ICT SELF-EFFICACY-IN-CONTEXT: EXPLORATIONS ON MODERATORS SURROUNDING KOREAN ELDERLY TEACHERS WITHIN CONCENTRIC LAYERED ECOLOGICAL STRUCTURES. Data analyses on ICILS 2018 dataset within the Structural Equation Modelling framework

Abstract

Aim The thesis aims to examine the presence of a relationship between teacher’s age and ICT selfefficacy (Information and Communication Technology self-efficacy) in the context of South Korean lower-secondary education. Additionally, the thesis aims to investigate the size and direction of moderating effects that affect the relationship between teacher’s age and ICT self-efficacy. Theory Within an interdisciplinary theoretical approach aligned with the thesis aim, the Digital Divide theory, Job Demand-Resources (JD-R) Model, and Communities of Practice (CoP) theory were intertwined with Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST). EST proposes that human development occurs through constant interactions between an individual and surrounding ecological factors located in phased layers. The theoretical framework positions moderating variables within each layer of a concentric structured model based on proximity to the individual. An individual teacher with a demographic trait (age) is located at the model core, while the model situates individual- and schoollevel factors in respective layers. Accordingly, the thesis inspects the theory-driven moderators to validate whether these theoretical frameworks also apply with the target context as theorized. Method The study analyzes a representative sample of teachers and school principals recruited from lower-secondary schools across South Korea from the ICILS 2018 dataset. Data analyses are conducted through a two-phased procedure within the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) framework. Phase 1 involves correlation analysis and simple regression to examine the relationship between a teacher’s age and ICT self-efficacy, utilizing IBM-SPSS. Phase 2 includes moderation analyses using the Process Macro Extension program. These moderation analyses measure size and direction of the moderators on the relationship between independent variable (teacher’s age; T_AGE) and dependent variable (teacher’s ICT self-efficacy; T_ICTEFF). A selection of moderators encompasses teacher’s frequency of participation in professional development for ICT-usage (T_PROF), the degree of teacher’s collaboration for ICT-usage (T_COLICT), and school principal’s expectation and requirement on teachers’ ICT skills and knowledge acquisition (P_EXPLRN). Results Findings confirmed that empirical data partially supported the hypothesized models. Initially, the correlation result identifies that elderly teachers have lower ICT self-efficacy compared to other age groups of teachers. Then, the moderation analysesresults reveal that teacher-level moderators(T_PROF, T_COLICT) alleviate the negative correlation between T_AGE and T_ICTEFF, while a school-level moderator (P_EXPLRN) does not. Hence, supporting elderly teachers within the proximal layers of their ecological structure is verified to be a viable strategy for their ICT self-efficacy enhancement.