The Level of Readiness of the Sultanate of Oman Schools to Employ New Technologies in Teaching Social Studies from the Teachers' Point of View

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the level of readiness of the Sultanate of Oman schools to employ new technologies in teaching social studies from the teachers' point of view. To achieve the study's goal, the descriptive approach was used in which the researcher prepared the study tool. It is a questionnaire that consisted of (49) statements divided into five areas. After verifying the validity and reliability of the tool, the researcher applied it to the study sample, which was (583) social studies' teachers in Muscat and Al Batinah South governorates. The study results showed that the level of readiness of the Sultanate of Oman schools to employ new technologies in teaching social studies from the teachers' point of view for the second cycle of basic education and for grades eleven and twelve for post-basic education came at a high level (M =3.57). In addition, the results showed that the two axes; the readiness of the educational platform and the competencies of teachers in the use of global network and electronic applications also reached a high level (M= 4.15) and (M= 3.63) respectively. Also, it came at a medium level in the two axes: the competencies of teachers' recruitment for electronic assessment processes (M=3.31), and the readiness of the school environment (M= 3.07). The study shows statistically significant differences at (α≤ 0.05) for the overall level of readiness of the Sultanate of Oman schools to employ new technologies in teaching social studies according to the variable of gender in favour of females, the variable of academic qualification in favour of bachelor’s holders, the variable of educational stage in favour of the second cycle schools, the variable of the governorate in favour of the Governorate of Muscat, and the variable of experience in favour of those with experience (1-8) years.