Obstacles of ICT Integration in School Teaching

【Abstract】：A study of the Zimbabwe Open University have reported that the students in Open and Distance Learning （ODL） institutions can work and learn concurrently， and they strongly agree the ICT courses had increased their knowledge and appreciation. Compared with traditional learning forms， the structure of ICT courses has given students the greatest possibility to arrange their time and space， and allow them to choose what they want to learn.

However， at the same time， there are some problems that would hinder the integration of ICT into class. Hence， there is an urgent need for people to seek and overcome the obstacles.

【Key Words】： ICT course， integration， obstacles

1. Introduction

There is no doubt that the technology in contemporary society is used more and more widely， especially the issue of ICT integration in school teaching and learning process is highly popular in educational circles among the whole world （Aduwa， 2005）. However， the obstacles of this integration should be first to study， before the research of the ICT integration in school teaching and learning process. According to BECTA （1999）， the integration of ICT is not being realized， because many different obstacles.

2. The obstacles caused by ICT itself、teachers and students

Firstly， the price for ICT tools maybe not a problem for most developed nations， which either from the government support or individual investment （Hess amp; Leal， 2001）. However， the cost of computers is much more expensive for developing countries and rural areas. There were 530，000 rural primary and secondary schools in China， accounting for 88% of the total number， and the number of students in rural primary and secondary schools was 162， which also stand for 81% of the total number in 2001 （Huang， 2001）. According to Huang （2001）， for all of those， the shortage of books， paper and pencils have to be the priority problem， and most of them lack adequate infrastructure such as classroom and radio or televisions. The funds for them are not enough to satisfy every need.

Secondly， the class hour of curriculum design for learning ICT is not enough. The latest surveys about the subject of \"information technology and discipline teaching integrating” from Institution of Teach Basic Research in Beijing show that the average time for primary school teachers to use information technology is only 24 minutes a week， only 0.72 minutes per week per person for classroom demonstration （Huang， 2005）.

According to Yuen and Ma （2002）， the positive attitude towards ICT integration is the key factor to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in school. However， most of the teachers adhere to the traditional teaching methods， and what’s more they were force to carry out the integration of ICT， instead of willing.

Thirdly， not all teachers pay most important responsibility for their education career， most of them satisfied with their situation at present， they have not did much research and absence for the seminar （Huang， 2005）

According to the date of the Ministry of Education in Jiangxi province， the numbers of computer teachers in high schools were short of 3210 person， and the ones in secondary school were 310 in the year of 2001 （Huang， 2005）. However， the number of the graduates who is major in computer science at the same year was only 1021 person， which made a big gap for the allocation of computer teachers for every school （Huang， 2005）.

For the students， according to the report that there were 81% of primary school children in China were not used to read electronic books， and also there were 92% of them were not used the Internet to collect information， the independently explore students who use computer to carry out the interactive learning opportunities just accounted for only 2% per semester （Huang， 2001）. Moreover， in ICT class students had little opportunities for actual hands-on operation.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion， there are three important aspects hinder the ICT integration in primary school teaching and learning process. The obstacles from teachers come to be the dominant one， which need to be discussing from teachers’ ideas， skills and supports （Kirkscey， 2012）. Meanwhile， the ICT content， systems and students also play an important role in the information and technology integration. Furthermore， it is important to know that those three aspects are influence each other and cannot be short of each one （Solar， 2013）. In order to make ICT integration in school teaching and learning well worked， it is not enough to just identify those obstacles， the solutions also need to be study as soon as possible.

References：

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[2]Hess， F. M.， amp; Leal， D. L. （2001）. A Shrinking “Digital Divide”？ The Provision of Classroom Computers Across Urban School Systems. Social Science Quarterly， 18 （4）， 765-778.

[3]Huang.A. （2005）. Main Problems of the Development for The Current Rural Elementary and Middle Schools Information Ttechnology Education and Countermeasures. China Education， 7（2）， 15-18

[4]Kirkscey， R. （2012）. Secondary School Instructors’ Respectives on the Integration of ICT with Course Content. American Secondary Education， 40（3）， 17-33

[5]Solar， M.， Sabattin， J.， amp; Parada， V. （2013）. A Maturity Model for Assessing the Use of ICT in School Education. Educational Technology amp; Society， 16 （1）， 206–218

[6]Yuen， A. amp; Ma， W. （2002） Gender Differences in Teacher Computer Acceptance. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education， 10 （3） ，365–382.