How do vocational teachers use technology? The role of perceived digital competence and perceived usefulness in technology use across different teaching profiles

Different models and frameworks have been developed to study technology integration in education and teachers’ adoption of technology in their practice (for an overview, see Niederhauser & Lindstrom, 2018 ). These models and frameworks differ from each other, but they all attribute a prominent role to (1) teachers’ value beliefs, particularly their perceived usefulness (PU) of technologies for teaching and (2) ability or self-efficacy beliefs regarding the use of educational technologies (Backfisch et al., 2021 ). This view aligns with the technology acceptance model (TAM; Davis, 1989 ). A recent meta-analysis (Scherer & Teo, 2019 ) considered the former component (1) and the main constructs of TAM and found that PU plays an even more important and direct role in behavioural intention than other constructs, such as teachers’ attitudes toward technology. Regarding the latter component (2), teachers’ digital competence may be a better measure than the general computer self-efficacy used in TAM models, especially when measured with self-assessment tools. One of the most frequently used models for teachers’ digital competence is DigCompEdu (Redecker & Punie, 2017 ).