Teachers’ Attitudes and Perceptions towards the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education and the Effect of Training upon ICT Uptake
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Date
2013-06
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
The teachers’ attitude toward ICT is crucial in the implementation of computers as a teaching aid. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards the use of ICT and the effect of training upon ICT uptake by them. Three subject teachers from (N) School in Sharjah UAE were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used in the study where questionnaires were administered before and after the training; followed by weekly journals after each class for seven consecutive classes. Descriptive statistics were employed for analyzing the quantitative data and weekly journals were transcribed verbatim and then coded. Based on the finding, all the respondents were females with the age range of 20-49 years old. All teachers had ICT training but vary in the duration of the training. Teachers had positive attitudes towards and good competence at ICT and both attributes strengthened after the training. However, teachers’ computer perceptions and attributes were between neutral and positive with no significant improvement after the training. In conclusion, although teachers had positive attitudes and good computer competence based on the quantitative data, the qualitative data indicated that their utilization of ICT as a teaching aid is very limited. Future studies are required to explore the causes as to why teachers’ utilization is limited despite good attitudes about and competence at ICT. In addition, the causes of low teachers’ cultural perception and computer attribute that did not improve after the training should also be investigated. This study was done with three subject teachers all were female working in a suburban school, therefore, future investigations should include schools with various socio demographic characteristics and with a wider variety of subject teachers.
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Keywords
Information and Communication Technology (ICT), ICT training, United Arab Emirates (UAE)