LECTURERS’ ICT USE AT COLOMBIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to establish a pedagogical strategy that will support the integration of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in the process of Higher Education in the Universities of Colombia. To this end, a survey was conducted to analyze the practices of Lecturers to expand competencies in the use of ICT. From the above, and in order to validate the questionnaire, we did a pilot survey to contrast the opinion of experts of different disciplines and with computer engineers of 15 Colombian universities, making it possible to carry out the appropriate corrections and determine the definitive questionnaire. With the final version of the questionnaire, we contrast the opinion of Higher Education Institutions in this country. We received 81 universities survey respondents: 51 privates, 30 publics, with the answers of 423 lecturers of different academic disciplines (Art and Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Health Sciences, Engineering, Economics and Business, and Sciences). The universities surveyed are representative of the geographical regions of Colombia. The results show the degree of implementation of ICT among lecturers in their daily training routine. We also detect that the incorporation of ICT to the processes of teaching and learning in Higher Education requires changes in this learning process in relationship with organizational behavior and not only with technology. Additionally to the survey, we conducted interviews with 50 professionals with knowledge and expertise in ICT in Higher Education, such as lecturers, pedagogues, social communicators and computer science engineers. These entire interviewed professional are responsible for the departments of ICT in Higher Education Institutions linked to universities in Colombia, with a sample of public and private, large, medium and small universities. We contrasted the responses from the interviews with the replies received on the same subject through the questionnaire. Regarding the results, we gathered the descriptive analysis of the different variables that characterize both institutions of Higher Education and the lecturers who answered the survey, such as sex, age, type and size of University, teaching category, scientific degree and teaching experience. In the survey, we asked about implementation and frequency of use of ICT. In a specific way, we ask about knowledge of use of the resource, time dedicated to the use, accessibility to all students, professional and scientific importance, and technological and didactic innovation. With this, we develop a descriptive analysis and a factor analysis, arriving to relevant results. In addition, we add a SWOT analysis with the results to understand the perception of the fifty professionals interviewed with regard to the lecturing practices to expand expertise in the use of ICT. We conclude that it is not only important to emphasize or teach the technical use of devices or applications by lecturers, but it also has vital importance understanding, from a renewed pedagogy, the real possibility of interrelating and give consistent outputs to the ICT in their work. It is not technology for technology; we are concluding in this paper that the management of ICT tools with pedagogical sense in Higher Education Institutions enable new forms of teaching and learning with students.