School factors influencing adoption of information communication technology in teaching and learning in secondary schools in Wetlands, Kenya

Abstract

The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has opened up tremendous opportunity and challenges in our quest for meeting the global demands of globalization and economic development. The purpose of this study was to determine school based factors that influence adoption of ICT in teaching and learning in secondary schools in Westland‟s Sub-County, Kenya. The specific objectives were as follows, To determine the influence of in-service support offered to teachers on adoption of ICT in teaching and learning in secondary schools in Westland‟s Sub-County, to identify the influence of teachers‟ attitudes towards adoption of ICT in teaching and learning in secondary schools in Westland‟s Sub-County and to examine if subject area is influences the adoption of ICT in teaching and learning in Westland‟s Sub-County. The research was anchored on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), which is used in studying individual‟s technology adoption. This study adopted a descriptive methodology design where by quantitative tools were used to collect data. The target populations of this study was 16 private and 10 public secondary schools, 160 teachers and 16,830 students in Westland‟s Sub-County. The study used a sample of 8 secondary schools, 23 teachers and 110 students. Questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers and students, Quantative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics which included Chi Square. The findings from different data sets were synchronised during the presentation and discussion.From the foregoing, Study found out that adoption of ICT was a major influence on teaching and learning, which was a clear indication that schools appreciated the role of ICT in education. However, there was a small number of respondents who felt that ICT had no major influence on teaching and learning. It is essential to note that the respondents only differed on the degree of influence of ICT on teaching and learning. The study found out that secondary schools offered different kinds of support to their teachers, especially those who have adopted ICT in their teaching and learning. There was a relatively even distribution in terms of area of support by schools to the teachers who have adopted ICT in teaching. The study revealed that the teacher‟s attitude influenced their levels of adoption of ICT as a tool in teaching and learning. The study found out that the science oriented subjects were most compatible in terms of curriculum with ICT adoption. The main conclusion from the study was that from the findings, the study found that adoption of ICT influences teaching and learning positively. Teachers were also supported in adopting ICT as a tool in teaching and learning. Teacher‟s attitude influences their adoption of ICT whereby their attitude is determined by their education levels. The use of ICT as a tool in subject‟s areas was determined by the subject‟s content and the study concluded sciences followed by Humanities were compatible with ICT. The study recommends that the institutions alongside the ministry of Education should find a way to increase the time period of class lesson. This will increase the teacher/ student exposure to the technology thus improves on the learning and teaching rate. The institutions environment should be designed to accommodate ICT. Infrastructure such as laboratories should be equipped well than the current status to be able to accommodate more number of students.