Teachers’ and students’ attitudes on use of educational technologies in teaching history and government in secondary schools in Tigania West , Meru County - Kenya

Abstract

The study was carried out against the backdrop of the current global technological advancement which have made the world to go digital with key services such as education embracing available technologies for teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to find out on teachers’ and students’ attitudes on the use of educational technologies in teaching History and Government in Tigania West. It further investigated factors influencing students’ attitudes on the use of educational technologies in learning this subject. The study also sought to determine the of impacts educational technologies on the teaching of History and Government in the area of study. Currently, the Kenyan Government has an ambitious plans of ensuring that all school going children get digital by boldly formulating a number policies which repeatedly have stressed the urgent need to embrace technology in education. Both the Government’s latest policy on vision 2030 indicates that education sector needs to utilize technology in teaching at all levels of basic education. The study was based on Vygotsky’s onstructivism theory of learning in relation to use of education technologies in teaching of History and Government. Review of related literature indicated that there was need find out how teachers’ and students’ attitudes on the use of educational technologies in teaching History and Government. The studies on resources for teaching previously were treated as general resource utilization without singling educational technologies as resources of teaching for a study. The researcher embraced descriptive research design where data was collected using instruments such as open and closed ended questionnaires that were administered to teachers and students as per the sampled for this study. Out of the target population of study of 1631, using purposeful sampling method the researcher sampled 169 respondents who included DEO, 6 principals and a total of 12 History and Government teachers and 150 students to fill the questionnaires. Once the data was obtained, statistical analysis was done using available programs. The results were presented in form of charts, graphs tables and percentages for interpretation and conclusions. Results obtained reveals that the entire teacher-respondents had used resources in teaching History and Government which more than three quarters of these resources provided by the schools principals which were mainly text books and writing materials. Two-thirds of the respondents indicated use of CD when teaching History and Government, slightly less than a quarter’s use VCDs, a third use DVDs, and less than half of the respondents use USB, while almost all the student- respondents indicated absence of these materials. As to whether Educational technologies lead to improved results, results of analyzed data reveal that although both student and teacher respondents admitted to the fact that educational technologies lead to improved results, almost all the student-respondents acknowledged their contribution to learning more than did the teacher-respondents. In conclusion, although students have limited access to these electronic devices which hampers their usage, it is evident that educational technologies used in History and Government plays a central role in the learning process. The study recommends that there is need for education policymakers to address the issues that negatively affects teachers and students attitudes in ICT use in education sector.