Attitudes of Staff to Information and Communication Technologies in a Provincial University in Thailand

Abstract

AbstractThe capacity people have to adapt to change is influenced by a number of organizational and personal factors. The government of Thailand, in collaboration with the university sector, is developing ICT facilities and processes in universities which are expected to have a great impact upon educational processes. University staff expected to embrace ICT have reacted in a variety of ways to the introduction of ICT which should, by this stage, be transforming academic, administrative and teaching programs. This paper reports on a project at a regional Thai university which collected data on staff skill levels in and attitudes towards ICT. It presents and analyses survey data on competence levels in a range of ICT skills required for scholarly work and teaching and on the levels of anxiety and enthusiasm staff had towards the use of ICT in their work. The results showed that poor skill levels in ICT are significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety in staff regarding ICT use. Skill levels in ICT were not significantly related to staff age, subject specialization, gender or years of teaching experience but they were related to access to a home or office computer. Negative attitudes towards ICT were significantly related to higher levels of anxiety. In a second part of the project, interviews with staff who typified extremes of positive or negative attitudes to ICT confirmed the polarization in skill levels and attitudes towards ICT. Cultural factors proved to be important moderating influences upon willingness to engage adequately with the new technology.