Investigating the relationship between information and communication ‎technology literacy and teachers' professional development during the Covid-19 ‎pandemic

The only remaining solution for the continuation of the activity of students during the Covid-19 pandemic was to move towards online education. The role of technology literacy, especially information and communication technology, is fundamental for the realization of online education for teachers. Modern societies employ information and communication technology as a tool to transform educational systems, support the development of the economy in agriculture, strengthen health and education, and establish a close connection between communities, teachers, and students. Various technological and social developments have affected all aspects of human life. On the one hand, the role of knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and personal characteristics that were very prominent in the past centuries has become ineffective.On the other hand, the role of many new sciences has been highlighted. Most of these changes have been caused by new technologies, especially information and communication. The potential of using information and communication technology in different areas of human life has a prominent role in human well-being and the prosperity of society. Improving the literacy of information and communication technologies is one of the main priorities of social, economic, and educational policies in many countries. Nowadays, having information and communication technology literacy can be very effective in enhancing the professional development of teachers. As a result, this research aimed to evaluate the relationship between information and communication technology literacy and teachers' professional development.

The current descriptive study adopted a correlational design. The statistical population under study included 615 elementary school teachers of Khorramshahr in 2021-2022. Using the stratified random sampling method and based on the Krejcie and Morgan’s table, 235 teachers from the community were selected for the final study. The questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The information and communication technology literacy questionnaire by Katz and McLean (2007) was used. It had 63 items and seven dimensions including describing (4 items), realizing (6 items), evaluating (4 items), managing (7 items), combining (9 items), creating (17 items), and communicating (16 items). Also, Nova professional development questionnaire (2008) was prepared having six dimensions. The dimensions in this questionnaire included educational items (5 items), teamwork (5 items), organizational skills (6 items), professional path development (6 items), interpersonal relationship development (4 items), and communication (4 items). The content validity and reliability of both questionnaires were confirmed based via Cronbach's alpha. Also, inferential statistics (Pearson's correlation coefficient test, stepwise regression, and t-test) were applied using SPSS 21 software.

The results showed a significant relationship between information and communication technology literacy and professional development. Also, skills such as communicating, creating, combining, and evaluating were dimensions capable of predicting the professional development of teachers. Finally, the findings proved that the current status of teachers' information and communication technology literacy and professional development was favorable.

This study recommends that education planners and policymakers consider the fields of improving teachers' information and communication technology literacy and put them at the center of in-service programs and training. It is also recommended to design and implement information and communication technology literacy courses for teacher training programs.