A comparative study on the impact of ICT integration on Teachers' pedagogical practices by ICT and Non-ICT trained Teachers in Secondary Schools in Machakos County, Kenya.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ICT integration on teachers’ pedagogical practices by ICT and Non-ICT trained teachers in secondary schools in Machakos County, Kenya. The study was steered by four objectives which focused on the impact of ICT integration on content preparation, content delivery, content assessment, and teacher-learner interaction by ICT and Non-ICT trained teachers in secondary schools. The study reviewed relevant research literature and provided findings from previous studies on ICT integration in education and pedagogy founded on the objectives. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The target population for the study comprised 99,128 respondents which included; 328 principals, 3,600 teachers and 95,200 students from the secondary schools in the 8 Sub-Counties of Machakos County. The study sampled; 180 principals, 360 teachers, and 398 students from the target population. The study embraced ratio proportionate sampling to get the sample size of the principals and teachers in each Sub-County. Random sampling and equal allocation methods were employed to choose the teachers and students in the sampled secondary schools. Data was collected by use of questionnaires, observation schedule, and document analysis guide. Content validity of the research instruments was ascertained through detailed comparative studies on the subject and piloting. To intensify the reliability of the instruments, test re-test, member check analysis, recording and re-recording methods were employed. Data analysis was done by use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme where data was coded, fed into the computer, analyzed descriptively, and presented using frequency distribution tables. Responses from the observation schedule and document analysis guide were organized into themes and integrated with rest of the data for purposes of triangulation. Pearson’s Product Moment was used to establish the level, the strength and the direction of the association amongst ICT integration and teachers’ pedagogical practices. Pearson chi test was utilized to present and interpret the inferential data. Pearson chi test was employed to determine the levels of significance of the relationship between ICT integration and teachers’ pedagogical practices. The study established that ICT trained teachers profoundly embraced the use of ICT skills to prepare e-based learning activities which enhanced their content preparation leading to more innovative lessons because of the acquisition of pedagogical ICT training. The study found that Non-ICT trained teachers lacked fundamental ICT skills to create technologically based instructional materials which limited their integration of ICT in content preparation. Further, the study revealed that ICT trained teachers used ICT to present PowerPoint, sound/audio clips, technology-based games, and draw diagrams which enriched their content delivery. The study also found out that Non-ICT trained teachers were not exposed to formal ICT pedagogical training, they applied their general ICT knowledge hence inhibiting their technology utilization thus lowering the quality of content delivery. The study further established that both ICT and Non-ICT trained teacher’s utilized ICT to prepare continuous assessment tests (CATs), set examinations, thus increased frequency of assessment, timely and authentic feedback which enhanced their pedagogical practices. The study found that all the schools lacked the ICT equipment for detecting plagiarism in students’ essays. The study established that ICT trained teachers’ utilized ICT skills more in teacher-learner interaction, which enhanced posting of revision questions, and lesson notes to students, online individualized interactions, and online question and answer interactions. The study also revealed that both ICT and Non-ICT trained teachers’ use of ICT in teacher-learner interaction did not enable skyping amongst teachers and students. Dependent on the findings, the study concluded that ICT integration impacted on the combined teachers’ pedagogical practices (content preparation, content delivery, content assessment, and teacher-learner interaction) among ICT trained teachers more than Non-ICT trained teachers in secondary schools. Hence the null hypothesis was rejected. Based on the findings and conclusions the study recommended that, the Ministry of Education (MOE) should intensify ICT training in teacher training institutions. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should ensure that pedagogical ICT training and certification are a requirement for all teachers who join the teaching profession for integration of ICT in pedagogy. Further research should be done on the initiatives by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) towards the development of e-learning curriculums for secondary schools in Kenya.