Exploring the Relationship between Korean and Taiwanese Lower Secondary School Teachers’ ICT Professional Development and Educational Use of ICT: Based on the ICILS 2023 Data

This study aims to examine the relationship between middle school teachers' professional development (PD) experiences in information and communication technology (ICT) and their educational use of ICT in Korea and Taiwan, drawing on the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2023 teacher dataset.A total of 4,285 teachers were included in the analysis (Korea: 2,054; Taiwan: 2,231).Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, correlation analysis, and regression models were employed to identify patterns and predictive effects.The findings revealed that Taiwanese teachers reported higher levels of participation in ICT-related PD, whereas Korean teachers showed greater integration of ICT into classroom practice.Regression results confirmed that professional development significantly predicted teachers' ICT use in both countries, though the effects varied by domain.Korean teachers benefited more in areas of digital learning resources and information sharing, while Taiwanese teachers demonstrated stronger effects in information processing and productivity tool use.Even after controlling for national context, PD remained a significant and positive predictor of ICT use.This study highlights its novelty as one of the first empirical comparative analyses linking teacher PD and ICT use in Asian contexts using ICILS 2023 data.These results suggest that effective ICT integration requires alignment between curriculum goals, professional development content, and classroom implementation, supported by institutional and policy structures.The study contributes implications for designing teacher education and policy tailored to different national contexts.