Teachers’ Perceived Ability to Integrate Technology into the Instructional Setting
Keywords:
Technology, Business teachers, professional developmentAbstract
Background: The researchers in this study observed that little or no effort is made by administrators to evaluate the technology expertise of the teachers who are responsible for integrating software applications into the instructional environment. Not only is it important that teachers have expertise in using these technologies, they must also be able to integrate them into the instructional setting so that they can foster meaningful learning. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess teachers’ perceived expertise in using word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software applications to facilitate instruction. Word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software applications have become necessary skills in today’s teaching, learning, and research environments. Yet, do teachers have competence in using and integrating these technologies into insurrection? Methodology: The participants were 313 teachers who taught in the rural schools. The instrument for data collection was validated by leaders in technology integration; Cronbach’s alpha was used to establish the internal consistency of .95. Findings: The results indicated that the participants’ responses to 30 general statements related to their ability to provide instruction using word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications indicated that they did not express competence in over half of the questionnaire items. Conclusion: Majority of the participants acknowledged that they lack competence to use these software applications to facilitate instruction. Recommendation: Technology trainers can send a diagnostic questionnaire to teachers prior to the training session aimed at determining their (teachers) strengths and weaknesses so that these weaknesses can be addressed during the training sessions.
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