Efe, R. (2011). Science Student Teachers and Educational Technology: Experience, Intentions, and Value. Educational Technology & Society, 14 (1), 228–240. 228 ISSN 1436-4522 (online) and 1176-3647 (print). © International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS). The authors and the forum jointly retain the copyright of the articles. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than IFETS must be honoured. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from the editors at kinshuk@ieee.org. Science Student Teachers and Educational Technology: Experience, Intentions, and Value Rifat Efe Dicle University, Z.G. Education Faculty, Department of Biology Education, Diyarbakir, 21280 Turkey // rifatefe@dicle.edu.tr ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this study is to examine science student teachers' experience with educational technology, their intentions for their own use, their intentions for their students’ use, and their beliefs in the value of educational technology in science instruction. Four-hundred-forty-eight science student teachers of different disciplines and levels participated in the study. A questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The data were analysed using correlations (Pearson), t-tests, and one-way ANOVA. Findings revealed differences amongst science student teachers from different subjects. Correlations were also found amongst science student teachers based on their educational technology experience, their intention to use educational technology, their intention to have their students use educational technology, and their belief in the value of educational technology for learning science. Science student teachers who were more experienced with educational technology had greater intentions of using the technology, were more likely to have theirs students use it, and believed more in its value. Keywords Improving classroom teaching, Teaching secondary education, Teaching learning strategies, Pedagogical issues Introduction The use of technology in education has become an increasingly important area of research during the past several decades. During this time, technology has been used as a medium to encourage inquiry, enhance communication, construct teaching materials, and assist students’ self-expression (Beak et al., 2008). The importance of technology for science in schools is impossible to ignore, as its use has the potential to contribute to science teaching and learning by expediting and enhancing work production, supporting exploration and experimentation, supporting collective knowledge-building, improving motivation and engagement, offering learners more responsibility and control through individual exploration and experimentation, and helping students to visualise processes more clearly (Henessy, 2006). Generally, technology in classroom-related activities refers to computers and videos and the associated hardware, networks, and software that enable them to function (Mehlinger and Powers, 2002). Educational technology has an effective role in moving from teacher-centred learning activities to student-centred learning activities. However, the role of a teacher remains crucial to the effective use of educational technologies (Zhao et al., 2001). Therefore, having teachers who are competent in using and managing educational technology is important. One way of solving this problem is by training student teachers in educational technology during their initial teacher education (Smarkola, 2008). Another important factor for focusing on educational technology during initial teacher education is the fact that student teachers or newly qualified teachers are more willing to learn and use educational technology in their classroom practises. Research reports that experienced teachers seem reluctant to incorporate educational technology in schools, while student teachers and newly qualified teachers are more confident users of educational technology (Galanouli and McNair, 2001; Madden et al. 2005; Sime and Priestley, 2005; Andersson, 2006). A study by Smarkola (2008) that included 160 student teachers and 158 experienced teachers found that both groups of teachers strongly believed in the need for additional computer-integrated training. Willis and Montes (2002) reported that pre-service teachers viewed computer technology as a useful tool for personal and professional development. Sime and Pristley (2005) argued that although many initial teacher education programmes provide appropriate support for students to develop their skills, it is important that the development of educational technology pedagogies are underpinned by a reasonable level of generic skills. Being technologically competent allows teachers to use computers as a part of the curriculum and as tools for authentic student engagement and learning (Smarkola, 2008). Despite the widely advocated usefulness of implementing technology-based teaching/learning activities, there are obstacles preventing teachers from using technology in their classrooms (Beak et al., 2008). According to Pelgrum