Factors affecting teachers’ continuation of techno

Authors: Ayoub Kafyulilo Petra Fisser Joke Voogt

Publish Date: 2015/05/05

Volume: 21, Issue: 6, Pages: 1535-1554

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Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the continuation of technology use in science and mathematics teaching of the teachers who attended a professional development program between 2010 and 2012 Continuation of technology use was hypothesized to be affected by the professional development program and by personal institutional and technological factors Twelve teachers and three school leaders participated in the study Data was collected through interviews Findings showed that the continuation of technology use differed for the teachers involved in the professional development program While all teachers reported to have gained knowledge and skills through the professional development program and were positive about technology use in education only some teachers continued the use of technology The data revealed that despite the challenges that all teachers in the sample encountered when using technology in their teaching such as large classrooms problems with electricity supply lack of time and lack of technology tools the encouragement of school management was a critical factor in teachers’ continuation of technology use Implications of the findings are discussedLike many other developing and developed countries in the world the government of Tanzania has been striving to introduce Information and Communication Technology ICT1 in education since 1997 when the first official computer studies syllabus was introduced in secondary schools Hare 2007 In teacher education technology was introduced through the “ICT for Teacher education program” ICTConnectTED project in 2002 The program aimed at improving the quality of teachers through the use of ICT Hare 2007 Tilya 2008 Until 2004 ICTConnectTED managed to provide computers and a networking infrastructure to all 34 teacher training colleges in Tanzania Since 2004 all teacher training colleges including universities have computers and internet connection which enable the preservice training teachers to have access to teaching and learning materials through internet Preservice teachers are learning on how to download pictures videos and animations from the internet and use them for teaching purposes In 2005 ICT was introduced in schools through the eschool forum to design programs supporting the introduction and use of ICT in secondary schools Hare 2007 The project covered a wide range of activities including ICT infrastructure development in schools technical resources student management content and curriculum development program coordination and funding Unfortunately this initiative covered mostly secondary schools Primary schools were not part of this program however efforts are being made to integrate technology in primary schools as well Already the government of Tanzania has developed the curriculum for integration for ICT in preprimary and primary education level Swartz and Wachira 2010 As an effort to ensure effective integration of technology in teaching ICT for teachers’ professional development ICTTPD framework was developed in 2009 to guide teachers’ professional development programs aimed at developing technology integration competencies The framework focused on the development of teachers’ technology integration knowledge and skills in science mathematics and English subjects United Republic of Tanzania 2009 This was an inservice training program aimed at ensuring that teachers are effectively using the ICT tools that were available in schools While the government of Tanzania has done most of the effort to ensure that schools with electricity connection have access to computers there is still a big challenge on the internet accessibility In most of the schools teachers are still using modems to connect their computers to internet through mobile phone companies such as Vodafone Airtel and Tanzania Telecommunication Company TTCL In schools internet connection is unreliable and very slow while at teacher training colleges and universities have reliable internet which is as well supplied by mobile phone companies but the universities and teacher training colleges are capable of buying bigger bundles thus making the internet faster and reliableIn support of the ICTTPD policy three small scale intervention studies were conducted in the 2010 to 2012 timeframe in which a professional development program was designed and evaluated Kafyulilo 2013 Kafyulilo et al 2014 2015 The studies adopted the collaborative design of technologyenhanced science and mathematics lessons in teacher teams as an approach for teachers’ professional development Teams of 3–6 science/mathematics preservice and inservice teachers collaboratively designed technologyenhanced lessons and taught the designed lessons to peers microteaching – preservice teachers or in the classroom inservice teachers The designed and taught lessons were later on reflected upon with peersThe professional development program aimed at developing technology integration knowledge and skills for science and mathematics preservice teachers who were college students study 1 Spring 2010 Kafyulilo et al 2015 and inservice teachers or practicing teachers conducted with teachers from a school which is nicknamed as school A study 2 Spring 2011 Kafyulilo et al 2014 Study 3 was conducted with practicing teachers from two schools nicknamed as school B and C Spring 2012 Kafyulilo 2013 The professional development aimed at developing teachers’ technology integration knowledge and skills In the professional development program teachers became acquainted with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge TPACK which is the framework for describing the knowledge required by teachers to effectively integrate technology in science and mathematics teaching cf Koehler and Mishra 2005 In all studies teachers learning took place through a workshop in which they explored technology applications for their subjects and collaboratively designed technologyenhanced science and mathematics lessons which they used in their teaching and reflected upon with their peers The findings of the three studies conducted showed that the participants in the professional development program developed their technologyintegration knowledge and skills as was revealed through selfreported data lesson plans evaluation interviews focus group discussion and observations of the lessons in the classrooms Studies by Agyei and Voogt 2012 Alayyar et al 2011 and Jimoyiannis 2010 also show that professional development programs that involve teachers in the collaborative design of technologyenhanced science or mathematics lessons are promising for teachers’ development of technology integration knowledge and skills and lead to effects that are sustainable over time cf Agyei and Voogt 2014The focus of professional development programs is on the development of knowledge and skills to be used after finishing the professional development Harvey and Hurworth 2006 Zehetmeier 2009 The aim of the current study was to investigate if and why preservice and inservice teachers continued to use technology or not in their science and mathematics teaching after attending the professional development program This study was conducted in 2013 as a follow up to the three previous studies hence 6–18 months after pre and inservice teachers participated in the professional development program Continuation of technology use in this study is defined as using the knowledge skills and beliefs about technologyintegration TPACK as acquired during the professional development program for the preparation and teaching of science and mathematics lessonsBaldwin and Ford 1988 describe the continuation of practices knowledge skills and beliefs in terms of the transfer of training which is described as the degree to which trainees effectively apply the knowledge skills and beliefs gained from training to a job Baldwin and Ford present a training transfer model which has three parts the training input factors the training output and the transfer conditions According to Baldwin and Ford 1988 there are three training input factors that determine the transfer and maintenance of knowledge skills and beliefs over time These factors include the training design trainee characteristics and work environmentThe factors presented by Baldwin and Ford 1988 as determinant of the transfer of the training are presented in this study as factors determining the continuous use of technology in teaching and are categorized as follows the training design is presented in this study as professional development factors and comprise of the teachers’ perceived values of the professional development program and the opportunity for continuous learning Pritchard and McDiarmid 2005 Torodova and Osburg 2010 Trainee characteristics are presented as personal factors and comprises of teacher belief knowledge and skills time and engagement BuabengAndoh 2012 The environment is presented as institutional factors comprising the accessibility to technology support from the management and environment Almekhlafi and Almeqdadi 2010 Eickelmann 2011 Since the focus of the professional development program being evaluated by this study was about technology integration in science and mathematics teaching technological factors cf BuabengAndoh 2012 were investigated in addition to the three factors presented by Baldwin and Ford 1988Baldwin and Ford 1988 describe this as the training design factors which includes the incorporation of the learning principles the sequence of training materials and the job relevance of the training content According to Pritchard and McDiarmid 2005 the level of satisfaction with the knowledge skills and abilities that are developed in the professional development program has a strong influence on the interest of the teachers to implement the new innovation cf Torodova and Osburg 2010 Studies by Putnam and Borko 2000 Torodova and Osburg 2010 and Voogt et al 2011 report that for a successful professional development program teachers need to be involved in determining their learning needs and participate in the learning opportunities that are schoolbased continuously supported information rich and facilitating theoretical understanding and collaborative problem solving

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