The relationship between technology leadership and teacher ICT competency in higher education

• Published in: Education and information technologies Vol. 27; no. 7; pp. 10285 - 10307
• Main Authors: Yuting, Zhang, Adams, Donnie, Lee, Kenny Cheah Soon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic Ability; Analysis; College Faculty; Competence; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Science; Computers and Education; Core competencies; Correlation; Education; Education, Higher; Educational leadership; Educational objectives; Educational Technology; Empowerment; Faculty College Relationship; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Influence of Technology; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Information Technology; Innovation; Instructional Leadership; Interpersonal Relationship; Leaders; Leadership Effectiveness; Leadership Responsibility; Leadership Role; Organizational Effectiveness; Public Colleges; Stakeholders; Student Leadership; Teacher Competencies; Teacher Leadership; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Team Teaching; Technological Literacy; Technology Integration; Technology Uses in Education; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Vision; China; Malaysia; Technology leadership; ICT competency; Higher education; Technology leaders
• ISSN: 1360-2357; 1573-7608
• DOI: 10.1007/s10639-022-11037-0

Ever-changing educational technology brings new challenges and opportunities in higher education. To keep up with the trends of the digital era when technology integration is emphasized as one key feature, university leaders should take technology-related responsibilities on motivating and cooperating with teachers to achieve effective technology integration. However, existing explorations mainly discussed the effects of technology leaders on organizational effectiveness or students’ learning outcomes. This study applies descriptive-correlational design to investigate the relationship between university leaders’ and teachers’ technological behaviors and practices. Quantitative data was collected from a Likert questionnaire of 298 teachers in a public university in China and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated a significant direct relationship between technology leadership and teacher ICT competency, all five dimensions of technology leadership showed significant positive effects on teachers. Also, implications and suggestions for current practices and future studies are presented.