The influence of principal's technology leadership on teachers' self-efficacy and ICT use in teaching

• Main Author: Chee, Kin Siong
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2012
• Subjects: L Education (General); T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14998/1/Chee%20Kin%20Siong%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14998/

(This study empirically investigated the relationship between principals' technology leadership, teachers' self-efficacy and teachers' ICT use in teaching. Simultaneously, it also attempted to determine whether the relationships were conditional on teachers' age and ICT skill levels. In this study, a conceptual model (moderated mediation model of principals' technology leadership influence) that incorporated all these relationships was proposed for empirical testing. Prior to the main study, a pilot test was conducted to examine the validity and reliability of the survey instrument A stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample for the main study, consisting of science and mathematics teachers from secondary schools in Malaysia. After the data screening process, 279 valid responses were subjected to further analyses. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique utilizing AMOS Version 18 was carried out to test the validity of the overall model and the hypothesized relationships between the theoretical constructs. Findings in this study showed that there were evidences of significant direct relationships between; (a) principals' technology leadership and teachers' ICT use in teaching; (b) principals' technology leadership and teachers' selfefficacy; and (c) teachers' self-efficacy and ICT use in teaching. The mediation test revealed that teachers' self-efficacy mediated the relationship between principals' technology leadership and teachers' ICT use in teaching. The moderated mediation analyses revealed that; (a) the mediated effect was not moderated by teachers' age; and (b) there was evidence of moderation by teachers' ICT skill levels. As such, the mediation effect was stronger for teachers with lower ICT skill levels. It was concluded that principals' technology leadership influenced teachers' ICT use in teaching both direct and indirectly through teachers' self-efficacy depending on teachers' ICT skill levels and the mediated effect was stronger among teachers with lower ICT skill levels compared to those with higher ICT skill levels. This work is a significant contribution to the understanding of the complex relationships between principals' technology leadership, teachers' self-efficacy and ICT use in teaching.