Determinants of teachers' self-reported confidence in their information technology skills

Thomas W K Yuen and Heidi N H Fung
Shue Yan University
Hong Kong SAR, China

Recent literature indicates that an increasing number of teachers are interested in using information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance their traditional classroom practice. However, while the advances in ICT provide new opportunities, they also present challenges for teachers as they have to adjust to the new technology. The successful employment of e-learning in teaching processes depends in part on the confidence of teachers in using ICT.

This paper uses the standard ordered probit model as the statistical tool to investigate the determinants of teachers' self-reported confidence in their ICT skills. The data were collected via a questionnaire survey conducted in Hong Kong Shue Yan University in 2007. The determinants studied in this paper are teachers' expectations about the enhancement of teaching and learning through adopting ICT, and their self-reported skills in using ICT in daily life, in the classroom and in virtual teaching environments. The empirical results have important implications for: (a) the training of teachers to adopt ICT; (b) the development of both software and hardware for e-learning; and (c) the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning in educational institutions that are planning to do so.