Abstract
It is generally believed that Information Communication Technologies through the use of Computer Applications Technology can extend knowledge and education to poor and marginalised people in South Africa. However, African countries still face many challenges in trying to provide appropriate and sustainable solutions for improving education and skills that will support the development of educators in all communities; this can be viewed in light of the millennium developmental goal. Thus the Department of Education put measures in place to bridge the gap in knowledge, skills and understanding of Computer Application Technology (CAT) educators through the provision of in-service training (INSET) programs. The research study was aimed at investigating challenges that CAT educators were experiencing in their classrooms in Secondary Schools in the Free State province. The study made use of a survey and an evaluation research design. The target population for this study was all Further Education and Training (FET) Phase educators in all secondary schools in the Free State Province. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect qualitative data. The study revealed that the INSET program still needs to improve on its content relevance to syllabus and it should provide educators with skills in dealing with the challenge of teaching learners with disabilities. The majority of educators were satisfied with the INSET program as they indicated that it assisted in enhancing their skills and content knowledge; they further indicated that it gave them motivation to go into classrooms and teach. That the study did achieve its goal which was to assess the impact of INSET programs for CAT educators in the Motheo District, Free State province. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p411
Highlights
The National Curriculum Statement (NCS), and recently, the newly introduced Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), visualise educators who are qualified, competent, dedicated, caring, and have the ability to fulfil the various roles, which included being mediators of learning, interpreters and designers of learning programmes and materials, leaders, administrators and manager, scholars, researchers and lifelong learners, community members, citizens and pastors, assessors and subject specialists (Parker; 2011: 2)
The findings reveal that the majority of educators have less than 5 years’ experience, meaning that they might still need to enhance their skills in teaching
It is evident that the majority of educators do integrate computers in their classroom, which differs with the study by Bingimlas (2009: 238), which indicates that educators lacked the knowledge and skills to use computers and were not enthusiastic about the changes and integration of supplementary learning associated with bringing computers into teaching practices
Summary
The National Curriculum Statement (NCS), and recently, the newly introduced Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), visualise educators who are qualified, competent, dedicated, caring, and have the ability to fulfil the various roles, which included being mediators of learning, interpreters and designers of learning programmes and materials, leaders, administrators and manager, scholars, researchers and lifelong learners, community members, citizens and pastors, assessors and subject specialists (Parker; 2011: 2) These are the seven most important roles set by the Department of Education (DoE); these endeavours cannot be met if the DoE does not focus on its employees in the system that are regarded as the key to effect improvement of the quality in schools. The researcher sought to undertake an evaluation of the training provided to educators towards improving the quality of teaching and learning in CAT at secondary schools of the Motheo district, Free State Province
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