No pain, no gain? Teachers implementing ICT in instruction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between 99 Finnish primary and secondary teachers in their frequency and nature of information and communication technology (ICT) use, levels of ICT implementation, functional uses and perceived values about educational use of ICT. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected with an online questionnaire and analyzed with expectancy‐value theory as a theoretical background. Findings Teachers use ICT mostly for administrative tasks. Teachers' methods of utilizing student‐centred approaches in their teaching, proficiency levels in relation to ICT, and their self‐reported stage of ICT integration into teaching strongly depend on how much ICT teachers use in their teaching activities. Primary teachers value utilizing ICT in teaching more positively than secondary teachers even though secondary teachers reported being more active in the use of ICT in various functional uses. Pedagogical thinking in educational institutes has not advanced in parallel with technological advances; teachers in basic education are still using ICT mainly for informational, organizational, evaluative, and lesson‐planning activities instead of communicative, activating, creative, and expressive purposes. Originality/value This study was able to produce further evidence to support the claim that providing teachers with computer technology will lead them to integrate computers into teaching activities, which in turn will give them more support in their perceived proficiency at computer use and help them to advance in the stage of computer integration.