Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Teacher Preparedness with Technology

This article by Peter R. Albion at the University of South Queensland, Australia, touches on a vital issue in education today – integrating technology in the classroom. Although a full explanation of the article is outside the scope of this blog, all concerned with education who benefit from reading this study.

Albion posits that teacher educations programs do little to prepare prospective teachers to integrate technology into the classroom. His fundamental point is that teachers will integrate computers into the curriculum when their belief systems change. Albion quotes Pajares (1993) who states that “beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are stronger predictors of behavior.” In other words, when a teacher’s self-efficacy, their perceived belief in their abilities, changes with regards to the use of technology in the classroom, teachers will integrate computers in the curriculum – regardless of the subject. Albion suggests three different methods for improving a teacher’s self-efficacy in computer integration, the best of which is long-term, sustained staff development in the use of computers in the classroom.

I found the article fascinating from both a teacher’s and administrator’s perspective. Most teachers know that when a child learns a new skill, the student’s self-efficacy may be low, however continued use of the skill builds comfort, confidence, and mastery and eventual use of the skill. The reflective educator should be able to apply these same fundamental strategies towards their own learning. From a administrator’s view, I was interested in the influencing and changing of belief systems in order to transform an organization.