Examining the Effects of Mandatory Technology Adoption on Public School Teacher’s Levels of Technostress
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Diane Foucar-Szocki
Department
Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education
Description
Everyone experiences some form of stress, and too often this is a result of the interaction with their work environments. Prior research has examined the effects of technostress in many fields. Studies have established technostress and technology adoption as a component of business and higher education, but has not looked at when technology adoption is mandatory in a public school system. The current study wished to examine the correlations between mandatory technology adoption and levels of self-reported technostress,--defined as the tension and pressure caused by the demands of new technology usage--experienced by public middle and high school teachers. The current study utilized a quantitative design, and collected data from all middle and high school teachers working in the school system. A Qualtrics survey was disseminated through the school's bulk email system and participants were given a total of 4 weeks to complete the survey if they so desired. The survey resembled the instrument used by Jena (2015) and was adapted to the current environment through collaboration and deliberation with a school representative. Items included measures of technostress creators, inhibitors, organizational support, job satisfaction and technology-enabled performance. Out of the possible pool of over 500 respondents, 151 teachers completed the survey within the time frame, yielding a 28.2% response rate. To ensure anonymity for respondents, no demographic information was collected except length of employment and grade level primarily taught. All participants have been employed since the mandatory adoption of the technology. Results seem to indicate that many organizational support items were correlated to successful inhibition of items of technostress in comparison to job satisfaction and technology-enabled performance. Technostress creators were associated with higher levels of self-reported technostress when scores on technostress inhibitors and organizational support were lower. This potentially lends evidence to the findings that organizational support, though only in particular methods, will lead to lower technostress levels in teachers. This can be a potential result of the school system providing teachers with courses in technology and professional development. The current study can be useful for examination of what factors influence proper adoption of new technologies and strategies to improve both teacher performance and classroom practices. This information may be considered useful as the elementary schools in the surveyed system have yet to incorporate the mandatory technology adoption policy. Other school systems may also decide to adopt and implement new technology or devices for enhancing student achievement, and will benefit from understanding how improving circumstances plays a role in inhibiting technostress.
Examining the Effects of Mandatory Technology Adoption on Public School Teacher’s Levels of Technostress
Everyone experiences some form of stress, and too often this is a result of the interaction with their work environments. Prior research has examined the effects of technostress in many fields. Studies have established technostress and technology adoption as a component of business and higher education, but has not looked at when technology adoption is mandatory in a public school system. The current study wished to examine the correlations between mandatory technology adoption and levels of self-reported technostress,--defined as the tension and pressure caused by the demands of new technology usage--experienced by public middle and high school teachers. The current study utilized a quantitative design, and collected data from all middle and high school teachers working in the school system. A Qualtrics survey was disseminated through the school's bulk email system and participants were given a total of 4 weeks to complete the survey if they so desired. The survey resembled the instrument used by Jena (2015) and was adapted to the current environment through collaboration and deliberation with a school representative. Items included measures of technostress creators, inhibitors, organizational support, job satisfaction and technology-enabled performance. Out of the possible pool of over 500 respondents, 151 teachers completed the survey within the time frame, yielding a 28.2% response rate. To ensure anonymity for respondents, no demographic information was collected except length of employment and grade level primarily taught. All participants have been employed since the mandatory adoption of the technology. Results seem to indicate that many organizational support items were correlated to successful inhibition of items of technostress in comparison to job satisfaction and technology-enabled performance. Technostress creators were associated with higher levels of self-reported technostress when scores on technostress inhibitors and organizational support were lower. This potentially lends evidence to the findings that organizational support, though only in particular methods, will lead to lower technostress levels in teachers. This can be a potential result of the school system providing teachers with courses in technology and professional development. The current study can be useful for examination of what factors influence proper adoption of new technologies and strategies to improve both teacher performance and classroom practices. This information may be considered useful as the elementary schools in the surveyed system have yet to incorporate the mandatory technology adoption policy. Other school systems may also decide to adopt and implement new technology or devices for enhancing student achievement, and will benefit from understanding how improving circumstances plays a role in inhibiting technostress.
