Influence of principals’ characteristics and the use of information technology in school management in public Secondary schools in Machakos County, Kenya
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Date
2022-05
Authors
Mwanthi, Faith Ndunge
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta university
Abstract
The rapid growth of Information Communication and Technologies (ICT) has brought remarkable changes in the twenty-first century. It has transformed the way institutions are managed globally. In education, the use of ICT in management is becoming increasingly popular because it fosters effectiveness in service delivery. In as much as the use of technology makes management effective, school principals have been slow in using the same to manage the institutions. The use of ICT in school management is greatly determined by the principal as the school manager. The principal’s characteristics that is, personality, attitude, ICT skills and social networks may affect the use of ICT in school management. In Machakos County, it is common to find schools still analyzing results manually, filling physical report forms, writing hard copy letters to invite parents for school functions among other areas. This study sought to establish the influence of principals’ characteristics on the use of Information Technology in secondary school management in Machakos County. The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish the influence of principals’ personality on the use of information technology in public secondary schools management in Machakos County, to establish how the principal’s attitude towards ICT influences the use of information technology in public secondary schools management in Machakos County, to explore how the principals’ ICT skills influences the use of information technology in public secondary schools management in Machakos County and to establish the influence of the principals’ social networks on the use of information technology in public secondary schools management in Machakos County. The study was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The study adopted the descriptive research design. The target population was the 58 principals and 868 teachers in Machakos County. The sample size was 194 including the 21 principals identified through purposive sampling, and 173 teachers identified through purposive sampling and simple random sampling. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data was collected using the questionnaire while qualitative data was collected using the interview schedule. Validity was established through expert judgement, while test-retest method was done to ensure reliability. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics i.e. Mean and Standard deviation were used to analyze quantitative data. Inferential statistics i.e. correlation analysis was done to establish the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Content analysis was done for the qualitative data, and presented through narration and verbatim quotes. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to test the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables of the study at 95% confidence level or at 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that the principals’ personality, attitude, ICT skills and the social networks positively influenced the use of IT in school management in Machakos County. The study concluded that the principals’ personality, attitude, ICT skills and social networks positively influenced use of IT in school management. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should enhance the provision of IT resources in schools and also sponsor principals for IT courses in order to improve their skills. The schools should strive to build partnerships with both government and the community in order to broaden their networks and adopt the best practices in their schools
Description
A project submitted to the department of education management, policy and curriculum studies, School of Education, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of master of education (educational Administration) of Kenyatta University, May 2022
Keywords
principles, information technology, school management, public Secondary schools, Machakos County, Kenya