Teacher and Context Factors Associated with the Educational Use of ICT: A Costa Rican Case Study

Abstract

This paper studies the factors that influence the progress of teachers in Costa Rica with regards to their educational use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in teaching and learning processes with their students. It addresses both the analysis of factors related to the figure of the teacher, their professional profile, and other factors that are external to them and are related to the context in which they practice. A qualitative method involving a case study of seven teachers was selected according to relevant and maximum variation sampling based on expert criteria. The information was collected utilizing in-depth interviews and systematic observation. The analysis of the information was based on the qualitative data analysis software program ATLAS.ti. The results highlight two categories of factors, those of the teacher, such as vocation, beliefs, teaching model, desire for personal fulfillment, or personal issues, and those of context, such as technical support and support of the management structure of the school, with more significant influence on the processes of appropriation and use of ICT in teaching practices of those factors linked to the teachers themselves.