Primary teacher trainees’ ICT competencies, tutors’ mode of instruction, ICT infrastructure and pedagogical practices in Uganda

Abstract

Teacher Trainees’ ICT competencies influence the future application of educational technologies in teaching and learning. ICT has a significant impact on the changing scenario of education. It is a necessity for student teachers. The purpose of this study was to establish Primary Teacher Trainees’ information and communications technology (ICT) competencies for pedagogical practices in Uganda. The objectives of this study were: To establish the level of ICT competencies amongst Primary Teacher Trainees in Uganda; To evaluate the Quality of ICT Infrastructures and assess tutor’s mode of Instruction in Primary Teachers’ Colleges in Uganda. This study followed the pragmatism research paradigm and was guided by a non- experimental, concurrent embedded mixed methods design. For colleges, a disproportionate stratified sampling technique was used. The study took place in Primary Teacher Training Colleges, sampled from Central, Southwestern, Western, Eastern and Northern regions of Uganda. For students per selected college, convenient sampling was opted for. The study used a questionnaire to collect quantitative data and an observation schedule to collect qualitative data. Collected data on self-administered questionnaires were edited, categorized or coded and entered into the computer using the IBM SPSS version 23.0 for the generation of descriptive statistics. Results have shown that Primary teacher trainees’ ICT competencies have been reported as low, slightly below average in terms of skills, but slightly above average in terms of ICT knowledge. Recommendations have been made to all stakeholders in teacher education.