The teachers’ perception towards ICT integration: Professional development through Blended learning

Abstract

Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning is a growing area that has attracted many educators’ attention in recent years. Teachers need to be involved in collaborative projects and development of intervention change strategies, which include teaching partnerships with ICT as a tool. Teacher perceptions are a major predictor of the use of new technologies in instructional settings. Early studies have indicated that blended learning can be as successful as either online or face-to-face instruction, particularly in teacher preparation programs. Blended learning can lead to improved training, increased access and flexibility, and better cost-effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to analyse in-service science teacher perceptions towards integrating ICT in instructional design by training them using the blended learning approach. The present study is quasi-experimental in nature wherein a pre-test/post-test design was employed. The study was conducted on a sample of 60 science teachers of secondary schools in Yemen. A questionnaire was used to determine the in-service teacher perceptions towards integrating ICT in instructional design, which included 25 items. To analyse and interpret the data, t-test and ANCOVA statistical techniques were used. The findings show that there was a significant difference in teacher perceptions towards integrating ICT, especially in the group who were trained through the blended learning approach. The recommendations are, given that teachers are ready to use ICT, that Yemeni authorities in charge of education integrate ICT into programmes for in-service teachers.