A survey of teachers from 55, primarily rural, school districts in southeastern Idaho examined teachers' perceptions of their own ability to use educational technology and their actual technology use. In addition, the study examined the effects of gender, education level, years of teaching, grade level assignment, number of subjects taught, number of students taught per day, and number of computers in the classroom. Of 6,000 surveys mailed, 3,500 were returned. Between one-third to one-half of respondents never used technology for instructional purposes and more than one-half of respondents rated themselves as novices in the use of technology and in computer literacy. Survey results also revealed that the educational level of respondents and the number of computers in the classroom were the best predictors of teachers' actual use of technology. More frequent use of technology was reported by recently hired teachers with Bachelor's degrees and by teachers who had a higher number of computers in their classrooms. In addition, education level and gender were the best predictors of teachers' perceived ability to use technology. Again, the lower the education level of the teacher, the higher the perceived ability of the teacher to use technology. Also, males tended to perceive themselves as having a higher ability to use technology than did females. No significant differences were found between teachers' actual use of technology and their perceptions of their ability to use technology. Includes data tables and survey questionnaire. Contains 13 references. (LP)