Adoption of information, communication and technology among secondary school teachers in Baringo North district, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adoption of ICT among secondary school teachers. The study sought to establish the relationship between teacher characteristics and the adoption of ICT; attitude towards adoption of ICT and the influence of principal‘s ICT leadership on the adoption of ICT among secondary school teachers in Baringo North District. This study was based on Technology Acceptance Model theory by Davis. Relevant literature on adoption of ICT was reviewed under the following subheadings; Global outlook, African context and the Kenyan perspective. A descriptive survey research design was used with a total of 102 respondents participating in the study. A sample of eight public secondary schools which had introduced computers were selected using simple random sampling method. A structured questionnaire that uses likert type scale was used to collect data from the teachers while an interview schedule was used to collect data from the principals. Piloting of the questionnaire was carried out in the adjacent Baringo Central District. Results of the analysis of data from the pilot study found the instrument to be reliable. Data collected during the main study was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Frequency tables, percentages and means were the main descriptive statistics used while Chi-square and regression analyses were the inferential statistics used to test the hypotheses of the study. The main findings of the study indicated that teachers had not fully adopted ICT in teaching and learning despite showing positive attitudes towards adoption of ICT. Of the teacher characteristics tested, only age had a statistical significance. Accordingly the study recommends that policy makers and curriculum developers should consider making ICT a core subject in secondary schools. It is recommended that teachers be in-serviced on the use of ICT in teaching and learning with emphasize on the older staff. Further, secondary school principals should provide prudent leadership in ICT implementation.