THE ROLE OF INTEGRATING ICT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

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CHAPTER THREE THE ROLE OF INTEGRATING ICT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

INTRODUCTION

This chapter profiles ICT integration in teaching and learning. It highlights the reasons why technology has captured the minds of so many people globally. In addition, the chapter also focuses on the use of ICTs from a South African perspective as a targeted country. It is vital within the context of this chapter to clarify ICT competencies that teachers are expected to model to ensure the effective integration of ICTs in teaching and learning, which of course is the main purpose of this study. Equally important is to note the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) own ICT competency framework for teachers which sheds light on what is expected of teachers in the use of ICTs. In this regard, the role of teachers as key agents for steering the essence of this study is considered, while a technology-integrated lesson plan is included to outline how teachers are expected to structure and deliver subject matter. In the concluding section, I consolidate the important ideas raised in this chapter.

WHY THE USE OF ICT IN EDUCATION?

Technology is ever transforming the entire world and is increasingly touching every aspect of peoples’ daily lives (Anderson, 2010:2; UNESCO, 2010:2; Mueller, Ross, Specht, Willoughby & Wood, 2008:1523; Teo, 2008:413). Teachers are thus expected to acquire technological skills, knowledge and attitudes that would enable them to transform the education system. What raises concern is the rapid rate of its advancement and the manner in which it is continuously affecting the education system. Certainly, it has a profound influence on knowledge acquisition for teachers and learners. There is an increasing belief worldwide that ICT tools amplify education systems and pave ways for learners’ successful career paths (Goktas et al., 2009:194; Koc, 2005:72). Consequently, its infiltration into the education system poses a challenge for countries and their governments concerning the future of their 21st-century learners.
Blignaut et al. (2010:89) as well as Baskin & Williams (2006:13) assert that ICT in education better prepares learners’ 21st-century skills. These skills, as indicated in Chapter One (Shelly et al., 2010:14; Magana & Frenkel, 2009:1; Partners for 21st century skills, 2009:1), are the 3Rs and 4Cs. This means that the 21st-century learners are expected to do the following:
• use ICT communicating tools to interact with the global community;
• collaborate with peers, and share ideas through the use of appropriate ICT devices;
• ultimately become critical thinkers through the use of these tools;
• become creative and innovative with the help of ICT tools; and
• by means of ICTs, apply strategies in solving problems they were unable to accomplish before.
Equally important is to equip learners with skills that are relevant for the complexities of 21st-century life through the promotion of economic growth, job creation, social development, and global competitiveness (Isaac, 2007:5; Ford, 2007:3). It is an undeniable fact that technology has ushered in new knowledge and modern devices that can improve learning and assist in the development of such 21st-century skills.
Moreover, the 21st century is characterised by an information explosion which has been brought about by a speedy acceleration of technological advancement. This information explosion assists in the creation of new knowledge as more ICT devices are developed. The ICT applications force the education systems to take on new shapes. This means that they have to move from traditional approaches (teacher centred) to teaching and learning to the constructivist (learner centred) teaching and learning approach. No wonder, therefore, that education experts and stakeholders are concerned about what to anticipate through the use of ICTs, which have become the catchword of every corridor. Therefore, there is a need to rethink and reshape the education systems to keep pace with new technological developments.
Furthermore, the digital natives (21st-century learners), as some authors name them, have diversified needs that force curriculum developers to find creative ideas that could boost these learners’ potentialities. The 20th-century educational needs differ completely from 21st-century educational needs. Twenty-first-century learners are exposed to a mass of information through these technological advances. Hence, education environments should embrace the educational paradigm shifts of the information age.
In essence, many countries are now beginning to rely on the ICT skills of their youth, who are expected to be ready to experience the real world as informed citizens. They are regarded as the future of a country and may determine its collapse or success. They have to be prepared globally to successfully face the challenges posed by this technology. The youth is expected to reinvest in society after acquiring a particular career, which is convenient and cost effective for the life of that society; consequently, most countries are transforming their education systems to be consistent with technological developments and expectations (Dagiene, 2011:1; Magana & Frenkel, 2009:1). UNESCO (2010:4), Bush and Mott (2009:5) and Hannum (2007:6) assert that in the 21st century no society would achieve its vision and mission without incorporating technology into every aspect of its daily responsibilities.
It follows that teachers’ ICT competencies are the only constituents that would assist to develop learners to fit well within this information era. It is therefore imperative that this study investigates teachers’ ICT competencies in order to suggest a strategy that could be used to effectively integrate computers in classroom practices. Goktas et al. (2009:194) emphasise that integration of ICTs enhances quality education, helps teachers to improve their pedagogical practices, and ensures that learners learn more effectively and improve their performance. The use of ICTs can undoubtedly improve the education system. For this reason, it was important for me as the researcher to obtain views from various authors concerning the use of ICT from a South African perspective, which is the topic of the next section.

INTEGRATION OF ICT IN SOUTH AFRICA

South African e-Education policy

The integration of ICTs in the education system continuously poses a remarkable challenge both locally and globally. The South African education system, like any other country’s education system worldwide, should be ready to respond to the numerous changes brought about by technology.
Numerous authors (for instance Blignaut et al., 2010:78; Howie, Muller & Paterson, 2005:125) have revealed that the majority of countries develop ICT policies in order to enhance teaching and learning but in most instances these policies are not being realised. This might emanate from the lack of knowledge on how ICT can effectively be integrated in teaching and learning. In South Africa, there is a well-designed e-Education policy, but the challenge is how to put it in practice. This challenge might be attributed to the education policy (curriculum) developers because of their limited knowledge of technology usage as well as a lack of information on matters pertinent to ICT implementation at grassroots level. Teachers’ ICT competencies might be the sole contributory factors to why ICT integration is not well off the ground within the South African education system. This study therefore sought to investigate secondary-school teachers’ ICT competencies.
According to the South African Department of Education’s e-Education policy (2004:17), teachers were expected to assist learners to be technologically savvy by 2013. As of now there is no clear evidence that whatever is stipulated in the policy has been realised or whether it is in the pipeline to be realised. It is imperative that further researches should be conducted to find out how many South African schools have complied with the directive stipulated in the e-Education policy and why some schools were unable to act in accordance with the policy.
Laurillard (2008:7) claims that the advantage of having an educational policy is that it clarifies what needs to be done. Certainly, the South African e-Education policy has laid down what has to be done concerning the implementation of ICTs. It is true that some teachers have tried their level best to integrate ICTs in teaching and learning, but this seems to be a lengthy and daunting process. There is a body of research indicating that many teachers do not integrate ICTs in teaching and learning. It was within the scope of this study that I had to find out why the integration of ICTs seemed to be a lengthy process.

ICT researches in South African schools

South Africa and other countries participated in the study conducted by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which revealed that 75% of secondary-school teachers had limited experience and expertise in the use of ICTs (Esharenana, 2010:3). According to these results only 25% of South African teachers are technologically savvy, which means there is a need in SA to equip teachers with ICT experiences and expertise that would enable them to provide learners with information-age opportunities.
In her study on the use of computers in secondary schools in South Africa, Naicker (2010:675) found that mobilising teachers to use computers in teaching and learning was a slow and tedious process. This author also discovered that many secondary schools’ computer studies dealt with sophisticated educational programmes and computer resources, and gave inadequate attention to why teachers were not using computers in their teaching. The problem in secondary schools’ curricula might be the offering of Computer Application Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT) as technology-integrated subjects. For this reason, most of teachers think that computer laboratories are meant for such subjects and are unaware that they can use computer laboratories to integrate ICTs in teaching and learning. This is one more reason why this study gives attention to why teachers do not use technology.
Blignaut et al. (2010:69) also conducted a study concerning the use of ICT, from the South African perspective. Their study showed that the integration of computers into teaching and learning in South Africa remained a considerable challenge. Equally important, Isaac (2007:24) emphasised that in South Africa, infrastructure, human resources and ICT access strategies were a noteworthy concern that would potentially accelerate for some years to come.
In the study conducted by Ford and Botha (2007:2) concerning the use of ICT in teaching and learning in SA, the results highlighted the following issues as prevalent:
• lack of ICT-literacy at a general level amongst teachers;
• stringent and structured forms of teaching with little or no scope for lateral thinking; and
• realisation of the importance of technology but inability to incorporate this due to lack of training, adequate infrastructure and integration with the current curriculum.
Furthermore, in the same document these authors further commented that the focus on implementation of technology in schools was on ICT infrastructure and accessibility rather than the matters noted above. Learner-teacher ratio was also considered as a challenge in computer integration in schools because computer laboratories could only house 10-20 computers and this did not give teachers and learners enough opportunity to explore new teaching and learning ICT functionalities.
As an illustration, these documented contributions indicate that integrating ICTs in teaching and learning in South Africa is not yet at a pleasing standard. This prompted me to investigate secondary-school teachers’ ICT competencies in order to suggest a strategy that could help teachers to use ICTs in their classroom practices. In this information age, integrating ICTs in teaching and learning unquestionably remain teachers’ potential repertoire.
South Africa, just like all other developing countries, is struggling to get teachers to be highly skilled in a technological environment and to produce a technologically capable workforce. The only solution might be to find out how well or at what level teachers in SA are competent ICT users and then take it from that angle. In essence, ICT integration in South Africa seems to be a really demoralising experience. This might be caused by the fact that individual provinces were responsible for integrating ICT in teaching and learning. Although there are some provinces that are doing well in the area of ICT usage or implementation, a greater challenge remains with the rural areas and other parts of the country that cannot afford the infrastructure. It therefore stands to reason that a great deal still needs to be done in South Africa.
ICT integration into teaching and learning is not an easy process to embark on. It is imperative that the needs of a country concerning ICT usage should be analysed before implementation. This is crucial because countries worldwide differ in terms of economic and social dispensations that contribute to technological innovations. The level of ICTs usage in South Africa (SA) would no doubt differ from the level of ICTs usage in the United States of America. Needs analyses would assist to gauge the level at which ICT integration in SA could be approached. With this in mind, all education stakeholders are expected to be involved in the decision-making regarding the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning .Such stakeholders include curriculum developers, curriculum implementers (teachers), education specialists, academics, the leadership in education fraternity and ICT specialists. It is necessary that all these people should collaborate to find a solution on how to integrate ICTs in teaching and learning. The South African National Curriculum might be a contributing factor for not embracing ICTs in teaching and learning. These issues are discussed below.

ICT and the South African National Curriculum

Ever since its inception, the new South African education system has undergone continual transformation. This might have caused a shift of focus in terms of the use of technology in teaching and learning. It should be noted therefore that the South African curriculum has not proven to be stable. In a statement made by the Minister of Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga (Department of Basic Education’s Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement, 2011:1), she states that in 1997 Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) was introduced and there were challenges which led to the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) for grades R-9 and the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10-12. In the same document, she comments that the review was made and led to the implementation of the NCS for grades R-12. These refinements and changes to the curriculum might not have worked well for the country’s education system because of the following reasons:
• training was done within a short space of time; and
• the misinterpretation of terms used in the curriculum.
At the time of conducting this study there was a newly implemented document, namely Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), which strengthened the current NCS. The amendment of the curriculum from time to time was worrying. For this purpose, the South African education system might have ignored other sectors that could have been employed to enhance teaching and learning, like for instance integrating ICTs in teaching and learning. What was happening was that the ICTs efforts were not seen to be a delivery mode through which the education system could be improved. A major concern is that technology is also changing over and over again. It is continually changing and leaves the mass of teachers behind because before they can master the existing technology, new tools are being introduced.
One other challenging and vital aspect facing the South African government is the future of its learners. As it is stated in the policy, they should be ICT savvy by 2013. This is inevitable, because 21st-century learners are expected to compete effectively with their counterparts within a rich technological environment. With this in mind, the South African education system has to take a new route and adapt to ICT usage as a matter of course or redesign it so that it places learners at the required standard of the 21st-century teaching and learning environment. There is also a need to look at what assistance SA acquired to integrate ICT in teaching and learning. The discussions follow below.

ICT INITIATIVES IN SA

As mentioned earlier on in Chapter One of this study, the following were some of the ICT projects initiated in SA that were geared towards enhancing teaching and learning (Wilson-Strydom & Thomas, n.d.:5; Butcher & Associates, 2011:31; Education Labour Relation Council (ELRC), 2010; Isaac, 2007:12):
• Intel® Teach programme
• the Khanya Project ;
• GautengOnline;
• Teacher Laptop Initiative; and
• Thutong portal.
A detailed discussion of each project follows below.

Intel® Teach programme

The Intel® Teach programme was launched in South Africa in 2003 (Wilson-Strydom & Thomas, n.d.:4). The overall aim of this project was to improve teachers’ pedagogical practices through ICT usage and promote learners’ 21st-century skills as well (Butcher & Associates, 2011:8). The approach was to train the trainer (Butcher & Associates, 2011:7). This was done through sending representatives from different provinces to be trained on how to use technology. Thereafter they were in turn expected to train teachers at their respective workplaces. Butcher and Associates (2007:6) note that few teachers managed to implement what they gained at the training sessions. This indicates that training might not have been done thoroughly or the approach might have been unsuitable for the needs of the entire group. The reason might be that needs analyses were not done to find out how teachers could be helped to integrate ICTs in their classroom practices. Teachers were trained on how to create assessment tools, and because of technology advancement, the focus shifted and was then based on ICT integration aligned to the South African NCS.
Weaknesses and challenges were experienced throughout the implementation process. The only strength reflected was the linkage between the project and the then new NCS (Butcher & Associates, 2007:5). In the same document, Butcher and Associates (2007:5) identify the following as challenges all provinces faced:
• staff shortages in provinces – in some instances one person was responsible for the whole province;
• budget allocation to support training – it was not an easy task for trained teachers to convince their schools to budget for ICT infrastructure;
• teacher training fatigue – the implementation of a new curriculum (NCS) went concurrently with the implementation of the project, hence teachers had to attend the Intel® Teach programme after hours when they were exhausted; and
• the roll-out of infrastructure and technical services impeded the successful implementation of the project.
The strength, weaknesses and the challenges discussed above indicate that training in ICT usage was not effectively done, hence a new approach on further teacher training on ICT usage is worth reviewing as it is expected to equip teachers with ICT competencies.

The Khanya Project

The Khanya project was established in 2001 by the Western Cape Department of Education aimed at enhancing the curriculum delivery by supplying computers to all Western Cape schools by the year 2012 (Isaac, 2007:12; Van Wyk, nd:1). According to Van Wyk (nd: 1), ‘’The Xhosa word Khanya means enlightenment’’. This means teachers and learners were supposed to gain exposure to ICT usage. The project focused on engaging technology’s power that would enlighten and broaden learners’ learning experiences and also provide educational opportunities that might not otherwise have been possible without ICT usage (Van Wyk, n.d:1).
Integration of technology in teaching and learning was the main emphasis. Two teachers who had exposure to ICT usage were trained to become Local Area Network (LAN) administrators (Van Wyk, n.d:2). They had to see to it that there were smooth networking operations. There were also Khanya facilitators who were assigned to different schools. These were teachers who had ten years teaching experience and were competent ICT users as well. They were expected to organise workshops in order to provide basic computer literacy skills involving the use of hardware such as keyboard, screen, printer and other peripherals (Van Wyk, n.d:5). Also included was the operation of application programmes such as some of the Microsoft Office Suite, for instance Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint Presentations and Access. To date, according to Van Wyk (n.d:5), teachers in Western Cape have received the basic training as far as the use of ICTs is concerned.

GautengOnline

Isaac (2007:12) conducted research on GautengOnline. According to him, the goal of this project was to develop learners’ future skills through quality education. In the same document Isaac further contends that GautengOnline erected computer laboratories equipped with 25 workstations and all were internet and e-mail accessible. This project was based in Gauteng Province (GP) as the name implies and meant to assist the Gauteng teachers and learners only. At the time of conducting this research, the Pretoria News reported on 8 May 2012 that it was about eight years since this project was implemented but computer laboratories had not been built in every public school in Gauteng. In addition, the same newspaper reported that GautengOnline was not functioning economically, efficiently or effectively. When the audit was performed in 2010/2011, the results showed the following (Serrao, 2012):
• inadequate security measures;
• GautengOnline being offline;
• inadequate support and maintenance of equipment;
• a failure to replace stolen goods; and
• a failure to pay service providers on time.
Based on the information above, GautengOnline was a positive step taken by the South African government. Sadly, what is indicated above may be the result of poor management. Plans pertaining to GautengOnline should be revisited so as to ensure that teachers’ ICT competencies are sharpened to get ready for 21st-century technological challenges.
To assist in providing the reader with the context of this study, the following map shows South Africa’s nine provinces. According to the discussion above, the initiatives were positioned only in Gauteng and the Western Cape, while the Intel® Teach Programme covered seven provinces, namely Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, North West, Limpopo and Free State.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SUMMARY
LIST OF ACRONYMS
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF APPENDICES
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 THE USE OF ICTs WORLDWIDE
1.3 PROBLEM CONTEXT
1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.5 THE MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION AND SUB-QUESTIONS
1.6 THE AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.7 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY
1.8 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.9 PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW
1.10 CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS FOR THIS STUDY
1.11 THE RESEARCH DESIGN
1.12 PLAN OF THE STUDY
1.13 DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.14 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER TWO CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 THE PARDIGMATIC STANCE OF THIS STUDY
2.3 CONNECTIVISM THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.4 TPACK CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS
2.5 TPACK CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IN A CLASSROOM
2.6 IMPLICATIONS OF THE FRAMEWORKS
2.7 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER THREE THE ROLE OF INTEGRATING ICT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 WHY THE USE OF ICT IN EDUCATION?
3.3 INTEGRATION OF ICT IN SOUTH AFRICA
3.4 ICT INITIATIVES IN SA
3.5 ICT COMPETENCIES
3.6 THE UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS
3.7 TEACHERS AS CHANGE AGENTS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEMà
3.8 HOW TEACHERS ARE EXPECED TO INTEGRATE ICT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING
3.9 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 MEASURES TO ENSURE TRUSTWORTHINESS
4.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FIVE THE ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
5.1 NTRODUCTION
5.2 SECTION ONE: THE RESEARCH SETTINGS
5.3 SECTION TWO: THE PARTICIPANTS’ BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
5.4 SECTION THREE: THE ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
5.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY CHAPTERS
6.3 SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS
6.4 THE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
6.5 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
6.6 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.7 REFLECTIONS
6.8 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
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