Barries to the Successful Integration of ITC

I read the article " Barriers to the successful integration of ITC in teaching and learning environment: A review of the literature" which was written by Khalid Abdullah Bingimlas. Through my reading to the Journal, I found that there are two types of barriers that might stop the integration of technology inside the classroom which are teachers- level barriers and the school- level barriers.

Teachers-level barriers

- lack of teachers confidence. Begges (2000) asserted that teachers' "fear of failure" caused a lack of confidence. Teachers feel afraid to deal with technological tools because they are afraid that they will fail in using them, so their students will laugh at them. some of them are afraid of wasting students' time because a technical problem might happen and they will not be able to fix and deal with the situation.

- lack of competence. Newhouse (2002) found that many teachers lacked the knowledge and skills to use computers and were not enthusiastic about the changes and integration of supplementary learning associated with bringing computers into their teaching practices.

- Resistance to change & negative attitude. The integration of technology requires some changes and some teachers are unable to cope with these changes, that is why they resist to use technology in their classrooms. Some belief that ICT has no benefits.

Schools- level barriers

- lack of time. Some teachers argued that they do not have enough time to integrate technology in their classes because of schedule. they do not have time to plan for technology lesson. moreover, they are not trained to plan technology lessons. The maximum lesson time is 45 mins so it is very difficult for teachers to manage themselves within this time. they need time to prepare the tools and then make them work, this will take around 10 to 15 mins.

- lack of effective training. Most of the teachers complained that they did not receive any training on the use of these tools so how they are going to use them.

- lack of accessibility. Some teachers complained how difficult it is to access the computer labs inside the school or to access the resources in the internet. The poor network prevent them from download electronic videos, lessons or presentations. Also the conflict between their lessons and the computer labs schedule. They are unable to use the computer labs or LRC in the school

 The following chart  demonstrates some of barriers to ICT integration

Integration of Technology in my school

As a senior teacher, I also encourage my teachers to integrate technology in their lessons. Some teachers welcomed the idea while others did  not welcome the idea. some teachers used interactive PowerPoint lessons and one teacher only use the interactive board. others teachers were reluctant to use it because they did receive any training. In fact all the teachers in the school refused to use it because they were not trained to use it.

Solutions:

- training: Teachers need training on how to plan for technology lessons and how to use some technological tools
- Training must be online to overcome the problem of transportation, busy and crowded schedule in the schools. It will help teachers to work any time and from any place.
- There must be a kind of cooperation between LRC  center at school and teachers. The school administration should manage the timetable accordingly.
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