Mandatory use of technology in teaching : who cares and so what?

Today's teachers are expected to use modern digital technology (DT) to optimise pedagogical effects. Singaporean policy makers have introduced directives to explicitly require teachers to apply DT in teaching. Inherent in such directives is an assumption that by requiring teachers to apply DT, they will perceive its value and use it in their teaching. This paper tests this assumption. Students in initial teacher education programs in Singapore responded to a survey on four variables about their use of DT: (1) compliance with requirements, (2) sense of competence, (3) perceived value and (4) frequency of DT application. Compliance was found to be negatively correlated with competence and uncorrelated with frequency, indicating that teachers who were more competent in DT were less likely to be compliant and those who were compliant may not actually apply DT in teaching. In contrast, both competence and value were positively correlated with frequency of application. Compliance differs for students in different programs and is higher for females. The results indicate that mandating use of DT may not be useful. A more productive approach may be to enhance the competence of teachers in DT so that they value its effectiveness and are confident to apply it in classroom activities.