Document Type : Original Research Paper-English Issue

Authors

• S. Bibak
• S. Asadian

Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The accelerating pace of technological change has rendered the effective integration of technology into education not merely desirable, but essential for preparing students for the demands of the 21st century. Educational systems worldwide have invested substantially in technological infrastructure to facilitate this integration. Yet, despite these considerable investments, the actual use of technology by teachers in classroom practice often remains below expectations. This persistent gap between infrastructure availability and meaningful technology integration suggests that access alone is insufficient. Prior research has identified teachers' beliefs, knowledge structures, and individual characteristics as key determinants of this phenomenon. Teachers' pedagogical beliefs function as cognitive filters that shape their decisions about whether and how to incorporate technology into their teaching. Their knowledge structures, particularly regarding how to integrate technology with subject content and pedagogical approaches, determine their capacity for effective implementation. Additionally, individual characteristics such as gender, age, teaching experience, and educational attainment may influence teachers' readiness to adopt technological innovations. However, studies simultaneously examining the roles of these variables within a comprehensive model remain scarce, particularly in the Iranian educational context. Accordingly, this study was conducted to elucidate the roles of technological beliefs, knowledge structures, and individual characteristics in technology integration among secondary school teachers in Tabriz, thereby addressing this significant gap in the literature.
Materials and Methods: This quantitative, applied study followed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population comprised all secondary school teachers in Tabriz during the 2023-2024 academic year (N = 4,973), representing diverse subject areas and educational districts. Using the Krejcie and Morgan table, a sample of 357 participants was selected through proportionate stratified random sampling to ensure representation across the city's five educational districts. Data were collected via four validated instruments: (1) a researcher-developed demographic questionnaire collecting information on gender, age, teaching experience, and educational attainment; (2) a 17-item knowledge structures questionnaire, measuring three dimensions (perceived technological knowledge, perceived knowledge for technology integration, and pedagogical uses of ICT) on a 5-point Likert scale; (3) a 14-item technological beliefs questionnaire inspired by Digital Pedagogical Beliefs framework; and (4) the 19-item technology integration questionnaire. Validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis and expert judgment by a panel of specialists in educational technology. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach's α) exceeded 0.70 for all instruments, indicating acceptable internal consistency. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) with Smart PLS 4 software.
Findings: The results revealed that technological beliefs were the strongest positive and significant predictor of classroom technology integration (β = 0.388, p < 0.01), consistent with theoretical frameworks emphasizing the role of teachers' perceptual filters in adopting educational innovations. Knowledge structures emerged as the second most influential factor (β = 0.287, p < 0.01), underscoring the centrality of the TPACK framework in meaningful technology integration. Among individual characteristics, only educational attainment showed a positive, significant association (β = 0.094, p < 0.05), whereas gender, age, and teaching experience had no statistically significant effects. This finding reinforces the notion that the capacity for technology integration is broadly distributed across the teaching force and not confined to specific demographic subgroups. The proposed model demonstrated excellent fit (NFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.056) and explained 68% of the variance in technology integration (R² = 0.68), indicating that the independent variables collectively account for a substantial proportion of predictive power.
Conclusions: The findings affirm that successful technology integration hinges less on demographic variables and more on the evolution of teachers' professional beliefs and the growth of integrated pedagogical-technological-content knowledge. This underscores the necessity of redefining teacher professional development programs—not merely as technical skill workshops, but as initiatives aimed at nurturing positive beliefs about technology's role in meaningful learning and cultivating TPACK-based knowledge structures grounded in authentic classroom challenges. Educational policymakers should prioritize interventions that target belief transformation and knowledge integration rather than focusing exclusively on infrastructure provision or basic digital literacy training.

Keywords

• Technology Integration
• Individual Characteristics
• Knowledge Structures
• ICT Beliefs
• Secondary School Teachers

Main Subjects

• Educational Technology - Blended Learning

COPYRIGHTS 
© 2026 The Author(s).  This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)