Teachers’ ICT Skills and ICT Integration in the Classroom: The Case of Vocational and Technical Teachers in Malaysia

Abstract

This study was to determine the levels of ICT skills and ICT usage in the classroom among technical and vocational teachers in Malaysia. The data of this study were collected using quantitative techniques, whereby the questionnaire was administered to 329 technical and vocational teachers who were teaching engineering subjects in Malaysian technical and vocational schools. The questionnaire included items related to teachers' ICT skills, ICT use and their demographic factors. The study has shown that teachers' ICT skills were at moderate levels, and that a vast majority of teachers who participated in this study were moderate users of ICT in classroom teaching. There were significant differences of teachers' ICT skills as a function of demographic factors: gender, age, years of teaching experience, and type of ICT training. Also, there were significant correlations between ICT skills and ICT integration in classroom. Teachers' demographic factors (age, gender, teaching experience, except level of education) did not influence ICT integration in classroom.

Differences in the ICT Skills and the Extent of Technology Integration in the Teaching and Learning Process among Nursing Faculty

“…These results are in agreement with those of a few studies, such as those by Alazam et al (2012), Summak and Samancıoğlu (2011), and Jimoyiannis and Komis (2007), which all noted a significant difference in the teacher's extent of ICT skills in the classroom. Male teachers had higher mean scores in almost all of the items on basic competence, however, Aremu and Fasan (2011) found that females possessed higher computer selfefficacy than their male counterparts.…”

“…These findings are congruent with the results of Alazam et al (2012), Lau and Sim (2008), and Robinson (2003) wherein younger teachers had higher ICT skills than the older ones. In the study of Yu, Wang, and Lin (2013), the lower age groups (20-25 years old) differed significantly from the higher age groups, with the lower age groups indicating that they felt more competent in using software in teaching.…”

“…Contrary to the present study, research conducted in Western Australian Government School Teachers (Department of Education and Training, Government of Western Australia (2005) wherein the ICT skills was found to be significantly associated with teacher's ICT Competence. This also confirms the findings of Alazam et al (2012) in which ICT skills integration differ significantly according to length of teaching experience. Likewise, Mahmud and Ismail (2010) found that ICT literacy in terms of skills was influenced by years of experience.…”

Learning trigonometry using GeoGebra learning module: Are under achieve pupils motivated?

“…Teacher-centered learning would cause pupils to easily get bored and pupils will associates mathematics with negative perception. However, based on previous research, T&L using dynamic mathematical software attract pupils' attraction and motivation [10], [11], [12]. Researcher also found the use of GeoGebra in T&L showed positive effects to pupils in term of perception [13], [14] and motivation [15], [16], [17].…”

“…Good learning material should enhance not only pupils' achievement but also pupils' motivation [19]. By using ICT, it can increase pupils' motivation to learn, easy to understand and provide better opportunities for exercises and enrichment activities [10]. A good learning material should have four characteristics which are (1) the knowledge acquired by the pupils formed by mapping the actions and thoughts of pupils; (2) social interaction between pupils in order to develop knowledge [13], (3) knowledge formed is the result of activities undertaken by the pupils themselves and (4) communication between teachers is not the source of the knowledge of pupils rather only as a guide for pupils to develop cognitive schemes [8].…”