Preparedness of Teachers and Learners in the integration of Information Communication Technologies in the teaching and learning of geography in selected schools of Petauke District of Eastern Province in Zambia
- April 30, 2021
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: Education, IJRISS, Language and Literature, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue III, March 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Cosmas Chirwa1 and Kaiko Mubita2
University of Zambia School of Education, Department of Languages and Social Sciences
Abstract: With the coming of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), there has been a realization for the need to have it incorporated in the education sector. This realization came as a result of the wide spread of ICTs in all developmental sectors of countries and the need to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4 which emphasizes on quality education. With this realization, the Zambian government put in place measures to make possible the integration of ICTs in education. This study, therefore was an attempt to establish preparedness of teachers and learners in the integration of ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography and in selected schools of Petauke district of Eastern province. A qualitative approach with a descriptive study design was used to collect data through in-depth interviews and observations. A total of twenty-eight (28) respondents were involved in the study and the information collected was thematically analysed with the guidance of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phase framework. The findings showed that preparedness of teachers and learners to integrate ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography was reliant on availability of ICT resources. Furthermore, it was established that school administration played a vital role in encouraging usage of ICT resources by both teachers and learners. This was because administration was responsible for maintenance and provision of ICT resources. Therefore, lack of proper maintenance as well as lack of adequate ICT resources proved to have had negatively affected the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning of Geography. The conclusion drawn was that to enhance effective integration of ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography, teachers and learners need to be provided with adequate ICTs resources in their teaching and learning of Geography. It is also important for school management to provide adequate funding to enable its Teachers to attend workshops where they can gain skills and knowledge for integrating ICTs in the teaching and learning of Geography.
Key words: Education, Information Communication Technology, integration, geography
I. INTRODUCTION
The virtual world is growing vastly as ICT’s replace traditional means of doing things. The world has evolved to the extent that nearly every economic, environmental and social activity is somewhat dependent on ICT’s, hence the need for a workforce that is ICT literate and able to stay up to date with modern changes.
The advancement of information technology in the education sector and society at large has given rise to demand for computer literate human capital. One way of ensuring this is though the integration of ICTs in high school subjects and Geography is no exception. Geography being a subject that consists of both natural science and social science is an important subject to learners as it prepares learners for their next level in life, be it tertiary, trades or industry. Therefore, to ensure that these learners have the relevant and up-to-date information and skills, ICTs must be integrated in the teaching of the Geography subject.
