Attitude toward instructional technology following required versus optional WebCT usage.

The current study sought to understand the mechanisms that facilitate improvement in preservice teacher attitude toward instructional applications of computer technology. Participants comprised two groups: education students whose use of WebCT was required for completion of course assignments (n = 42) and education students whose use of WebCT was entirely optional (n = 82). All students made pre- and postcourse ratings of the perceived value of instructional technology. Across groups, positive changes from pre to postcourse occurred on seven of the ten items that evaluated attitude toward instructional technology. Additionally, students required to use WebCT showed a greater overall change in attitude from pre to postcourse and made greater use of optional online course material relative to those whose use of WebCT was optional. Requiring the use of technology in course work may generate favorable attitudes toward technology and thereby foster greater utilization of other available computer-based applications.

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Teacher preparation programs are frequently criticized for their inability "to fully prepare new teachers to use technology effectively in their professional practice" (Milken Exchange on Education Technology, 1999, p. i). Most teacher preparation programs reportedly offer one course in which preservice teachers are to develop basic computer technology skills (Hsu & Hargrave, 2000). Cherup and Snyder (2003) proposed a more integrated approach to technology in teacher education, one that includes a curriculum of technology operations, planning and designing learning environments, assessment and evaluation, professional practice, and social, ethical, and legal issues. Despite concerted and evolving postsecondary effort to equip novice teachers with technological competencies, "relatively few teachers routinely use computer-based technologies for instructional purposes" and when computers are used, "they are generally used for low-level tasks such as drills and word processing" (Abdal-Haqq, 1995, p. 1). While there are numerous explanations for such limited instructional applications of technology in public education, not the least of which is lack of access to equipment and inadequate training (Bosch & Cardinale, 1993; Moersch, 1999), teacher beliefs and attitudes emerge as particularly critical variables (Zhao & Cziko, 2001).

Whetstone and Carr-Chellman (2001) conducted a comprehensive survey of preservice teachers' perceptions of technology and their future plans to implement instructional technology. Seventy-six percent (76%) of those surveyed claimed that computers have a substantial role in school reform. When asked to indicate the computer applications they felt competent to apply as future teachers, 94% felt prepared to use word processors, 75% felt prepared to use e-mail, and 65% felt prepared to use content area software. However, only 57% felt prepared to use spreadsheets and only 41% and 33% felt prepared to use internet applications and databases, respectively. Such survey results suggest diminishing preparation for more advanced applications of computer technology. Moreover, there is an absence of survey results for sophisticated school-based applications of instructional technology such as those supported by WebCT.

WebCT is a set of web-based course tools that provide instructors and students with a range of applications such as calculating and accessing grades, posting and accessing course material, developing and publishing presentations online, posting and taking tests and surveys, accessing course syllabi, and participating in online discussion (WebCT, 2003). The Homepage is the first page to appear following WebCT log in and is the page that allows users to link to all available WebCT tools. The WebCT Discussions tool enables the instructor to place students in groups for purposes of online discussion. Instructors use the WebCT Content Module to put course material online. WebCT has a Track Student function that allows for summary of student activity in terms of the number of times that different WebCT tools are utilized. WebCT is becoming increasingly popular in universities and colleges and is filtering down to secondary schools (Pyzdrowski & Pyzdrowski, 2002).

How can preservice teacher attitude toward advanced applications of learning technology, such as WebCT, be enhanced? Changing teacher beliefs is a complex process because such beliefs appear to be static, resistant to change, and generally not affected by reading and applying research (Albion & Ertmer, 2002; Dexter, Anderson, & Becker, 1999). Apparently, change is easiest for new beliefs and "change in beliefs follows, rather than proceeds, change in behavior" (Pajares, 1992, p. 321). Kagan (1992) proposed that teachers base their beliefs on practice, both their own and that of their peers, rather than on the application of knowledge and factual information. Thus, teaching practice (e.g., the use of instructional technology) may lead to change in beliefs and attitudes (Lumpe & Chambers, 2001; Windschitl & Sahl, 2002; Zhao, Pugh, Sheldon, & Bryers, 2002). There is evidence, for example, that the more experience preservice teachers have with computers, the less anxiety they experience toward computer usage (Downes, 1993).

The current research addressed three related issues with respect to teacher education and instructional technology. First, we sought to describe the nature of preservice teacher attitude toward instructional technology and the extent to which such attitude is modified as a function of teacher education. Second, we hypothesized that preservice teachers required to use WebCT would demonstrate greater improvement in attitude toward instructional technology than students whose use of WebCT was optional. Third and finally, we further hypothesized that preservice teachers required to use WebCT would make greater use of nonmandatory WebCT course material compared to those whose WebCT use was optional, thereby providing a behavioral index of their attitude change.

METHOD

Participants

One hundred and eighty undergraduate students registered in three sections of an educational psychology course were invited to participate in the study. One hundred twenty-four students satisfied research requirements sufficiently to be included in the study (16 students officially withdrew from the course, 11 students did not complete the consent form because they were absent or late the first day of class, 7 students had extensive missing data, 17 students did not complete the postcourse questionnaire because they were absent or late the last day of class, and 5 students chose not to participate). The mean age of participating students was 21 years (range 17 to 40 years). Slightly more than 90% of the sample was female. With regard to intended plans for Bachelor of Education degree completion, 63% of participants were focused on elementary education, 32% on secondary education, 4% were undecided, and data were missing for 1% of participants.

All course sections were taught by the same instructor and all sections used the WebCT tools My Grades and Content Module. In all cases, such tools were a matter of convenience for students in accessing grades and course material, although such grades and material could also be obtained from the instructor. Additionally, one section of the course was randomly assigned to use the WebCT Discussions tool. For this group, a series of five required course assignments (i.e., case study analysis) could only be completed through online peer discussion. The five case study assignments were worth 4% each, contributing 20% to the final course grade. Students in the sections that did not use WebCT Discussions made written case study analysis submissions. Thus, participants comprised two groups: education students in the course section that used Discussions and thus whose use of WebCT was required for completion of course assignments and optional for accessing grades and course material (n = 42) and education students in the remaining two course sections that did not use Discussions and thus whose use of WebCT was entirely optional (n = 82).

Procedure and Measures

On the first day of the educational psychology course, students who agreed to participate in the study completed a questionnaire that assessed demographics and attitude toward instructional technology and teaching (e.g., Computer technology can replace traditional teaching), learning (e.g., Computer technology has improved my college learning), and society (e.g., Computer technology has changed society in positive ways). Each of the 10 items assessing attitude toward instructional technology (Table 1) was rated on a Likert scale with endpoints labeled 1 (not at all) and 7 (absolutely). On the last day of class, participating students rated the same ten items presented in the precourse questionnaire.

The Track Student WebCT function was used to examine differences between students with regard to the frequency with which they accessed the WebCT Content Module, use of which was optional for all students. The WebCT Content Module contained selected PowerPoint slides, examination information and sample questions, and supplemental course material such as exercises, activities, and links to websites that applied and extended course concepts.

RESULTS

Table 1 presents the mean precourse rating of each of the ten instructional technology items for the two groups (i.e., students whose WebCT usage was required and students whose WebCT usage was optional). T-tests revealed no significant group differences in any precourse item rating means, suggesting that at the beginning of the term the two groups of students were equivalent in their collective interpretation of the value of learning technologies. Student ratings of the 10 evaluation of technology items were collapsed to form a single, global evaluative rating (note that in some cases, item ratings were reversed to achieve consistency of scale direction). No significant difference emerged between the WebCT optional-use group (M = 4.76, SD = 0.83) and WebCT required-use group (M = 4.64, SD = 0.65) on this overall score of precourse attitude toward instructional technology. Across the two groups, precourse attitude toward instructional technology was moderately favorable.

Table 1 also presents mean postcourse attitude ratings and pre- to post-course attitude change for each group on each of the ten instructional technology items. Across the two groups, seven of the items revealed significant changes from pre- to postcourse rating. This suggests that students developed increasingly favorable attitudes toward instructional technology. Moreover, three of the rated items revealed interactions between time of assessment and group, such that students required to use WebCT showed a greater change in attitude than those in the optional-use group.

Student pre- and postcourse ratings of the 10 instructional technology items were summed and averaged to produce an overall index of change in attitude. Overall change in attitude toward instructional technology was assessed in a 2 (Pre- vs. Postcourse) X 2 (Required Use vs. Optional Use) repeated measures ANOVA. A pre- versus postcourse effect emerged, such that attitudes became more favorable from precourse (M = 4.69, SD = 0.81) to postcourse (M = 5.07, SD = 0.89), F(1,119) = 38.23, p < .001. Further more, an interaction effect emerged, F(1,119) = 4.60, p < .05, such that the change from pre- to postcourse assessment was larger among Required Use participants (M = 4.65, SD = 0.65 and M = 5.14, SD = 0.80, respectively) than among Optional Use participants (M = 4.74, SD = 0.83 and M = 4.98, SD = 0.87, respectively). Depicted in Figure 1, this pattern reveals that education students who were required to use instructional technology showed greater improvement in their attitudes toward that technology from pre- to postcourse than did students whose use of instructional technology was entirely optional.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Students in both groups had access to identical WebCT Content Module pages and in all cases, regardless of group, accessing the Content Module was optional and did not relate to required course activities or assignments. Comparison of the number of times that students accessed Content Module pages and the number of different Content Module pages accessed revealed differences across the two groups. On average, students whose use of WebCT was required accessed more content pages during the term (M = 36.3, SD = 33.6) than students whose use of WebCT was optional (M = 22.2, SD = 17.3), t(122) = -3.08, p < .01. On average, students whose use of WebCT was required accessed a greater number of different content pages during the academic term (M = 18.4, SD = 14.1) than students whose use of WebCT was optional (M = 12.9, SD = 9.3), t(122) = -2.58, p < .01. Regardless of group, a modest but significant relationship emerged between number of times students accessed content pages and the overall index of change in attitude toward instructional technology (r = .23, p < .05). That is, students who frequently accessed WebCT content pages showed a greater degree of attitude change than those who accessed such pages less frequently. Correspondingly, and regardless of group, a modest but significant relationship emerged between number of different content pages accessed and the degree of change in attitude toward instructional technology (r = .21, p < .05). Students who accessed a greater variety of optional WebCT Content Module pages showed greater improvement in attitude toward instructional technology than did students who accessed a smaller variety of such pages.

DISCUSSION

We first sought to describe the nature of preservice teacher attitude toward instructional technology and to delineate the extent to which such attitudes change as a function of teacher education. In general, precourse student ratings of the 10 Likert scale items suggest moderately favorable attitude toward instructional technology. For example, precourse means suggest that preservice teachers generally feel positive about applying e-mail technology in their future careers, that their college learning is improved by computer technology, and that society is positively Affected by computer technology. Postcourse mean student ratings show a similar, but more extreme, pattern revealing improved attitude toward instructional technology. Thus it appears that the current generation of education students is relatively positive about computer applications to learning and that they become even more positive during the course of their teacher education.

Our second hypothesis was that preservice teachers required to use WebCT would demonstrate greater improvement in attitudes toward instructional technology than students whose use of WebCT was optional. We found that the group of students required to use WebCT demonstrated greater improvement in attitude toward instructional technology than students whose use of WebCT was optional. What are the mechanisms by which required use of technology is associated with favorable attitudes toward that technology? One possibility is that mandated use causes attitude enhancement through self-observation processes. According to Bem (1972), people infer a positive attitude toward a behavior following self-observation that they spend considerable time engaging in that behavior. Thus it may be that the education students in our study who were required to use WebCT observed their extensive use of instructional technology and inferred that they do, indeed, enjoy and benefit from such technology. Such self-observation and corresponding inferences result in improvement in initial attitude. A limitation of this interpretation is that self-observation of behavior is not used to make inferences about attitude when there are salient externally imposed influences on that behavior. In the current context, a required WebCT assignment may have been viewed by students as an externally imposed reason for their behavior. However, students may have experienced the course assignment as imposed rather than the technology that was required to complete the assignment. Moreover, although students required to use WebCT did not freely choose to engage in online discussion, these students could have chosen not to complete the course assignments. Finally, correlational analyses revealed a positive relationship across conditions between amount of WebCT use and amount of attitude change; that is, even among students not required to use instructional technology, attitude change is positively associated with amount of use. This is consistent with the speculation that high utilization of technology causes students to infer positive attitudes toward such technology.

A second reason for attitude change to accompany mandated use of technology is that participants required to use technology gain a better understanding of the benefits of such usage. That is, the relative merits of technology become more apparent to students the more technology is used, such that those required to use technology come to value it to a greater extent than those not required to use it. Again, this explanation is consistent with the finding that attitude change correlates with amount of usage of technology across both the required and optional use conditions. Both of these explanations--reflecting on one's own behavior and reflecting on the merits of technology--are consistent with recent findings by Seyal, Rahman, and Rahim (2002), who demonstrated, with structural equation modeling, that computer experience and perceived usefulness both determined attitude toward computer technology.

Third and finally, we hypothesized that preservice teachers required to use WebCT make greater use of nonmandatory WebCT course material compared to those whose WebCT use is optional, thereby providing a behavioral index of their attitude change. The current study revealed significant differences between groups with regard to accessing WebCT Content Module pages. Students who were required to use the Discussions tool to submit course assignments accessed a greater variety of optional online material with greater frequency than did students whose use of WebCT was entirely voluntary. Therefore, required use of instructional technology is associated with greater optional use of that technology. Students required to use WebCT may develop a greater degree of comfort and familiarity with the technology, which in turn results in greater utilization of the optional materials such as those contained in the Content Module. Thus, required use of instructional technology may ultimately function as a catalyst of further use of computer technology in learning. Such a conclusion is further warranted by the significant relation between degree of attitude change and the number and variety of optional WebCT Content Module pages accessed by students.

Limitations and Future Directions

A limitation of the current study is the quasi-experimental nature of the manipulation of required versus optional WebCT use. Our research design did not randomly assign students to employ or not employ online discussion of the case studies. Rather, one course section was randomly selected to engage in online discussion as a course assignment requirement. While we established the equivalency of the two groups in attitude toward instructional technology at the outset of the study (i.e., the groups did not differ on any of the 10 Likert rating items), it is nevertheless possible that the groups were not equivalent on additional variables not assessed. Ideally, future studies aimed at revealing the mechanisms that facilitate the development of positive attitudes toward instructional technology in preservice teachers would ensure group equivalence by random assignment of students to groups differing only on required versus optional WebCT usage. In practice, however, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to use other than naturally occurring groups of students (i.e., course sections) in similar studies because students may not consent to participate in research involving different course requirements within the same course section.

The current study measured change in attitude toward instructional technology by pre- to postcourse rating change during a college term of approximately 13 weeks. Time is an important variable that requires further investigation. It may be that fewer weeks of required use would produce a similar shift in attitude toward instructional technology. It might also be that greater attitude change may occur if the postevaluation had been administered at a later date. Indeed, it may be that degree or extent of required use of instructional technology is mediated by duration of such required use. Intense but brief dependency on instructional technology may be more cost effective than moderate but extended dependency, if such could be confirmed as more or equally effective in producing improvements in preservice teacher attitude.

Our sample consisted of second-year education students. In some respects this is an ideal sample since it is reportedly easier to modify the attitudes of preservice, as opposed to inservice, teachers (Pajares, 1992). Preservice teachers are college or university students, which also renders them ideal candidates for attitude modification; it is easy to create situations in which such individuals are required to use instructional applications of computer technology to satisfy course assignments. Important questions remain: Is the mandated use of instructional technology only related to positive attitude change if the usage is deemed central to the learning process? Could the attitude of inservice teachers also be modified with required use of instructional technology? Would inservice teachers be as amenable to required use of instructional technology as are preservice teachers, or is there something in the nature of the student condition that lends itself to acceptance of required use of instructional technology?

References

Abdal-Haqq, I. (1995). Infusing technology into preservice teacher education. ERIC Digest. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED389699)

Albion, P.R., & Ertmer, P.A. (2002). Beyond the foundations: The role of vision and belief in teachers' preparation for integration of technology. TechTrends, 46, 34-38.

Bem, D.J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1-62). New York: Academic Press.

Bosch, K.A., & Cardinale, L. (1993). Preservice teachers' perceptions of computer use during field experience. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 10, 23-27.

Cherup, S., & Snyder, L. (2003). A model for integrating technology into teacher education: One college's journey. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 3(1).

Dexter, S.L., Anderson, R.E., & Becker, H.J. (1999). Teachers' views of computers as catalysts for changes in their teaching practice. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 31, 221-239.

Downes, T. (1993). Student-teachers' experiences in using computers during teaching practice. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 9, 17-33.

Hsu, Y., & Hargrave, C. (2000). Survey of instructional technology courses for preservice teachers. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 8, 303-314.

Kagan, D.M. (1992). Implications of research on teacher belief. Educational Psychologist, 27, 65-90.

Lumpe, A. T., & Chambers, E. (2001). Assessing teachers' context beliefs about technology use. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34, 93-107.

Milken Exchange on Education Technology. (1999). Will new teachers be prepared to teach in a digital age? A national survey on information technology in teacher education. Milken Family Foundation: Santa Monica, CA.

Moersch, C. (1999). Assessing current technology use in the classroom: A key to efficient staff development and technology planning. Learning and Leading with Technology, 26, 40-49.

Pajares, M.F. (1992). Teachers' beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307-332.

Pyzdrowski, L. J., & Pyzdrowski, A.S. (2002). A WebCT enhanced course for high school students. Retrieved May 26, 2005, from http://www.pyzdrowski.ws/conference/ICTCM2002/orlandopaper2002.pdf

Seyal, A.H., Rahman, M.N., & Rahim, M.M. (2002). Determinants of academic use of the Internet: A structural equation model. Behavior and Information Technology, 21, 71-96.

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GENEVIEVE M. JOHNSON AND ANDREW J. HOWELL 

Grant MacEwan College 

Edmonton, Alberta Canada

[e-mail]

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Table 1 Change in Attitude toward Instructional Technology from Pre- to
Postcourse

                           Optional    Required
Abbreviated Questionnaire  WebCT       WebCT       Pre- to Postchange
Item                       Pre   Post  Pre   Post  df   t      p

Computer technology can    2.78  2.91  2.62  2.93  122  1.54   ns
replace traditional
teaching
Computer technology        3.05  2.72  3.26  2.67  122  3.20   .01
decreases the quality
of teaching (a)
Computer technology is     2.48  2.68  2.55  2.50  122  0.50   ns
boring (a)
When I am teaching, I      4.71  5.18  4.90  5.45  122  3.36*  .001
will e-mail students and
their parents
Computer technology has    1.94  1.66  2.07  1.61  122  3.37*  .001
hindered my learning in
college (a)
Learning has decreased     2.77  2.57  3.05  2.10  121  4.20*  .001
because of computer
technology (a,b)
Computer technology has    4.84  5.23  4.90  5.12  122  2.76   .01
changed society in
positive ways
When I am teaching, I      3.62  3.94  3.50  4.52  121  4.76*  .001
will rely on computer
technology (b)
Computer technology has    4.76  5.16  4.48  5.38  122  4.92*  .001
improved my college
learning (b)
Computer technology has    2.98  2.96  3.19  3.14  122  0.24   ns
changed society in
negative ways (a)

Note. Item rating scale: 1 = not at all; 7 = absolutely.
(a) Item reverse-scored when the overall attitude change index was
calculated.
(b) Revealed interactions between time of assessment and group, with
F(1,121) = 7.61, p < .01, F(1,121) = 6.20, p < .01, and F(1,121) = 3.57,
p = .06, for items 6, 8, and 9, respectively.
*Also significant with familywise [proportional] set at .05 (two-tailed
testwise [proportional] = .05/10 = .005).