2020 VOL. 7, No. 2
Abstract: This study was carried out with 86 primary school teachers in Kenya’s Narok County and explored factors affecting integration of ICT in teaching and learning. Multiple regression was used for data analysis. The results revealed that 32.5% of the variance was explained by the independent and extraneous variables (R2 = 0.325, P = 0.001) and was statistically significant. Attitude was found to be a significant predictor of teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT in teaching and learning (β = 0.259, p < 0.05) while performance expectancy (β = 0.148, p > 0.05), effort expectancy (β = -0.185, p > 0.05), social influence (β = 0.029, p > 0.05), facilitating condition (β = 0.194, p > 0.05), self-efficacy (β = 0.195, p > 0.05) and anxiety (β = 0.074, p > 0.05) were not significant predictors. The study recommends training of teachers on subject-specific ICT technologies, that laptops and computers be availed for use by teachers and pupils, that School Heads be trained on how to monitor and support integration of ICT by teachers and that governments provide schools with requisite ICT infrastructure.
Keywords: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, self-efficacy, attitude, anxiety and intention to use Information Communication Technology.
The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in education cannot be overemphasised. ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunication (Ratheeswari, 2018). In modern societies, the economy is driven by information and knowledge and, hence, the need for a workforce with competencies in ICT. In education, Qualter (2011) opines that ICT has transformed the teaching landscape significantly where the teachers’ roles have changed from what had always been assumed. Qualter notes that learners should embrace ICT as part of the digital age and use it to enhance their learning. ICT is associated with increasing learners’ creativity, ability to reflect on what is learned and development of problem-solving skills. According to Higgins (2003), research studies have shown that ICT can facilitate pupils’ learning and effective teaching. The Elimu Yetu Coalition (2013) further observes that ICTs provide opportunities for teachers to improve their teaching practices through improved educational content and better pedagogies and can improve learning processes by providing interactive educational materials.
The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in education cannot be overemphasised. ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunication (Ratheeswari, 2018). In modern societies, the economy is driven by information and knowledge and, hence, the need for a workforce with competencies in ICT. In education, Qualter (2011) opines that ICT has transformed the teaching landscape significantly where the teachers’ roles have changed from what had always been assumed. Qualter notes that learners should embrace ICT as part of the digital age and use it to enhance their learning. ICT is associated with increasing learners’ creativity, ability to reflect on what is learned and development of problem-solving skills. According to Higgins (2003), research studies have shown that ICT can facilitate pupils’ learning and effective teaching. The Elimu Yetu Coalition (2013) further observes that ICTs provide opportunities for teachers to improve their teaching practices through improved educational content and better pedagogies and can improve learning processes by providing interactive educational materials.
Teachers should embrace ICT in their teaching to take advantage of the gains associated with the effective use of ICT. Qualter (2011) concludes that integration of ICT provides learners with opportunities to explore ideas using ICT tools, and to relate their personal experiences with the world’s big ideas enhancing their conceptualisation of ideas. Hence, ICT breaks learning barriers associated with the traditional classroom practices since abstract concepts can be simplified through simulation.
Despite the fact that use of ICT in teaching has been associated with some benefits, Chigona and Chigona (2010) argue that the benefits of using ICT in teaching are yet to be realised in developing countries. The study by Chigona and Chigona concluded that insufficient training on the use of ICT in teaching, inadequate ICT tools and inadequate technical support for teachers were some of the factors that limited teachers’ integration of ICT in teaching and learning in South Africa. Another study, also conducted in South Africa (Balume, Edmor & Simbabrashe, 2018), found that poor training, negative attitudes, lack of Physical Education (PE) ICT training and lack of PE ICT software affected integration of ICT in the teaching of PE. In Kenya, a government project that provided ICT tablets to primary schools for teaching and learning failed at its infancy stage (Nyaundi, 2019). Some of the reasons that were given for the project failure include: poor training of teachers, lack of electrical power and power disconnections due to non-payment of electricity bills. Hence, teachers lacked ICT skills and ICT infrastructure to support the use of ICT tablets.
However, Chigona and Chigona (2010) argue that it is incorrect to link lack of ICT infrastructure and access to technologies with the limited use of ICT in pedagogy since, even in situations where the infrastructure was available, use of ICTs was still low. Balume, Edmor and Simbabrashe (2018) also indicate that in South Africa, teachers had adequate ICT hardware but there were other factors that affected teachers’ integration of ICT. A study by Fumei, Rong-Jou, Hann-Jang and Hui-Mei (2018) found that teachers’ intention to utilise multimedia teaching material was significantly influenced by teachers’ attitude. These findings underscore the importance of teachers’ attitude in integration of ICT in teaching and learning.
Palagolla and Wickramarachchi (2019) observe that in Kenya, even the schools that had ICT infrastructure were also not using the ICT tablets. These observations clearly show there are other underlying factors that underpin integration of ICT in teaching and learning that need to be investigated.
Leveraging the pedagogical benefits associated with use of ICT in teaching and learning, the government of Kenya acknowledges that ICT is a driver for knowledge, innovation and skills development and for solving educational challenges related to access, quality, relevance and equity (Ministry of Education, 2019). The Republic of Kenya [RoK], (2018) indicates that Kenya requires ICT-literate teachers who can integrate ICT in teaching to enhance the quality of teaching and to enrich students’ learning experiences, as well as equipping students with 21st-Century skills. Despite the potential presented by integration of ICT in teaching and learning, Ofsted (2011) indicated that use of ICT across the curriculum was in its infancy stage. RoK (2018) observes that teachers should have ICT competencies and pedagogical abilities to integrate ICT effectively in teaching and learning, while UNESCO (2011) concludes that successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning depends on teachers’ ability to structure the learning environment in new ways, blend new technology with new pedagogy, develop socially active classrooms, and encourage co-operative interaction, collaborative learning and group work.
In Kenya, a government initiative provided schools with ICT tablets and teachers were trained on how to use them for teaching. To ensure schools are using ICT in teaching, efforts to create an enabling environment for ICT integration in schools has been ongoing and appropriate policies have been formulated, notably: Sessional Paper No. 1 (2019), the Basic Education Act (2013), Sessional Paper No.14 (2012), the National ICT Strategy for Education and Training (2006), the Teachers Service Commission Act (2012), the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Act (2012), the Kenya National Examination Council Act (2012) and the National Education Sector Support Programme (NESSP), 2013 (Elimu Yetu Coalition, 2013). Despite these efforts by the government towards integration of ICT, anecdotal evidence shows that uptake of ICT in teaching and learning by teachers has been at an all-time low. Nyaundi (2019) reports that despite the Kenya government supplying 95% of learners in Standard One with tablets, the tablets were not being used and remained locked in storage rooms. It is not clear why teachers were not using the tablets in teaching. Therefore, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, empirical data from teachers on factors that underpinned integration of ICT in teaching and learning was used to determine primary school teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT.
Integration of ICT in many economic sectors came with effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. Research reports have shown that ICT has pedagogical benefits that teachers should explore. The Republic of Kenya [RoK] (2018) asserts that ICT has the capacity to deal with the challenges of access, quality and relevance faced by Kenya’s education system. Towards this end, the Kenya Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF) has identified ICT to be a key delivery tool for subject contents. This implies that teachers are expected to using ICT in curriculum delivery. According to the RoK (2018), all teachers were required to be ICT literate by 2015 to implement the policy, while pre-service teacher trainees were also expected to acquire ICT competencies within the same period. Despite the government directive that teachers should use ICT in teaching and learning, primary school teachers were slow to embrace ICT in their teaching, raising questions about teachers’ acceptability of ICT for teaching. Adoption of any technology depends on its acceptability by the users (teachers). This study investigated factors that determined teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT in teaching and learning.
Specifically, the study sought to identify factors that influenced primary school teachers’ Behavioral Intension (BI) to integrate ICT in teaching and learning in Kenya’s primary schools. Specifically, the study addressed the following two objectives:
The following hypotheses informed the research.
HO1: Performance Expectancy has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO2: Effort Expectancy has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO3: Social Influence has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO4: Facilitating Conditions have no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO5: Attitude has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO6: Self-efficacy has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO7: Anxiety has no statistically significant influence on teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching.
Research findings indicate that ICT can facilitate teaching and learning in diverse ways. UNESCO (2011) asserts that teachers should use ICT to help students become collaborative problem-solvers and creative learners so that they can become effective citizens and members of the workforce. Hence the benefits of integrating ICT in teaching and learning transcend academic performance in school examinations. UNESCO has gone further to identify three stages for teacher development relating to the use of ICT, which are Technology Literacy geared towards enabling students to use ICT in learning, Knowledge Deepening for enabling students to acquire in-depth knowledge of their school subjects and applying it in complex real-world situations; and Knowledge Creation which focuses on students’ creation of new knowledge required for a more harmonious, fulfilling and prosperous life. The three stages of teacher development aim at building teachers’ capacity so that they can use ICT in teaching and learning.
UNESCO (2011) observe that teachers should go beyond acquisition of ICT competencies to being able to use ICT to enable students to become collaborative, creative and critical thinkers. It is mooted that such learners would become responsible members of society and an effective workforce for the country’s national development later in life. In the same vein, the National Research Council (2000) observes that use of ICT in teaching and learning processes is necessary in refocusing teaching towards meaningful learning which is needed in current knowledge-based society.
Qualter (2011) argues that both teachers and learners can use ICT for communication, learning, information seeking and retrieval. To achieve these, both teachers and the learners should be grounded with ICT knowledge, skills and information literacy so that they can conceptualise and interrogate the veracity of the huge amount of information availed by ICT. Additionally, they should have language skills, critical thinking skills and be able to communicate both face-to-face and virtually.
Qualter (2011) has identified the role of teachers as ICT users to include: modeling effective use of ICT, accessing information, making use of information, communicating with others, preparing teaching and expanding their knowledge and skills on use of ICT. These are critical skills for effective utilisation of ICT in teaching and learning. Needham (2011) provides examples of ICT tools that could be used for teaching and learning and identified audios, websites, Location and Google Earth, wikis, weblogs (blogs) podcasting, video clips and social media among others. It is evident that the long list of ICT technologies is ever-growing, demonstrating the dynamic nature of ICT technologies. Teachers should, therefore, update themselves frequently on the emerging ICT tools for teaching and learning and acquaint themselves with their uses. This implies frequent professional development for teachers.
Qualter (2011) reiterates that despite the fact that ICT has huge potential in providing varied learning experiences to the learners, the role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning is still very critical. Morris (2018) asserts that the hype surrounding the use of ICT in teaching and learning should not be mistaken to imply replacement of teachers with ICT. The role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning still remains and, hence, teachers should align pedagogies with ICT technologies.
Kenya has singled out Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a foundation for socio-economic transformation. The Ministry of Education (MoE) (2019) acknowledges that ICT is important in transforming education and addressing significant challenges of access, quality, relevance and equity in education. Kenya’s Ministry of Education has leveraged government support to integrate ICT in curriculum delivery. Hence, teachers should have the capacity to integrate ICT in education provision. To ensure successful integration of ICT in education by the teachers, the Kenya government has committed itself to expanding ICT infrastructure, building teachers capacity, enhancing availability and utilisation of digital learning materials and open educational resource, and strengthening ICT-based curriculum delivery and assessment approaches.
The 21st Century has seen a proliferation of the use of ICT with many countries (Australia, New Zealand, USA, England [and Hong Kong], for example) availing ICT tools in classroom settings (Eadie, 2011). According to Ofsted (2008), the United Kingdom had the highest number of classrooms embedded with ICT among the European Union countries. The technological changes in the classrooms are being driven by the anticipation that ICT would positively transform education. The 21st-Century knowledge-based society has been associated with increased academic content openly and freely available for students, which is transforming the role of the teacher from that of content delivery to a supporter of learners in helping them to make sense of the openly and freely available content (Bates, 2016).
In a knowledge-based society, greater focus is, therefore, more on teaching skills for a digital generation and less on subject content mastery. Hence, teachers need to be keen to use the existing ICT technologies that could make them meet the demands of the 21st-Century classrooms. To this end, the 21st-Century curriculum has emphasised changing from content-based to skill-based approaches, with many countries adopting competency-based curricula. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development [KICD] (2017) recommends that ICT should be the main content delivery tool in all the subjects under the new Basic Education Curriculum Framework.
Palagolla and Wickramarachchi (2019) opine that teachers’ ICT competency, ICT infrastructure, leadership support and school planning are critical elements for effective integration of ICT in classrooms. Cleaves and Toplis (2012) further observe that teachers should be aware of the role of ICT in facilitating and motivating students’ learning. According to Cleaves and Toplis, ICT can inspire students’ conceptualisation, communication of ideas, information gathering and analysis. Crook, Farrington-Fleet, Tomacs and Underwood (2010) observe that video and mobile phones can be used for recording practical activities and field trips, photography for capturing important events for future discussions, blogs for student-student and teacher-student interactions, Internet for searching information, “clickers” for responding to questions in real time and wikis for collaborative learning. Integration of ICT in teaching and learning, therefore, provides teachers with opportunities for practising innovative learner-centered pedagogies in authentic learning environments.
The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model (TPACK.ORG, 2012) has explained the process of successful embedding of technology in teaching and learning. The framework guides teachers on how to effectively engage learners with technology (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). TPACK.ORG assert that for teachers to effectively embed technology in their teaching, they should possess Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK).
TCK represents how technology is used in a specific subject area to facilitate deeper and lasting learning while TPK is about choosing and managing technology to facilitate learning. TPACK is therefore a framework to identify the knowledge that teachers should possess in order to teach with technology effectively. The framework acknowledges the fact that learners operate in different contexts in terms of grade-level, school-specific factors, demographics, culture, and other factors and, hence, no single combination of content, technology, and pedagogy can fit all the teaching and learning contexts. Hence, integration of ICT in teaching and learning should also focus on the learners’ context in addition to technological and pedagogical knowledge.
Teachers should, therefore, use the TPACK model to structure and plan learning experiences in their subject areas based on the knowledge and skills they need to share with their learners, how learners would gain the knowledge and skills and the ideal technological tools that would enable effective learning and sharing of the knowledge and skills. Morris (2018) concludes that effective digital pedagogy goes beyond selecting tools and improving students’ performance in examinations.
The current study was guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology [UTAUT] model (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis & Davis, 2003). Venkatesh and team evaluated eight of the most common technology acceptance models and frameworks and used their salient features to form the UTAUT model. UTAUT is a more versatile technology acceptance model, which unifies all the existing theories regarding adoption of technology by users and it is postulated that UTAUT models can explain 70% of the variance in user intention. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the UTAUT model is the most effective model for analysing technology acceptance.
The UTAUT model consists of four main determinants, namely, Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), and Facilitating Conditions (FC). The four determinants influence the Behavioural Intention (BI) to use technology, which, in turn, influences the actual usage behaviour. UTAUT also has four moderators (gender, age, experience, and willingness to use). Venkatesh et al, (2003) conclude that the four moderators affect usage of technology. The UTAUT model is represented diagrammatically in Figure 1.
Figure 1: The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model. Source: Chao (2019)
Evans (2009) explains the four determinants/predictors of technology acceptance as follows:
Evans (2009) explains how the four moderating influences work as follows: Gender affects PE, EE and SI, while age affects PE, EE, SI and FC. Experience influences EE, SI and FC and Voluntary (Self-efficacy) use affect SI.
The present study hypothesised that PE, EE, SI, FC, self-efficacy, attitude and anxiety all influence teachers’ Behavioural Intentions (BI) to integrate ICT in their teaching. Evans (2009) asserts that BI measures the intention to use the technology and assumes people can access the technology. Educenter (2019) observes that BI as an attitude can either be positive or negative. A study by Mwunda and Ogutu, (2018) found that teachers’ ICT competency was a significant determinant of behavioural intention to integrate ICTs in teaching and learning. Teachers with a positive attitude, who are competent in use of ICT and perceive technology as useful are more likely to use ICT in teaching and learning.
Based on the extensive literature undertaken by the researcher, it can, therefore, be concluded that the potential of ICT in transforming education by supporting teaching and learning is not in doubt. Teachers should use ICT to help students become collaborative, problem-solvers and creative learners. ICT enables learners to communicate, learn, seek and retrieve information more effectively. In all these processes, the role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning is critical. Kenya acknowledges that ICT is a crucial driver for transforming education and providing solutions to challenges of access, quality, relevance and equity in education. It also concludes that effective embedding of ICT in teaching and learning requires teachers’ Technology Content Knowledge (TCK) and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). The literature review finally, concludes that studies have shown that even in situations where ICT infrastructure exists, integration of ICT in teaching and learning was still limited. Hence, this study used the UTAUT framework to investigate the factors that influence teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT in teaching and learning.
In this research ICT integration factors include: Attitude, Effort expectancy, Performance expectancy, Social influence, Facilitating conditions, Self-efficacy and Anxiety. These factors are conceptualised to influence Behavioural intention to use ICT as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Research Framework. Source: Researcher
The research framework postulates that teachers form attitudes and intensions towards using ICT based on their perceptions of the ICT technology in regard to performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, self-efficacy and anxiety. The perceptions influence directly teachers’ Bahavioural intention to use ICT or indirectly by influencing teachers’ attitudes towards the ICT technology which, in turn, influences their cognitive decision on whether to use the ICT technology or not. Hence, favourable teachers’ perceptions of a given ICT technology based on the independent variables would predict if teachers would use a given ICT technology or not.
Descriptive survey research design, which does not manipulate variables or arrange for events to happen was used in this study, using both qualitative and quantitative methods (Orodho, 2003). The design was used to determine how primary school teachers were using ICT tablets provided by the government and factors that influenced teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT.
Simple random sampling procedure was used to select 86 (40 from rural schools and 46 from urban schools) primary school teachers and 10 primary school head teachers in Kenya’s Narok County. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2012), simple random sampling is a procedure for selecting representative subjects from a given population, especially when the researcher is dealing with a small sampling frame and the population is well defined as was the case with the current study.
An interview schedule for head teachers that collected qualitative data and a Teachers’ Technology Acceptance Questionnaire (TTAQ) that collected quantitative data was used to collect data from head teachers and primary school teachers, respectively. According to Mungenada and Mugenda (2012), an interview schedule is a research tool for collecting qualitative data using open-ended questions while a questionnaire uses either open-ended or closed questions. In this study the interview schedule was used to ask questions on how primary school teachers were using tablets that were provided by the government for teaching and learning in Standard One.
TTAQ used closed questions and was based on the Venkatesh, et al (2003) UTAUT model that was adopted and used for data collection. TTAQ was a 7-point matrix Likert scale questionnaire that measured teachers’ Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Attitude, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety and Behavioural Intention to use ICT. A Likert scale is a procedure used to measure concepts like attitudes, perceptions and satisfaction (Mugenda & Mugenada, 2012).
The researcher visited the sampled schools and interviewed head teachers in their school settings and self-administered the questionnaires to the sampled teachers in the same schools. This increased the return rate of the completed research instruments and the researcher was able to compare information given and, at the same time, make observations on ICT infrastructure within the school.
Multiple regression was used for data analysis. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2012), regression analysis is a statistical procedure for predicting a dependent variable using one or more independent variables. In the current study, primary school teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT in teaching and learning (dependent variable) was predicted using performance expectancy, effort expectancy, attitude, social influence, facilitating condition, self-efficacy and anxiety (independent variable). Multiple regression, therefore, enables one to predict and weigh the relationship between two or more explanatory variables (independent variable) and an explained (dependent) variable (Louis, Lawrence & Keith, 2007).
Primary school head teachers were requested to give their views on whether teachers were using the tablets provided by the government. The qualitative data given by the head teachers revealed that, despite the schools nominating champion teachers to be trained on the use of the tablets so that they could also train their colleagues, the champion teachers did not train their colleagues upon returning. The reasons cited by the head teachers as to why teachers were not using the tablets include inadequate training, teachers’ negative attitude, lack of self-initiative and lack of source of power to charge the tablets.
A multiple regression analysis was carried out to investigate whether Performance expectancy, Effort expectancy, Attitude, Social influence, Facilitating conditions, Self-Efficacy and Anxiety significantly influenced primary school teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching and learning. The results of the regression are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Model Summary
Multiple Regression Beta Coefficient on Factors Influencing Teachers’ Intension to Use Determinants of Intension to use Technology |
Unstandardised coefficient |
Standardised coefficient |
t-ratio |
P - Values |
|
B |
Std. Error |
Beta |
|||
(Constant) |
2.397 |
1.815 |
|
1.320 |
.191 |
Performance expectancy |
.090 |
.078 |
.148 |
1.154 |
.252 |
Effort Expectancy |
-.098 |
.080 |
-.185 |
-1.213 |
.229 |
Attitude |
.299 |
.147 |
.259 |
2.034 |
.045 |
Social Influence |
.068 |
.071 |
.129 |
.950 |
.345 |
Facilitating Condition |
.070 |
.055 |
.184 |
1.268 |
.208 |
Self-Efficacy |
.074 |
.055 |
.194 |
1.341 |
.184 |
Anxiety |
.038 |
.053 |
.074 |
.728 |
.469 |
R2 = .325 |
|
|
|
|
|
F-ratio = 5.358 |
P < 0.001 |
|
|
|
|
n = 86 |
|
|
|
|
|
Results indicated that the seven variables explained 32.5% of the variance and that the variables were significant predictors of primary school teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching and learning, F(7, 78) = 5,36, p = .001). The test of the hypotheses revealed the following:
HO1: Performance Expectancy has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = 0.148, p > 0.05, hence, the HO1 was retained, i.e., Performance expectancy has no significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO2: Effort Expectancy has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = -0.185, p > 0.05 hence the HO2 was retained, i.e., Effort Expectancy has no significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO3: Social Influence has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = - β = 0.029, p > 0.05, hence, the HO3 was retained, i.e., Social influence has no significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO4: Facilitating conditions have no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = 0.194, p > 0.05, hence, the HO4 was retained, i.e., Facilitating conditions has no significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO5: Attitude has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = 0.259, p < 0.05, hence, the HO5 was rejected, i.e., Attitude has significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO6: Self-efficacy has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = 0.194, p > 0.05, hence, the HO6 was retained, i.e., Self-efficacy has no significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
HO7: Anxiety has no statistically significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching. Regression analysis for this hypothesis (Table 1) shows β = 0.074, p > 0.05 hence the HO7 was retained, i.e., Attitude has significant influence on primary school teachers’ BI to integrate ICT in teaching.
The results collected from primary school headteachers in Narok County of Kenya shows that teachers were not using the tablet provided by the government in teaching. The reasons advanced for the non-use of the tablets were:
The result of Hypotheses (HO1, HO2, HO3, HO4, HO6 and HO7) further shows that performance expectancy (β = 0.148, p > 0.05), Effort expectancy (β = -0.185, p > 0.05), Social influence (β = 0.029, p > 0.05), Facilitating condition (β = 0.194, p > 0.05), Self-efficacy (β = 0.195, p > 0.05) and Anxiety (β = 0.074, p > 0.05) were not statistically significant and hence the null hypotheses were retained.
On the other hand, the results of Hypothesis 5 (HO5) was statistically significant and HO5 was not retained. Hence, of the seven variables, teachers’ attitude was a significant predictor of teachers’ behavioral intention to integrate ICT in teaching and learning. These finding are in agreement with head teachers’ views that identified teachers’ attitude as one of the reasons for teachers’ failure to use the ICT tablets provided by the government.
The results posted here re-emphasise the need to empower primary school teachers to adopt ICT in teaching and learning as a driver for a modern economy. Qualter (2011) observed that use of ICT by teachers would significantly transform the teaching landscape. Qualter notes that teachers should embrace use of ICT as part of the digital age and use it to enhance their teaching. Kenya’s Basic Education framework has identified ICT as a tool for curriculum delivery (KICD, 2017). This demands that teachers embrace the use of ICT for successful teaching and learning. As noted earlier, globally, teachers are expected to start using ICT as a way of increasing collaboration through student-student and student-teacher engagements (Tomacs & Underwood, 2010). Similarly, a study carried out by Balume, Edmor and Simbabrashe (2018) indicated that teachers’ negative attitudes affected integration of ICT in the teaching of PE. These findings are also resonating with findings by Fumei, Rong-Jou, Hann-Jang and Hui-Mei (2018), which indicated that teachers’ intention to utilise multimedia teaching material was significantly influenced by teachers’ attitude towards the multimedia teaching material. This implies teachers’ attitude towards use of ICT in teaching and learning plays a critical role in determining teachers’ behavioural intention to use ICT. To this end, elaborate and regular training of teachers on the use of ICT in teaching and learning would go a long way in improving teachers’ attitudes.
Based on the literature review and the findings of this study, it is concluded that use of ICT in teaching and learning can transform education by supporting teaching and learning and helping students to become collaborative problem-solvers and creative learners. ICT can further enable learners to communicate, learn, seek and retrieve information more effectively. However, the current study has revealed that the negative attitude of some teachers is an impediment to the gains associated with use of ICT in teaching, and attitude predicted teachers’ behavioural intention to integrate ICT in teaching and learning.
In light of the findings, the study recommends training and ongoing support of teachers on subject-specific ICT technologies and their use in teaching and learning in order to influence their attitude to use them more positively. Secondly, laptops and computers should be availed for use by both teachers and pupils. Thirdly, School Heads should be trained on how to monitor and support integration of ICT in teaching and learning and, finally, the government should provide schools with requisite ICT infrastructures.
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Author:
Sammy Muteti Mutisya is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Instruction and Education Management, Maasai Mara University, Kenya. His specialization is Education Communication and Technology. Email: muteti@mmarau.ac.ke
Cite this paper as: Mutisya, S. M. (2020). Integration of Information Communication Technology in teaching: The underpinning factors among Kenya’s primary school. Journal of Learning for Development, 7(2), 174-189.