Examining the relationship between preschool teachers' technology acceptance levels and technology use self-efficacy status

This research was conducted to examine the relationship between preschool teachers' technology acceptance levels and technology use self-efficacy. The study group consisted of 181 pre-school teachers working in official independent kindergartens and kindergartens within primary and secondary schools in Bolu, Düzce and Sakarya provinces in the 2023-2024 academic year. The relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, the 'Technology Acceptance Scale for Teachers' and the Self-Efficacy Scale for the Use of Technology in Education. In the analysis of data; Kruskal Wallis H test with Mann Whitney U was used. The relationship between the two scales was examined using the Spearman Brown correlation coefficient. As a result of the analysis of the data; It was determined that the age variable created a significant difference in both the technology acceptance of preschool teachers and their technology use self-efficacy, and that participants under the age of 40 accepted technology significantly and higher than participants over 40 years of age and had technology use self-efficacy. It was concluded that the professional experience variable created a significant difference only in the anxiety and technological confusion sub-dimensions of the Technology Acceptance Scale and Technology Use Self-Efficacy Scale, and that anxiety and confusion increased as professional experience increased. While the educational background variable did not create a significant difference in the mean scores of the Technology Acceptance Scale, it was concluded that participants with postgraduate education had significantly higher scores for the Technology Use in Education Self-Efficacy Scale. Technology acceptance and self-efficacy levels of participants who received in-service training on technology were found to be significantly higher than those who did not receive training. The correlation coefficient for the relationship between Technology Acceptance and Technology Use Self-Efficacy Scale total scores was found to be 0.676. This coefficient indicates that there is a positive, moderately significant relationship between the scale scores.