Academics' Perceptions of Using Technology with Face-to-Face Teaching

Abstract

Many academics are using technology in their teaching, and universities are strongly involved in the provision of support to help academics make the most effective use of the technology. How academics perceive technology for teaching partly filters their response to the provided support. It is therefore useful to explore academics' perceptions of the use of technology in teaching. The study (N=53) reported on in this chapter provides insights into academic perceptions of teaching with technology by addressing the questions: (1) Which teaching tools (both face-to-face teaching and digital) are most popular? (2) For what purpose are the tools being used? (3) Do academics intend to extend their current use of technology with face-to-face teaching for the purposes of implementing learning strategies? and (4) Which feasibility conditions do academics perceive to be important to the realization of their intended use of technology ? The results of the study show that, for the academics in the study, face-to-face teaching is perceived as the preferred tool, especially for learning purposes such as helping students to understand concepts. The use of technology by the academics was limited to the simpler digital tools, and these were used mostly for non-learning-related purposes such as communication. However, the academics expressed the intent to increase their use of technology for improving learning in the future, and perceived feasibility conditions such as professional and technical support, teaching facilities, and especially time to be important to the realization of their intentions.