Teacher’s Technology Use and Attitude Towards E-Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

Today, teachers are confronted with two big challenges: with the need to learn about new technologies and how to integrate them into the teaching and learning process, and with the need to change course design from content-oriented to active and engaging learning settings. This is not an easy process as teachers are faced with technologies with which the most of them are not familiar. Numerous studies have been dealing with teachers’ problems in accepting new technologies, focusing mainly on the how to use technology and only lately on its integration into the teaching and learning process. Studies show that successful implementation of educational technologies depends largely on the attitudes of educators and that their attitude is a major enabling/disabling factor in the adoption of technology (Albirini, 2006; Mahdizadeh et al. 2008; Al-Zaidiyeen et al. 2010; Krishnakumar & Rajesh Kumar, 2011; Babić, 2012). The research examined, from the perspective of teachers at the University of Zagreb, their attitude towards ICT and e-learning in higher education. The research found that teachers have a positive attitude towards e-learning. Permanent and reliable organized support and promotion of e-learning has contributed to this attitude. Teachers find that ICT and e- learning enable education adjusted to meet the needs of today’s students, collaborative learning, better achievement of learning outcomes and knowledge management. A small number of them think that ICT and e-learning merely represent more work for teachers, that they underestimate teachers’ role in the education process and that they have no impact on teaching and learning. This confirms that teachers’ attitude towards technology influences their perception of the usefulness of technology and how it can be integrated into teaching.