Physical Education Teachers’ Technology Self-Efficacy and Integration

Technology in education strives to parallel the high-tech world we live in. When students’ learning environment reflects the ways in which they engage the world, they will excel in their education (Christen, 2009). Physical education teachers (PETs) have reported many barriers to using and integrating educational technology (e.g., Hill & Valdez-Garcia, 2020). PETs' perceived self-efficacy (SE) may play an important role in their ability to integrate technology. The purpose of this study was to explore in-service PETs' self-efficacy to integrate technology into their teaching. Method: Eighty-three in-service PETs (Male=31.3%, Female=68.7%), from around the United States, completed an online version of the previously validated Computer Technology Integration Survey for Physical Education (Krause, 2017). Analysis focused on relationships of participant's SE and technology use. Results indicate a relationship with the level of mastery experiences (r=.48, p<.001), technology training (r=.45, p<.001), social persuasion experiences (r=.28, p<.001), and (vicarious experiences (r=.28, p<.01), to participants’ technology SE (M=3.70, SD= .94; 1-5 scale). Participants' specific technology training and use are presented, with corresponding correlations to indicate how well SE relates to use. Participants’ SE was lower than physical education student teachers (Krause, 2017) but similar to PET education faculty (O’Neil & Krause, 2019). PETs may be well equipped to use educational technology after student teaching but may need more training to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology. Professional development opportunities for PETs should focus on providing mastery experiences over vicarious and social persuasion experiences. Furthermore, some educational tools (i.e., Plickers) are valued and used more when PETs have an adequate level of specific educational technology training. Future research should focus on measuring the effects of a professional development workshop on PETs' SE.