Abstract
Information technology in schools aggressively emerged in the late 1990s to reinvent the teaching and learning process in Malaysia. Schools no longer existed merely for the purposes of traditional teaching and learning but were needed to enhance their knowledge activities so as to be able to cope with the rapid changes that were taking place. The objectives of this study are to determine the contribution of knowledge contextual factors to the knowledge activities, with particular reference to the emergence of information technologies in schools, and to evaluate progress with respect to knowledge activities in school education. The research is designed around questionnaires based on a knowledge-management conceptual framework administered to random samples of teachers in information technologyfacilitated schools and regular schools so as to be able to make comparisons. Interestingly the fi ndings show that the information technology under the “ICT Facilitated school” is not a key factor contributing to knowledge sharing among the teachers. The fi ndings also provide evidence that culture is the most important factor relating to a knowledge activity. Knowledge friendly, motivating staff , committ ed leadership, openness and mutual trust are some examples of positive school culture, whereas management factor remains crucial in facilitating learning and sharing among teachers. Keywords: Knowledge management, school, culture, management, technology.
Highlights
The last decade of the 20th century saw unprecedented and accelerating changes in the global market accompanied by advances in Information communication technology (ICT)
A total of 2000 questionnaires were distributed among the 20 ICTfacilitated schools and 20 regular schools in Peninsular Malaysia. 900 respondents in total participated in the survey, where 474 (52.7%) were from the ICT-facilitated schools and 426 (47.3%) were from the regular schools
Knowledge activities constituted the dependent variables for the regression models, with the predictors, being management, technology, culture, school type, gender and experience
Summary
The last decade of the 20th century saw unprecedented and accelerating changes in the global market accompanied by advances in ICT (information communication technology). Information communication technology (ICT) in schools aggressively emerged in the late 1990s when the Smart School project was launched in July 1997. The ICT infrastructure in the respective schools enabled an integrated management and learning system, so that administrative and supervisory tasks could be streamlined and automated. These new technological challenges led to an explosion of data, information and knowledge; schools no longer existed merely for the purposes of traditional teaching and learning but were needed to enhance their knowledge activities so as to be able to cope with the rapid changes that were taking place
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