Edited by Dr. David J. Ayersman, Mary Washington College, and Dr. W. Michael Reed, New York University

formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Soner Yildirim
Middle East Technical University

Abstract

This study examined the changes in preservice and inservice teachers’ attitudes toward computers following their participation in an educational computing class, and it explored the factors that contributed to their computer use. The study used data from 114 preservice and inservice teachers (83 female, 31 male) who attended a university in southern California. Results of doubly multivariate repeated measures indicated that teachers’ attitudes (anxiety, confidence, and liking) significantly improved after the computer literacy course. The follow-up study indicated that teachers’ prior computer experience shaped their expectations of the course. Teachers reported that having a home computer, a professor’s willingness to teach, and the current use of technology in the schools at which they work also influenced their attitudes toward and use of computers.

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Clinton, W. (1997, February). State of the Union address. Address to the U.S. Congress. Available: www.whitehouse.gov/WH/SOU97/index.html.

Contributor

Soner Yildirim is an assistant professor of instructional technology at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. He received his MA in educational systems development in from Michigan State University 1993 and his PhD in instructional technology from the University of Southern California in 1997. His current research interests include preservice and inservice teacher education, integration of technology into preservice teacher education, and teaching with technology. He is also working for the Turkish Ministry of National Education as a consultant in the information technology component of the Eight-Year Compulsory Basic Education Program, partially financed by the World Bank.

Address: Dr. Soner Yildirim, Department of Computer Education & Instructional Technology, Middle East Technical University, 06351 Ankara, Turkey; soner@metu.edu.tr.

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