Abstract

The primary purpose and objective of this study was to examine and compare the perceptions of teachers in elite and mediocre schools in Karachi. The secondary objectives included comparing the use of technology in classrooms by teachers and the challenges and barriers that they face in the integration of technology. This study was designed as a small-scale exploratory pilot study using the qualitative approach to address the research questions. To achieve the objectives, eight teachers from eight different schools of Karachi were surveyed through email. Four of these schools fell in the category of elite schools, while the other four fell in the category of mediocre schools. The research instrument was a self-developed open-ended questionnaire, which that was emailed to the research participants. The results of the study revealed key insights into the use of technology, perceptions of teachers towards the use of technology, and various barriers that they face in technology integration in the classrooms. The study found that the perceptions and attitudes of teachers of both elite and mediocre schools were favourable towards technology integration; however, due to lack of resources, especially in mediocre schools, implementation of technology in classrooms was a challenge.

Highlights

  • Technology has infiltrated our society to the point that our lives are increasingly reliant upon this medium and it has become an integral part of every dynamic society in today’s era (Underwood, 2009)

  • In five schools of Oklahoma’s Moore Independent School District, curriculum based on computer was used and the results revealed that students had a comparatively better performance (Morgan & Ritter, 2002)

  • The findings of this study revealed that teachers from both elite and mediocre schools use technology in their everyday lives and are technology savvy

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Summary

Introduction

Technology has infiltrated our society to the point that our lives are increasingly reliant upon this medium and it has become an integral part of every dynamic society in today’s era (Underwood, 2009). The impact of technology, especially on teaching and learning is growing rapidly. Over the last two decades, evolution and exponential advancement of technology has made traditional teaching methods fairly outdated and obsolete and technology integration has become an important facet of successful teaching (Negi, Negi&Pandey, 2011). Research evidence suggests that technology is effective in improving teaching and learning (Negi, Negi & Pandey 2011; Higgins, Xiao & Katsipataki, 2012). Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has developed rapidly over the last few decades and continuous efforts are being made to introduce and integrate technology into K-12 education (Gu, Zhu & Guo, 2013). Technology has a great potential as a teaching tool, due to which educational technology has become the bedrock to enhance student’s performance at school (Lei, 2010)

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