Attitudes towards Digital Educational Technologies among University Teachers with Different Spans of Professional Experience

Background. Subjective perception and attitudes towards digital technologies can both contribute to and hinder the optimal use of these technologies in the educational process, which determines the relevance of studying various factors of university teachers' attitudes towards digital educational technologies (DETs).

Objective. The purpose of the research is to identify the features of the attitudes towards the DETs, considered on the basis of the Tripartite Model of Attitudes, and its personality and motivational factors among university teachers with different work experience.

Study Participants. The study involved 184 teachers (78.3% females) of Russian universities aged 22 to 83 years: 53 teachers had the teaching experience of a span from 0.5 to 5 years, the teaching experience of 60 teachers ranged from 6 to 19 years, 71 teachers were with teaching experience from 20 to 60 years.

Methods. The author's "Attitudes towards DETs Scale for University Teachers"; Work Motivation Questionnaire (WMQ) adapted by E.N. Osin et al., and the Russian version of the "Five-Factor Inventory (FFI)", adapted by M.V. Bodunov and S.D. Biryukov were applied.

Results. The majority of the studied university teachers have fairly positive attitudes towards the DETs regardless of their work experience. The DETs' emotional component is the most pronounced and the behavioural component is the least pronounced in all groups; and significant differences between the groups are recorded only for the cognitive component. The most significant positive predictors of attitudes towards the DETs in the total sample are intrinsic work motivation and conscientiousness; in the group with teaching experience from 0.5 to 5 years, integrated motivation was the most significant positive predictor; in the group with experience from 6 to 19 years, intrinsic motivation was the key predictor; in the group with experience from 20 to 60 years, emotional stability and extraversion were the main predictors.

Conclusions. The features of the attitudes towards the DETs among university teachers with different teaching experience are manifested not in the expression of the emotional, cognitive and behavioural components of these attitudes, but rather in their relations with types of work motivation and personality traits. This fact must be taken into account in the development of programmes for psychological support and advanced training for university teachers in the digital era.

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