Teachers slow down use of ICT in schools

By Peter Kamuri and Timothy Makokha

Technology today is revolutionising the way both teaching and learning processes are conducted. Thanks to technology, there is today a new and pleasurable experience for teachers and students.

However, failure by teachers to embrace the new technology may dampen the whole process, if a survey released early this year by the Association of Professional Teachers is anything to go by.

Findings of the report, ‘Factors influencing ICT usage among male and female teachers in Kenya and Uganda’, showed that nearly half of teachers in public schools are computer illiterate.

As a result, the teachers are not using computers and the Internet to enrich their teaching and get the most current information in their respective fields.

In the report, Dr Harriet Kidombo of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Nairobi, the lead researcher and author of the report, says while more younger teachers use ICT than their older peers, few are in decision making positions to influence its adoption in learning processes.

According to the survey, those that ought to make decisions are incidentally the same older teachers for whom ICT is a threat, and the cause of much anxiety.

Except for technical subjects in a few well resourced schools, few other subjects were taught with the help of ICT. Geography, history and humanities have received the least ICT attention.

The survey also noted a gender dimension to ICT adoption. The use of ICT in technical and science teaching has inadvertently opened more ICT learning opportunities to male teachers than female counterparts.

"There is a trend where more male teachers have received ICT training from suppliers like Cyber Schools and Computer for Schools Kenya," the report states.

The survey warned that teachers who find themselves in future with chalk and dusters in their hands as the only teaching aids will look hopelessly outdated, compared to those who will have incorporated ICT in their work.

Use of modern information and communication technology (ICT) can transform the teaching-learning process, and shift teaching opportunities and open up exciting new resources for students and teachers.

Interactive experience

For instance, if used well, the Internet, which is one of the most fashionable areas of computing, transforms the teaching-learning process into a resourceful and interactive experience for both teachers and the learners.

The Internet can help students get the most updated information on any subject, and spur a shift in pedagogical methods by providing teachers with an opportunity to make their lessons much easier yet memorable.

A teacher at Alliance High School can teach in a school in any part of the country where there may be a shortage, making the incessant problem of teacher shortage in our public schools a thing of the past.

Schools spending enormous resources on academic trips may have considerable savings, as academic exchange programmes can be carried out online, and outside experiences brought in to the classroom.

Schools can also share revision materials online, and even conduct ‘on-line debates.’

Through use of proper animation, pleasurable learning experiences can be recreated in the classroom, transforming the traditional teaching-learning method into a lively process.

Teaching subjects like sciences and Mathematics, which have perennially been performed poorly in schools, can also significantly be changed and made easier for students with the use of ICT.

A chemistry teacher may have little to worry about when assisting a student with a weak background. A Computer-Aided Learning (CAL) tutorial can explain the basic concepts in the subject, which would be difficult to illustrate using the traditional methods of teaching. The tutorial can ask a series of questions about concepts in the lesson.