ICTs for curriculum delivery : understanding educators' perceptions and experiences of the technology in disadvantaged high schools

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore educators' perceptions on the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for curriculum delivery. Perceptions impact on the reality construction of the adoption and utilisation of the technology in disadvantaged schools. Understanding the perceptions of educators is vital when introducing innovation into curriculum delivery, because the way educators perceive the innovation impacts on the intended use of the technology in schools. Using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, the study conducted and analysed fifteen one-on-one interviews with purposively sampled educators on their perceptions of, and experience with, ICT in disadvantaged high schools. The results of the study show that some educators perceive themselves as not competent enough to use the technology. Others with relatively high computer self-efficacy reported to have experienced the use of the ICTs in classrooms as an add-on. Meta interpretation shows that besides the lack of motivation to integrate the technology into the classroom, the root cause of some educators' negative perceptions is the IT training they had, which was inadequate to equip them with pedagogical understanding and skills on how to effectively incorporate this technology into their curriculum delivery. Therefore, there is a need to realign ICT innovation and implementation with educators' perceptions, in order to ensure success.