Teachers' opinions about which factors which help or hinder them in teaching ICT at secondary school level

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the possible factors which ICT teachers believe can help or hinder them in teaching ICT in Maltese Junior Lyceums and Area Secondary State Schools. Data was collected by means of the administration of a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview to 19 ICT teachers selected randomly from a total number of 43, in both the Junior Lyceums and Area Secondary State Schools. After an analysis of the participants' responses a number of factors which were considered to help ICT teacher in teaching the subject were identified, namely: the teachers' participation in curriculum development; ICT syllabi which took into account issues such as student age, interests, abilities, relevance and relation to students' lives and assessment methods which gave a valid picture of the students' achievements. Other issues related to computer lab set-up which allowed the teachers' access to the students and the availability of physical resources such as display devices and laser printers were also brought up. In addition, the participants highlighted a number of issues related to the students such as a reduced number of students in the computer labs, student motivation to learn ICT and high academic ability. Furthermore, effective teacher training related to ICT teaching in the form of in-service courses was considered to be essential by the participants of the study. This study provides important information which should help the Director of Technology in Education within the Education Division to reinforce existing good current practice and make necessary improvements in order to render the teaching of ICT more effective in Secondary Schools.