Examining teachers' CBT use in the classroom: A study in secondary schools in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current status of computer-based technology (CBT) use in secondary schools in Taiwan. A questionnaire was developed to investigate teachers' attitudes toward computers and their application of CBT in instruction. We randomly sampled 100 secondary school science teachers and found that in general they did use CBT for accessing the internet and other teaching-related work. The surveyed teachers had a very positive attitude toward computers, yet we found their attitude was significantly correlated with their age and seniority. The older and more senior teachers generally held a less positive attitude toward computers. As for the application of computer-based technology in classroom instruction, most teachers claimed at least a moderate degree of implementation of CBT in the classroom. In gender difference, male teachers in general used more CBT in their instructional strategies than did female teachers. As far as age was concerned, middle-aged and more experienced teachers tended to integrate more CBT into their instruction than younger and novice teachers, even though the latter group held a more positive attitude toward computers. In correlation analysis we discovered that with male but not with female teachers, there was a direct correlation between degree of positive attitude toward computers and degree of application of CBT in classroom instruction.