Teachers’ Perspectives on the Integration of Information and Communication Technology: The Case of a Teachers’ Union

Abstract

There is a certain degree of technological determinism in the discourse on information and communication technology (ICT) in education. Technological determinism is the relationship between the technical and the social, in this case, technological development taking place outside the socio-economic realities of societies. Hence, the discourse on pedagogical ICT integration has often been concentrated through utopian perspectives driven by personal interests and regulated by service providers. Consequently, the adoption of ICT tools for teaching and learning has been very low despite the huge investments being made by governments. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate teachers’ self-efficacy, perception, attitude, and behavioural intentions to use ICT in the classroom for teaching and learning. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and the responses of 1050 teachers were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. The major finding was that for a wide range of teachers located in various parts of the country, the integration of ICT in the classroom is not dependent on the level of access because only 35 per cent of the 80 per cent of teachers with access to computing infrastructure are using ICT as a teaching assistant tool. Hence, understanding the interplay between teachers’ acceptance of ICT and behavioural intention is important to develop intervention programmes and timely professional development opportunities.