Chapter One Introduction
1.1Background of the Study
The implementation of technology in education is anintricate process where many agents play a part. In the micro-level of the educationalsystem, teachers and students who are agents may be influential in facilitating orimpeding changes in education process. Watson (1998) warns against the separationof the innovation from the classroom teacher and the belief that “the teacher is anempty vessel into which this externally defined innovation must be poured” (p. 191).Due to the negligence of the end-users’ attitudes and needs, he also has pointed out,many promising technological innovations fail to reach their promises. In addition,the warm entry of technology into the schools has failed to take teachers’ attitudestoward the innovation into account. Therefore, teachers’ passive attitude toward thenew machines has been obviously seen. This situation required the need for morestudies on teachers’ attitude on the new innovations. Therefore, governments in some developing countries have initiated nationalprograms to draw computers into education. However, computers were introducedinto classrooms as an end, not as a means, thus these implementations failed to helpeducators to develop positive attitudes toward the new tools. By this way,technology availability is misunderstood for technology adoption an d use. As Baylorand Ritchie (2002) said, “regardless of the amount of technology and itssophistication, technology will not be used unless faculty members have the skills,knowledge and attitudes necessary to infuse it into the curriculum” (P398). That is tosay, teachers should act as effective agents that can make the best use of technologyin the classroom teaching.
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1.2The Purpose and Significance of the Study
The key role of teachers’ attitudes toward new technology has been universallyrecognized in the process of implementing new technology in education. Obviously,in the classroom environment, it is teachers who determine when, where and ho w touse these tools. If teachers have not developed positive attitudes toward the newtechnologies, the vigor and investment put forth into implementing ICT can beunavailable. Thus this study was to investigate university English teachers’ attitudetoward ICT in education and then to explore the relationship between teachers’attitudes and factors that are thought to influence teachers’ attitude, includingteachers’ perceptions of computer attributes, cultural perceptions, teachers’computer competence level, and teachers’ personal characteristics.The findings of the study will help teachers figure out the barriers in thetechnology implementation process. Furthermore, the study can helpdecision-makers to find out how to help teacher foster positive attitudes toward ICTand provide training courses to improve their computer competence. Based on thisunderstanding, many necessary measures can be taken either to change teachers’negative attitudes or to develop their positive attitudes. In addition, the st udy canhelp to enrich the existing body of research on the integration of technology indeveloping countries. Apparently, in terms of the novelty of technology initiativesand the obstacles on integration ICT in their educational systems, developingcountries have much in common. What’s more, some available implications andrecommendations are provided for researchers and decision-makers.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Roger’s Theory of Diffusion of Innovation
The theory which can explain the process of adoption of a technological orother innovation is Rogers’ (1995) “diffusion of innovations”. The diffusion ofinnovations framework provides theoretical guidance for the study of the diffusionof ICT. As Rogers (1995) defined, diffusion is “the process by which an innovationis communicated through certain channels over time among members of a socialsystem” (p10), from this definition, four basic elements are clearly pointed out: theinnovation, communicating channels, time and social system. The key element inthe process of diffusion, the innovation, is defined as “an idea, practice, or objectthat is perceived as new by an inpidual or other unit of adoption”(p.11).A social system, one of the elements in diffusion process, as Rogers (1995)defined it, is a “a collectivity of units which are functionally differentiated andengaged in joint problem solving with respect to a common goal” (p. 28). A socialsystem may involve the social context in which the innovation diffuses, includingthe inpiduals, groups, or organizational systems. The social -cultural normsinfluence the adoption of innovation in many ways, the socio -cultural structures in asocial system determines the extent to which an innovation can be adopted and thetime it takes for an innovation to be adopted. That is to say, the social system plays acrucial role in reducing instability and boosting the adoption of an innovation. Thusin this study, cultural perceptions is regarded as a factor which affect the teachers ’attitude toward ICT adoption.
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2.2 The Use of ICT in Education
ICT bears an important effect on our future education. Some relevant researchimplied that ICT is regarded essential element in education and other fields. ICThave brought breakthroughs with new opportunities and challenges on futureeducation. ICT provides various means of teaching, such as multimediacomputer-assisted instruction, internet-based education, virtual reality education,and online teaching, while teachers’ competence on technology is the challenge weshould face. In order to become an active and successful member in the informationage, many developing countries endeavor to develop national programs to produceteachers who are highly qualified in the field of ICT.Pelgrum (2006) has noted that ICT is “not only the backbone of the InformationAge, but also an important catalyst and tool for inducing educational reforms thatchange our students into productive knowledge workers” (p. 2). He sought toconduct a comparative international educational assessment of ICT integration thatwould include contextual factors that might explain the variations among thecountries. His worldwide survey of 26 countries examined the application of ICT inelementary and secondary schools, specifically the main obstacles associated withthe use of ICT in classrooms. According to Pelgrum (2006), the results of thiswide-ranging study indicated that the top three obstacles related to the integration ofICT were in sufficient number of computers, teachers’ lack of knowledge or skillstraining, and difficulty in integrating ICT in instruction. In addition, the resultspresented that teachers with low computer knowledge and competence tend to avoidusing computer in their teaching process, teachers with high computer competenceand knowledge inclined to use it in class.
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Chapter Three Research Methodology........18
3.1 Research Questions.........18
3.2 Research Design........18
3.2.1 Subjects ........19
3.2.2 Instrument ....20
3.3 Materials .......20
3.4 Data collection ....23
3.5 Data Analysis ......24
Chapter Four Results and Discussion ....26
4.1The Attitudes toward ICT in Education .........26
4.2 Teachers’Perceptions of Factors Related to Attitudes....28
4.2.1 Computer Attributes.......28
4.2.2 Cultural Perceptions.......30
4.2.3 Computer Competence.........32
4.3 Teachers’Attitudes and Perceptions Influencing in Factors.......34
4.4 Summary.......38
Chapter Four Results and Discussion
4.1The Attitudes toward ICT in Education
The ICT survey contained 20 Likert-type items that asked respondents todescribe their attitudes towards ICT. Respondents’ attitudes were measured on a5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).Higher scores indicated positive attitudes towards ICT while lower scores indicatedless positive attitudes. The scale was pided into three subscales: (a) affectivedomain (items 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11); (b) cognitive domain (items 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16,18), and (c) behavioral domain (items13, 15, 17, 19, 20). Appendix A shows thefrequency percentages of participants’ responses to this 20-item Attitude Scale of thesurvey. It is supported that teachers’ attitudes toward ICT have been widely consideredas a key element in technology implementation in education. (Gressard & Loyd,1985; Woodrow, 1992). Findings from both the survey data and the interviewssuggest that participants had positive attitudes toward ICT in education. It isobviously observed teachers’ positive attitudes in the affective, cognitive andbehavioral domains.
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Conclusion
In this study, it is implied that university English teachers maintain positiveattitudes toward ICT in education. The interview used in this study illuminate thefurther explanation for teachers’ positive attitudes toward computer attributes,cultural perceptions, low levels of computer competence and training. The majorityof teachers ascribed their positive attitudes to ICT potential for national progress andself-development. In addition, a small group of teachers hold positive attitudes forthe efficiency of ICT in accomplishing different tasks. All these are the three mainreasons behind the entry of ICT into developing countries.This study indicated that teachers had positive perceptions of the computerattributes. To be specific, participants emphasized the relative advantage ofcomputers as an educational tool than other computer attributes: compatibility,complexity and observability. Teachers’ positive perceptions on these computerattributes had a strong relationship with their positive attitudes toward ICT. Thesefindings of the study affirm the assertion of Rogers ’ (1995) Diffusion of InnovationTheory, which states that there is a relationship between the attributes of aninnovation and the adoption of an innovation.
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Reference (omitted)