In-Service Secondary School Teachers’ Technology Integration Needs in an ICT-Enhanced Classroom

ABSTRACT

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is becoming an essential skill for teachers to enhance teaching and learning. Teachers’ training on ICT utilisation in higher education institutions in South Africa has emerged as an important issue. However, limited research has been done on a needs analysis for teachers who plan to make use of ICT in their teaching. This article reports the findings of the training needs analysis as well as the attitudes of secondary school teachers about the use of ICT for purposes of teaching in an ICT-enhanced classroom environment. A survey was administered to a group of 21 in-service teachers from a secondary school in Pretoria in Gauteng Province, South Africa. A focus group interview was also conducted with this group of teachers. The findings reveal that the majority of teachers required to learn computing skills on software installation, web design software, creating database using MS Access and electronic resources for teaching; that only a few needed to learn basic computing skills such as e-mail and Internet; and that a more important issue was that this group of teachers has a positive attitude towards using ICT in their teaching activities and wanted to learn how to integrate ICT in classroom teaching effectively and efficiently. These findings are important as they could guide teacher trainers at higher educational institutions when planning training programmes in ICT and education.