School Management and Technical Support to Teachers and Students in the Integration of ICT in Teaching/Learning English Language

View/ Open
Date
2018-07Author
Atyang, Florence
Gathumbi, Agnes
Babusa, Hamisi
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Information Communication and Technology (ICT) has been used in almost all fields of
life. In Kenya, ICT has become so essential that the Kenya government has invested
substantially in providing the requisite resources in schools. The utilization of ICT in
education has recently started to appeal to the potential and significant
progress in education. The process of integrating ICT into teaching and learning is an
intricate process and its success or failure depends on a number of factors. These could
mainly be teacher and institutional related. This study sought to investigate the use of
ICT in the teaching of English language in Bungoma secondary schools in Kenya. The
study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population comprised 51
secondary schools, out of which 11 that have had computers for some time were
selected. Combinations of stratified, random and purposive sampling procedures were
used. The samples comprised 11 secondary school principals, 48 teachers of English,
and 385 form three students: 190 girls and 195 boys. Data were collected using
questionnaires, a lesson observation schedule and an interview schedule. A pilot study
was carried out to determine the reliability and validity of the research instruments as
well as the feasibility of the study. Data collected in the main study were analysed using
the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Descriptive statistics
comprising frequency counts, means and percentages were utilised in the analysis of
the gathered data. The main findings of the study indicated: management and technical
support were moderate, mainly in the provision of some ICT facilities and employment
of computer teachers. The use of ICT in lesson delivery was low due to a number of
factors: inadequate facilities and time to access computers, lack of appropriate ICT
skills, teachers’ unwillingness to advance their computer skills, and preference of use
of traditional methods, among others. Some school managers and education
stakeholders had not provided requisite facilities and equipment like computers,
digital and video cameras, which are key in successful implementation of technologybased lessons. Continuous professional development programs should be developed to
build teachers’ capacity in ICT integration into their teaching. Finally, feasible ICT
school policies should be put in place to spear head uptake into classroom instructio