Factors affecting teachers’ use of computer technology for promoting meaningful learning

[摘要] The research described in this thesis is a case study of the factors influencing teachers’ use ofcomputers for teaching at a private secondary school in South Africa. Two problems motivated thestudy. Firstly, teachers were not using ICT for meaningful learning despite the South African EducationDepartment's emphasis on the use of ICT in education. Secondly, teachers were not coping with thedemands of a new school curriculum involving innovative practices and new content. The case studyschool had purchased a software package for the sciences which claimed to be suitable for the newSouth African curriculum. The software package was evaluated as part of the study, to investigate itsusefulness for supporting Life Sciences teachers to teach new content during a period of curriculumchange. The study comprised two phases, one before and one after the school introduced aninnovation promoting the use of ICT for instruction.In the absence of a suitable model to underpin the investigation a literature-based mind-map wasconstructed to provide a conceptual framework to guide the study. An analysis of 48 papers reportingon the factors affecting teachers’ use of computers led to the identification of 43 factors, which wereclassified into categories and sub-categories in the form of a hierarchical map showing therelationships between the factors, and providing the framework used to structure the investigation offactors. This was later developed into a holistic model showing the relationships between the factors,based on the theory of planned behaviour, but modified by the addition of knowledge and skills, whichwere found to influence teachers’ computer usage directly, as well as impacting on teachers’ beliefs,attitudes and behavioural intentions about using technology. This model could be useful forstakeholders to identify factors that could be used to promote the use of ICT in ways that benefitlearning.During the first phase factors were identified using participant observation recorded by means of aresearcher’s journal and semi-structured interviews with four teachers, with open-ended checklistsbeing used for the software evaluation. Five categories of teacher-level factors (factors withinteachers' control) were identified which affected their use of ICT: teachers’ perceptions of theeffectiveness of ICT; teachers’ attitudes towards ICT; teachers’ level of innovativeness; teachers’technological knowledge; and teachers’ level of ICT proficiency. Five categories of institutional factors(beyond teachers’ control) also emerged: the availability and accessibility of computer hardware; theavailability of suitable software; the level of technical support available; the provision of training; andthe amount of time available to plan for and use technology for teaching and learning. The biodiversitysection of the software package purchased by the school was evaluated in terms of supportingteachers with teaching this new section of content required by the new curriculum. Five features ofsoftware design were evaluated: the extent to which the software promoted seven of the nine newclassroom practices required by the new South African curriculum, the extent to which the packagecovered the content needed to teach biodiversity and the pedagogical strategies used to teach thiscontent, how effectively the user interface conveyed messages to users, and the multimedia strategiesused in the software package to promote effective learning. The software evaluation aspect of thestudy led to the development of several open-ended checklists to evaluate different relevantcurriculum-related criteria, and a new model for the context-based evaluation of software which couldbe useful for designers of instructional software.iiiThe introduction at the case study school of an innovation promoting the use of ICT for instructionallowed the study to enter a second phase extending the sample for investigating factors affecting ICTuse, and focusing on teachers' use of computers in response to being provided with more ICTresources and being required to set computer-based tasks for learners to complete at home ondedicated technology days (DigiDays). During this phase multiple online questionnaires wereadministered to a sample of 29 teachers, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and 33 ICTbasedtasks set by the teachers were reviewed using content analysis, to see whether they usedtechnology effectively. The innovation allowed three obstacles which had emerged during the firstphase of the study to be investigated in more depth. Firstly, the setting aside of time for computerbasedwork addressed the lack of time for using computers in lessons, mentioned by teachers duringthe first phase of the study, and permitted an investigation of whether this alleviated the timepressures teachers associated with using computers. Secondly, the effect of the training provided forusing Moodle on DigiDays was investigated to see whether it adequately prepared teachers to usecomputers in ways which enhanced learning. A lack of training which met teachers' needs hademerged during the first phase as a major factor hindering teachers' use of computers. Thirdly, theinfluence of teachers’ levels of innovativeness on their computer use outside of the mandated usageon DigiDays was investigated. Teachers were classified into groups based on Rogers’ adoptercategories (Rogers, 1962, 2003), but using additional features to just the rate of uptake of aninnovation, used by Rogers. A quick and easy method involving a questionnaire and associated keyfor placing teachers into adopter categories was developed. This method could facilitate theclassification of teachers into adopter categories and the tailoring of support aimed at promoting therate of uptake of ICT, based on the characteristics of the different adopter groups.Case studies of selected teachers were carried out to better understand why they were usingcomputers in certain ways. Based on the model of Donnelly et al. (2011) the selected teachers weregrouped according to whether they were using ICT for teaching in instructivist or constructivist ways,and whether or not they showed discerning use of ICT for teaching. A number of subgroups emerged,highlighting the need to understand the complex reasons underlying teachers' behaviours relating tousing ICT and underscoring the importance of designing training programmes based on why teachersuse ICT for teaching in a particular way.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand