Success factors for Integration of Information Communication Technology in The Management of Secondary Schools in Uganda

Abstract

Integration of Information Communication Technology in educational management is a paradigm shift that promises fundamental change in quality and service delivery in schools. ICT integration in education refers to the use of technology in communication, data processing, and data storage to achieve the goals of educational programs for several reasons. However, management structures in most secondary schools today still use inefficient traditional management approaches in managing administrative and academic functions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine success factors for ICT integration in the management of secondary schools in Kanungu District, Uganda. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between users’ attitudes and ICT integration, users’ competencies and ICT integration, facilitating conditions and ICT integration as success factors for ICT integration in the management of secondary schools. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology guided the study. This mixed methods study adopted the pragmatism paradigm and employed a convergent (concurrent triangulation) research design. From a total population of 354 respondents from the ten purposively selected government aided secondary schools in Kanungu District, Uganda, five head teachers, five directors of studies, and five non academic staff members were purposively selected, while simple random sampling was used to select 179 teachers. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews respectively. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive, factor and multiple regression analysis while qualitative data were thematically analyzed. Quantitative data revealed that Users’ Attitudes (β = .677, p=<0.05) and Facilitating Conditions (β = .619, p=<0.05) had significant positive relationship with ICT integration while Users’ Competences (β = .020, p=>0.05) was not significant. Regression results gave a coefficient determination of R2 = .459 which means 45.9% variation in ICT integration can be explained by the three predictor variables combined. Qualitative findings revealed positive users’ attitudes toward ICT integration in the management of secondary schools, while the majority of respondents perceived that facilitating conditions influenced ICT integration in the management of secondary schools; some revealed that resources especially computers were not enough, users’ competencies were low and depended on age and the training received by the individual. It can be concluded that users’ attitudes were positive and facilitating conditions quite favorable for ICT integration, while users’ competencies were low, especially among the older staff. The users’ attitudes and facilitating conditions showed a direct relationship with ICT integration while users’ competencies depended on the age and type of training of the individual. The researcher recommends that the government through the Ministry of Education and Sports should provide enough ICT resources to secondary schools, ensure more in service training, and incorporate ICT training in all teacher training courses. Besides ICT awareness and integration strategies should be prioritized by school managers to arouse and maintain positive staffs’ attitudes and ensure the availability of resources as they were significant for ICT integration. This would help secondary schools in their long-term, continuous efforts for the integration of ICT and its improvement.