Constraints in the integration of Computers in Delivery in public secondary schools in Curriculum Nyamira District, Nyamira County, Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the constraints in the integration of computers in curriculum delivery in public secondary schools in Nyamira district, Nyamira County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were: to find out teachers' knowledge of computer integration policy in curriculum delivery in public secondary schools,to find out computer skills that secondary school teachers have for computer integration in classroom teaching in public secondary schools, to establish the availability of computers for computer integration in classroom teaching in public secondary schools, to find out teachers' perception of the integration of computers in classroom teaching in public secondary schools, to find out students' perception of the integration of computers in classroom learning in public secondary schools. This study drew inspiration from Diffusion of Innovations (Dol) Theory. A survey research design was adopted in conducting the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study because of its appropriateness in seeking to obtain relevant information that describes existing phenomena and to find facts that yields accurate information. This study targeted secondary school principals, teachers, and students of public secondary schools in Nyamira district, Nyamira County, Kenya. The researcher used purposive, simple and systematic random sampling techniques to select the study sample. To achieve representativeness the researcher decided to randomly draw thirty percent of the public secondary schools in each division of the district to contribute towards the study sample. Two hundred and sixty (13%) out of two thousand participants was the sample size for the study. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires and interview schedules. Data analysis was done by the use of descriptive statistics mainly frequency distributions and percentages in the form of tables and bar charts with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The results of the study showed that a majority of the teachers who participated in the study were not conversant with computer integration in teaching and therefore very few actually put the method into use in their day-to-day teaching activities. From the findings, it was established that a majority of the teachers (72.5%) had no skills of computer integration in curriculum delivery in public secondary schools in Nyamira district, Nyamira County. It was also found out that public secondary schools in Nyamira district, Nyamira County, were not sufficiently equipped with computers and quality software. They lacked computer technicians and computer laboratories. It was recommended that there should be professional development programmes like seminars, workshops, conferences and in-service training so as to update and equip teachers with skills in computer integration in curriculum delivery. It was further recommended that more computer hardware, quality software, computer technicians and computer rooms be availed to all public secondary schools.