Primary teacher education trainees’ preparation for integration of information communication technology in their pedagogical practices in uganda

Abstract

Teacher Trainees’ Information Communication Technology(ICT) competencies influence the 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 assess Primary Teacher Education (PTE) Trainees’ preparation for the integration of ICT in their Pedagogical Practices in Uganda. The objectives of this study were; To assess PTE trainees’ ICT competencies for ICT Integration in their pedagogical practices; To explore the quality of ICT Infrastructure in PTE for trainees preparation in ICT integration in their pedagogical practices; To determine instructional modes used by tutors in preparation of PTE trainees for ICT integration in their pedagogical practices; To establish the relationship between PTE Trainees’ preparation for ICT integration, and integration of ICT in their pedagogical practices; Determine the moderating effect of ICT infrastructure in PTE and tutors’ instructional modes on the relationship between PTE Trainees’ preparation for ICT integration, and integration of ICT in their pedagogical practices. This study adapted pragmatism research paradigm and was guided by a non-experimental, concurrent embedded mixed methods design. To select colleges, disproportionate stratified sampling technique was used. To select students per selected college, convenient sampling was opted for. This study was guided by the UNESCO- ICT Competency Framework and TPACK models. Geographically, the study took place in Primary Teacher Training Colleges, sampled from Central, Southwestern, Western, Eastern and Northern regions of Uganda. Only second-year Primary Teacher Trainees (finalists) participated in this study. The study used both a questionnaire to collect quantitative data and an observation schedule to collect qualitative data from PTE trainees. These tools were first subjected to pilot test to establish validity. Reliability was run using SPSS to assess the internal consistency of questionnaire items. 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 and inferential statistics. Correlations were run to establish the relationships between the study variables, and moderation analysis was done using multiple regressions. Data from the observation schedule were coded and thematically analyzed. Results showed that PTE trainees’ ICT competencies for ICT integration were low, slightly below average in terms of skills, but slightly above average in terms of ICT knowledge. However, results indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between PTE Trainees’ preparation for ICT integration and integration of ICT in their pedagogical practices in Uganda (ρ < .01, two-tailed). This relationship was moderated by tutors’ Instructional mode and the availability of ICT infrastructure. The ICT competencies, tutor’s mode of instruction and ICT infrastructure predicted teacher trainees’ ICT integration into pedagogical practices by 46.7%. Both Quantitative and qualitative findings showed that many colleges have free access to ICT laboratory but with limited internet. There was however a great need for 21 st Century PTE teacher trainees and tutors to acquire ICT knowledge and skills for pedagogical practices. To improve PTE trainees’ ICT competencies for pedagogical practices, Ministry of Education and Sports should make ICT in education a compulsory course unit; provide adequate and efficient ICT infrastructure to PTE institutions; and enhance PTE trainees’ ICT trainings, guided by UNESCO ICTFT, TPACK models, and the new ICT competencies model that originated from this study. These study findings will provide important information to MoES, teacher education institutions, policymakers such as NCHE and researchers.