countries, it needs
not to be functional in another country.

The researchers who have developed instruments for measuring teachers’ attitudes
toward the use of ICT is van Braak, Tondeur, and Valcke (2004). They applied two kinds of
questionnaires as the research instrument. The first questionnaire named the General Attitudes
toward Computers Scale (GACS) was designed by van Braak & Goeman in 2003. It consists of
seven items comprising computer liking, anxiety, and confidence. This questionnaire was used to
measure the primary school teachers’ general attitudes toward computers. For the second
questionnaire, it named the Attitudes toward Computers in Education Scales (ACES) developed
by van Braak in 2001. This questionnaire was employed to measure teachers’ attitudes toward
computer use in the classroom with 12 questionnaire items. All questionnaire items were
provided by five points of Likert-scale, including 1) strongly disagree, 2) disagree, 3) neither
agree/disagree, 4) agree, and 5) strongly agree. The questionnaires were distributed to 468
primary school teachers in East-Flanders, Belgium.

Furthermore, Albirini (2006) developed a questionnaire to assess teachers’ attitudes

toward the ICT scale, which focuses on the computer. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items
with three domains, namely affective, cognition, and behavior. The developed questionnaire was
provided with five types of Likert-scale, including 1) strongly disagree, 2) disagree, 3) neutral, 4)
agree, and 5) strongly disagree. This questionnaire was distributed to 325 respondents of high
school EFL teachers in Hims, Syria.

Another instrument is from Hernández-Ramos, et.al (2014). They developed a

questionnaire to measure teachers’ attitudes toward the use of ICT where it consists of four
dimensions, namely affective, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavior. The
designed questionnaire referred to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1993).
This questionnaire was developed focusing on the teachers’ attitudes toward the use of ICT and
distributed to 161 teachers in Salamanca, Spain. The questionnaire consisted of 21 items with
five response options including 1) completely disagree, 2) disagree, 3) neither agree nor
disagree, 4) agree, 5) completely agree.
 Moreover, another instrument that can be used is the instrument of teachers’ attitudes
toward using ICT by Thamarana (2017), consisting of 15 items. The questionnaire items were
followed by five answer types ranging from completely disagree to completely agree. The
questionnaire was distributed to 85 English lectures in Visakhapatnam, India. Nevertheless, the
researchers did not mention the questionnaire's dimension components and the reference theories
for the questionnaire.

The last instrument is TICTAS (Teachers' ICT Attitudes Scale) developed by Aydin and
Semerci (2017). TICTAS consisted of two parts. The first part included six descriptive questions
such as gender, age, teaching experience, perceived ICT skills, ICT experience, and ICT training.
The second part consisted of five-point Likert type 16 items, scored as (1) "I completely do not
agree", (2) "I do not agree", (3) "I am neutral", (4) "I agree" and (5) "I completely agree". Those
16 items factorized as two dimensions, namely ICT Willingness (11 items) and ICT Anxiety (5
items).

With various ways to measure teacher attitudes towards using ICT that have been made
or developed by experts, it will be easier for us as prospective researchers to examine this case
more deeply and see from various sides and all the factors that influence teacher attitudes
towards the use of ICT.

Conclusions And Suggestions

This article aims to discuss the importance of us as prospective educators in knowing

teacher attitudes towards using ICT in the academic world. Knowing the importance of
technology in all fields, including education, now we can also understand how to integrate ICT
into teaching and learning activities maximally by paying attention to the elements that
influence. One of them is how teachers' attitudes towards technology must be embraced to
advance education.

Various studies on teacher attitudes towards the application of ICT have been carried out,
which shows that teacher attitudes are an important factor in their decision to use ICT. The
positive attitude of teachers towards ICT will encourage them to use various kinds of hardware
and software that support the use of ICT. Also, with a positive attitude towards ICT, teachers
will be more comfortable using ICT during learning activities. Therefore, teachers' attitude as an
internal driver in using ICT must be considered by considering the benefits of ICT in the
teaching and learning process and the development of student competencies.
 Various ways have been developed and found by experts to measure teachers' attitudes
towards technology. With this wide variety of instruments, it is hoped that further research on
teachers' attitudes towards ICT will be carried out more and will help teachers evaluate education
policies and increase teacher training to create teachers who are ready to face the advancement of
times and technology.

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