Investigating variables predicting Turkish pre-service teachers' integration of ICT into teaching practices

Pre-service teachers need to acquire information and communications technology (ICT) competency in order to integrate ICT into their teaching practices. This research was conducted to investigate to what extent ICT-related variables—such as perceived ICT competence, perceived competence in ICT integration, attitudes toward ICT, anxiety around ICT usage, external barriers to ICT integration, ICT-related courses, pedagogical knowledge, and prior experience concerning the use of ICT—predict the dependent variable “integration of ICT into teaching practices” for pre-service teachers. Data were gathered from 599 pre-service teachers from the subject areas of Turkish language, social sciences, elementary mathematics, and science in their fourth year of training programs. The study indicated that pedagogical knowledge, ICT-related courses, and perceived ICT competence significantly predicted integration of ICT into teaching practice. These three variables predicted and accounted for 17% of the integration of ICT into teaching practices. The findings of this study showed that pre-service teacher-training programs, especially pedagogical knowledge and ICT-related courses, have a significant effect in enabling pre-service teachers to use ICT in their teaching practices.