Teachers’ proficiency and infrastructural problems of using technology during the process of technology integration in pre-school education institutions of North Cyprus Academic research paper on "Educational sciences"

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ScienceDirect

Procedía Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 1960-1968

WCLTA 2010

Teachers' proficiency and infrastructural problems of using technology during the process of technology integration in pre-school education institutions of North Cyprus

Murat Tezer a Zehra Ertarkan b

a Near East University Faculty Member, Nicosia/Cyprus b Ministry of Education and Culture Primary Education Office of Directors Class Teacher

Abstract

This research aims to determine the proficiency and infrastructural problems of using technology, during the technology integration process, by the teachers who are working in Pre-school Education institutions which are connected with the North Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture since technology has become an essential part of our lives.

A literature review has structured the theoretical frame of the research. A questionnaire form which was prepared by Tezer and Karasel (2009) was handed out to the teachers to obtain the necessary data. In order to obtain data, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire which consists of 11 questions related to infrastructural problems and 32 related to the proficiency of technology was used. Questions which are related to demographic information of the teachers are also included in the research. Obtained findings were evaluated in SPSS 16 software. Obtained data shows that, the proficiency of usage of technology among teachers differs in relation to their years of service. The level of teachers who can use computers is high and the qualification and proficiency of teachers in the process of integration of technology in education is well. According to the findings, one of the major infrastructural problems in technology integration process in education is the deficiency of equipment. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Technology integration; Efficiency of usage of technology; Infrastructural problems; Efficiency.;

1. Introduction

Technological developments result in various changes in every aspect of social life (Dagli, G., & Uzunboylu, H. 2007). These changes also affect the structure and function of the departments of education (Pena, A., Domínguez, R., & Medel, J. 2009). Social systems including the fields such as industry, economy and communication also expect the educational departments to train individuals who are efficient in terms of usage of technology. The system of education expects the same from the teachers. This expectation not only aims at teaching usage of technology but also using this technology in educational activities. For this reason, communities are trying ways to raise the quality of education by increasing the ratio of students per computer. For instance; the USA increased the ratio of students per computer from 50 students per computer in 1985 to 9 students per computer in 1997 (Akpinar, 2003). According to the declaration of Ministry of Education of North Cyprus, there are 240 thousand computers at

* Murat Tezer. Tel.: +90-392-223-6464; fax: +0-392-680-2023. E-mail address: murat.tezer@gmail.com.

1877-0428 © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.430

schools. However, considering the fact that there are 17 million students at schools, for every 71 students, there is 1 computer while in some western countries; this ratio is 1 student per computer. All these findings show us that, new technology has effect on students, teachers and their environment of education. The effect of technological changes on teachers' functions is a major problem.

The usage of the technological tools in education is becoming more important day by day. Technology which is now an indispensable part of education has mostly become the core of learning and development for young children. (Wright, Shade 1994).

Improvements in the field of science and knowledge accelerate technological development. That is to say; science is the "dough" of technology. That is the reason science and technology is in interaction and interrelation. Any change in one directly affects the other. (Ho§can,2002).

Technological changes and developments have effect on teaching and education as follows: S Providing individuals who live in a technological environment with the general qualifications and abilities. S Raising manpower with the qualifications which are needed in a technological environment. S Benefit from the technological resources and facilities (Oztopgu, 1997).

Reasons why technology is used in education are as follows: S To increase access in teaching and education. S To increase quality of education S To decrease the costs of education S To provide cost effectiveness in education S Correspond to the necessity of technological change

S To provide students with all abilities for their work and private lives by using technology (Yurutucu,2002).

Education technology; is structuralizing the educational processes functionally or to learn by practising knowledge and ability to have the control over learning in private or in education in general (Alkan, 1998).

According to Qilenti, education technology, "Is the discipline of using the manpower resources and except manpower resources which are accessible in an appropriate method and technique effectively and to evaluate the results on the basis of the data related to communication and learning in relation to behavioural sciences as well as investigating the ways of how individuals can access to the special aims of education" (Qilenti, 1988).

Considering the literature review, Rhodes and Cox's study related to the usage of computers in some schools in London was filed in 1990 and they observed the trends for 4 years. The factors which affect the usage of computers are classified as 4 categories. (Akpinar, 2003):

1. Attitude of the school directors,

2. Arrangements in terms of course hours,

3. Attitude of the teachers towards technology,

4. Suitability of the buildings at schools.

Some of the obstacles for the teachers who have participated in this research come across as follows:

1. Workloads of teachers increase when they have to use computers.

2. Qualified software is insufficient.

3. Classes are physically not suitable for computer usage.

4. The re-organization of classrooms for cooperative learning is difficult.

One of the most interesting findings of Rhodes and Cox's research is that the usage of computers in education does not have any effect on the teaching strategy of teachers. Besides these, in-service education which mainly focuses on technical aspects of teachers is found to be ineffective and they should focus on how the computer software's can be used in education. Similar findings were carried with a research made in Holland by Plomp and his friends (1990). Some of the obstacles which came across in terms of computer usage in the schools of Holland are as follows:

1. Unclarity of the aims and the policy of the usage of the new technology as well as integration to programs in educational institutions.

2. Deficiency of software, hardware and curriculum materials.

3. Teachers have limited time to practice getting used to using technology.

4. Impermanent personnel development services. (Akpinar, 2003):

Since computers have made it possible to prepare an educational environment appropriate for the level of the student, it becomes a must for teachers to learn IT technology. In Blease and Cohen's research (1990), the main changes in English schools in terms of using IT technology in the classes depend on the teachers' teaching-learning processes and their roles in teaching process of computer based education. It is also observed that; the teachers who consider themselves insufficient in IT user skills are more likely to be reluctant in using new technology. It is also observed that teachers sometimes feel "unconfident" because of students' better computer and IT user skills.

Leh (1998) describes the task of educators who should construct an Information society as: "The teachers who already work in schools and candidate teachers who still study in teachers training academies should be armed with skills and information about new technology. Teachers, who will prepare themselves as well as their students for an "information society", should embrace the idea of an IT provided school." (Karadayi, 2004)

Bandura (1986: 391) posited that self-efficacy influences performance primarily through increasing a person's effort and persistence. An individual with high self-efficacy works harder and longer than an individual with low self-efficacy (Wood and Bandura, 1989). In order for teachers to fulfil the teaching profession responsibilities at its best depends on how well educated they are and their will and motivation for their tasks and responsibilities. (KuQukyilmaz ve Duban, 2006). By exposing the level of their will; in order to make any estimation in terms of their behaviours of teaching and responsibilities, self-confidence consciousness can be taken into consideration. Self-confidence consciousness appears for the first time in Bandura's Social Learning Theory, and it is about how the individuals can do their best to cope with any possible hard situation considering their personal judgements. (KuQukyilmaz ve Duban, 2006).

1.1 Statement of Problem

What is the level of proficiency in usage of technology of teachers and deficiency in infrastructure in the process of integration of technology in pre-primary education institutions in North Cyprus?

1.2 Research Objectives

• What technological tools and devices do teachers use most of?

• What is the level of IT user skills of teachers?

• What is the correlation between the teachers IT user skills, educational background and length of service?

• Is the level of IT user skills sufficient?

• How do the participant teachers wish to develop their user skills in terms of IT technology?

• According to the teachers who participated in this research, what infrastructure issues are there in IT education?

1.3 Aim of the study

The purpose of this research is to identify the sufficiency or insufficiency and infrastructural issues of technology regarding pre-school teachers who are bound to the Ministry of Education in North Cyprus.

2. Method

2.4 Sampling

In this research, 131 pre-school teachers have been randomly selected in 2008-2009 academic year. The teachers are associated with the Ministry of Education in North Cyprus.

2.4 Data Collection

There has been a literature review regarding the subject of this research and the data has constructed the theoretical phase of this research. In order to obtain the data, the questionnaire form prepared by Tezer and Karasel (2009) was used. This tool entails 15 demographic and 43 5-point likert type questions about the qualification of the usage of IT, (Cronbach alpha=0.98) is used for infrastructure problems as a tool of measurement.

2.3. Analysis of Data

The teachers responded to questions as follows:

5 (I definitely agree) 4 ( I agree), 3 (Indecisive), 2 (I don't agree), 1 ( I definitely not agree). The software program used to collate the points is SPSS 16 for Windows.

Options Option grade Limits

I definitely agree 5 4,21 - 5,00

I agree 4 3,41 - 4,20

Indecisive 3 2,61 - 3,40

I don't Agree 2 1,81 - 2,60

I definitely not agree 1 1,00 - 1,80

2.4 Assumptions It is assumed that:

1. Teachers responded to the questionnaire seriously.

2. Measuring instruments measured correctly.

3. The research represents the whole population successfully.

2.5. Limitations

The research is limited with;

1. 131 primary school teachers who have taught in 2008-2009 academic year in North Cyprus.

2. The survey consists of 5-point likert scale type questions of which 32 were about technology and 11 about infrastructure problems; also there were questions about their personal and educational backgrounds.

3. Findings and Discussion

Findings regarding personal information

When the gender dispersion pattern is taken into consideration for the teachers who participated in this survey, it is determined that %97.7 of the participants were women and %2.3 was men. When age dispersion pattern is taken into consideration for the teachers who participated in this survey, %47,3 of pre-school teachers are below 30 years old, %13 is between 31 and 35, %17,6 is between 36-40 %14,5 is between 41-45 and %7,6 is above 46 years old.

Pre-school teachers' length of service is found as follows: %36,6 of pre-school teachers years of service is between 0-5 years, %15,3 is between 6-10 years, %15,3 is between 11-15 years %20,6 is between 16-20 years, %12,2 is above 21 years. %33,6 of pre-school teachers teach 4 year old children and %66,4 teach 5 year old children. Dispersion of teachers' computer user skills shows us that %33,6 are able to use computer well, %59,5 are intermediate and %6,9 has no skills. Dispersion of teachers who have computers at home is shown in Table 3. %93,1 of teachers have computers at their home, %6,9 have not. The percentage of teachers who have internet access at home is 77,1 and %20,6 do not have access to the internet. When we determine the level and experience of using of the computer, % 25,2 have been using IT for 1-3 years, %29,8 have been using for 4-6 years, %25,2 have been using for 7-9 years, and %19,9 have been using for 10 and more years.

The ratio dispersion of tools which teachers have been using is shown in Table 1. The tool which they use at most is books with the ratio of %89,3; where the least used tool is smart board that is rarely found in our schools with the ratio of %2,3, over-head projector with the ratio of %3,1 despite the fact that they are present at schools, and projection tool with the ratio of %8,4.

Table 1. Proportion of tools used by teachers.

Tools Frequency(f) Percentage (%)

Models 79 60,3

Television 101 77,1

Radio-tape 109 83,2

Books 117 89,3

Video 59 45

Computer 44 33.6

Overhead projector 4 3,1

Projection 11 8,4

Experimental tools 58 44,3

Smart board 3 2.3

Dispersion of teachers in accordance with the fields they want to develop themselves is shown in Table 2. It is determined that %38,2 of teachers want to develop their skills in terms of preparing course plans, %37,4 doing research on the internet and being able to use the projection device with the computer. Teachers are the least interested in preparing exam papers on the computers with the ratio of %6,9 which is shown on Table 2.

Tezer and Karasel (2009) have a similar research on this issue. According to them, %23,8 of teachers want to develop their computer user skills in preparing course plans, %22,9 want to develop their power-point presentation skills. The teachers are the least interested in using the internet, documentation of data, communication with other colleagues and using projection devices with the computer with the ratio of %2,6.

Table 2 Dispersion of teachers in accordance with the fields they want to develop themselves

Fields Frequency (f) Percentage (%)

Preparing study paper 35 26,7

Preparing exam papers 9 6,9

Preparing course plan 50 38,2

Calculating statistical data 21 16

Preparing presentations 39 29,8

Using of e-mail 25 19,1

Communication with the students via internet 15 11,5

Researching from the internet 49 37,4

Communicating with other colleagues(in all countries) 37 28,2

Keeping records on the database 26 19,8

Using projection and computer at the same time 49 37,4

Dispersion of teacher's sufficiency in terms of IT user skills is shown in Table 3. Teachers who participate in this research responded as "I definitely agree" to the questions about choosing relevant materials, writing the document on the computer, search over internet, using audio technology if necessary, using video technology if necessary, using model and experiment tools when necessary, preparing suitable acetate for the lesson, choosing the suitable technological material for the lesson, knowing the functions and hardware of the computers. Teachers who responded as "I agree" to the questions about the following issues: Using IT in educational environment, transferring files over the internet, printing documents, providing a technological education environment in schools, downloading the software or files on the computer over the internet, downloading teaching software on the computer, drawing tables and making plans for the subject and courses, using software's and documents, preparing effective animations, scanning and saving files, preparing motivating presentations, using IT for tracking the students' personal information and development, using the proper software for question sheets, copying and transferring files from drivers to hard disc, deleting files, sending e-mails to single or multiple person/s, saving documents, sending e-mails by attaching files in it, and using overhead projector. Teachers responded as "indecisive" in terms of their sufficiency in using projection in class, using smart board, solving problems about the computer hardware, preparing motivating projects for students. General usage of IT skills of teachers is considered as "good" when 32 points average which is 3.94 is taken into consideration as a ratio.

Table 3. Dispersion of teacher's sufficiency in terms of IT user skills

Question Average (mean) BIAS

Choosing suitable materials for the subject 4,68 ,62

Using computer in the classroom 3,58 1,29

Using projection in the classroom 3,21 1,37

Transferring files over the internet 3,72 1,34

Printing the documents 4,14 1,10

Preparing technological environment related to the subject. 4,05 1,09

Writing the qualified text on the computer 4,38 ,99

Searching from the internet 4,37 1,01

Downloading software or documents to the computer from the internet 4,01 1,22

Downloading teaching software from the internet. 4,04 1,22

Creating tables and organizing plans on the computer 4,11 1,18

Solving problems about using computers 3,34 1,18

Preparing improving homework/projects for students 3,26 1,34

Using ready software and documents 4,00 1,11

Preparing animated documents 3,76 1,26

Scanning and saving documents 3,60 1,36

Preparing improving presentations 4,00 1,19

Using audio technology if necessary 4,47 ,85

Using video technology if necessary 4,51 ,86

Using models and experimental tools if necessary 4,47 ,92

Using the computer in order to track students' personal information and development. 3,53 1,28

Using proper software to prepare questions. 3,71 1,36

Transferring documents and files from drivers to hard disk. 3,87 1,30

Cleaning unnecessary files from the computer 4,03 1,25

Sending e-mails to single or multiple persons at once 3,69 1,39

Sending e-mails by attaching files in it 3,54 1,47

Saving files or documents in any file 4,04 1,25

Using smart board 3,17 1,44

Using overhead projector 3,86 1,25

Preparing acetate which is suitable for the lesson 4,30 2,94

Choosing the suitable technological material for the lesson. 4,39 ,92

Knowledge of the hardware and function of the computer. 4,36 ,92

Dispersion of teachers who have computers for their own use in the class room shows us several results: %6.9 of teachers have computers in their classrooms for their own use, %93.2 of teachers have not got any computers in their classrooms for their own use. Lack of computers in the classrooms nowadays when computers mean to be phenomena of technology prevents teachers from teaching with using IT devices. %29.8 of teachers has access to the internet at their schools whereas %70.3 does not have.

Dispersion of the infrastructural problems of using IT in education according to teachers is shown in table 4. In order to measure the teachers' visions about what the dispersion of the problems of the infrastructure if the usage of IT in education; 5-point likert type 11 questions were used. When the most important infrastructural problem at schools according to the pre-school teachers are deficiency of equipment, insufficient budget and technical support; the least important problem is that the fear of the change of roles of teachers with the use of IT in education. The common opinion of teachers in terms of obstacles in the process of integration of IT in learning and teaching is the lack of computers and internet technologies in class rooms; and lack of knowledge in using IT in education. (Y.K. Usluel, F K. Mumcu, Y. Demiraslan). Research of Tezer and Karasel (2009) also supports this conclusion especially in primary schools. When the most important infrastructural problem at schools for teachers is deficiency of equipment, the least important problem is seen as the change of the roles of teachers with the prevalence of the use of IT.

Table 4: The chi-square (X2) test according to the years of service of teachers and their IT user Skills.

How many years of teaching

LEVEL 0-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years 21+ more years SUM Chi-square (x2) Asymp. Sig (p)

Good n 25 5 6 5 2 43 15,526 ,004

% 58,1 11,6 14,0 11,6 4,7 100,0

Average n 22 15 11 19 9 76 16,023 ,003

% 28,9 19,7 14,5 25 11,8 100,0

None n 0 0 1 3 4 8 12,776 ,000

% ,0 ,0 12,5 37,5 50,0 100,0

Total n 47 20 18 27 15 127 P < ,05

% 37,0 15,7 14,2 21,3 11,8 100,0

Considering the years of service of the teachers, most of pre-school teachers' years of service are between 0-5. Regarding these results, the levels of IT user skills of teachers are mostly belong to this category who has given service between 0-5 years. The teachers who do not use IT belong to the group who have worked for 21 and more years. Moreover, it can be said that, the more years of service one teacher has, the less is the skills of IT.

Considering the results of the Chi-square test, p value is found less than 0,5. So this proves that the relation between the teacher's years of service and level of IT user skills can be statistically differ.

Table 5.Dispersion of the infrastructural problems of the usage of IT in education according to teachers.

Question Average (mean) Std. BIAS

Deficiency of equipment 4,19 1,14

Deficiency of software 3,90 1,06

Deficiency of technical support 4,18 0,94

Deficiency of administrative support 3,28 1,31

Unsuitable physical environment 3,93 1,09

Deficient in-service education 3,96 1,15

Deficiency Budget 4,19 1,12

Fear from technology 2,79 1,36

Role change of the teacher 2,31 1,12

Deficiency of education tools 3,53 1,33

Deficient time of the teacher 2,93 1,27

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

As the information and communication technologies are gaining speed in terms of development the usage of technological devices are becoming inevitable for schools and classroom environments. Technology provides students with detailed and in-depth learning whilst motivating and focusing. In this respect the usage of technology plays a key role in learning and teaching process.

According to the findings, the pre-school teachers who are associated with the Ministry of Education deemed themselves well capable of using technology. A research by Tezer and Karasel (2009) showed that primary school teachers associated with the Ministry of Education and Culture regard themselves as having insufficient skills in terms of using technology.

In order for teachers to keep up with the use of technology they continually need to keep abreast of technological advances. This process can be monitored in two phases.

1. Training before employment; teachers training faculties should in co-operate IT training to the existing teacher training programs.

2. In service education seminars; technology training should continue to be offered to teachers throughout their careers.

Innovation and technology integration in education has been started by the authorized departments bound to the Ministry of Education in North Cyprus concerning course books, IT courses in schools with limited IT hardware, and weekly monthly and annual activities. Some schools are provided with aid from the Ministry of Education and the European Union to develop and implement projects of IT; however it should not be forgotten that it's only the teacher's play the key role in facilitating these developments. According to the findings of the research the suggestions are as follows:

• The Ministry must arrange in service IT training (internet, computer and technology usage) programmes for teachers so that they will be able to transfer their knowledge of the fast growing technology into the classroom environment and to educate and groom pre-school children into IT literate members of modern society.

• Teachers are expected to be IT literate so that they can deliver lessons using IT technology with the aid of technological tools in their personal lives.

• According to pre-school teachers it is imperative that the issue of infrastructure, deficiency of equipment, insufficient budget and technical support has to be eliminated at once.

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