INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN MARGINALIZED SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA: THE PERCEPTIONS OF IN-SERVICE TEACHERS AND THE ROLE OF TRAINING

Abstract

It is well documented that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an important role in education and that their use is associated with improving student learning and adding value to the curriculum. However, despite the opportunities that ICTs offer, there are still many schools in countries such as Nigeria that do not have access to ICTs. Moreover, many of the schools that do have access to ICTs tend to use them in a limited manner and only focus on learning about computers or acquiring ICT skills. In such cases, ICTs are implemented without integration as opposed to implementation with integration, where students use ICTs to learn and where ICTs are an integral part of teaching and learning practices. In this paper the author explores the complex and challenging concept of ICT integration in marginalized schools. A number of theoretical considerations for ICT integration are discussed. These include barriers to integration, teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, teacher self efficacy, and knowledge areas for ICT integration. The author also reflects on ICT integration in a particular project in a rural district in the South-East Zone of Nigeria. The paper contributes by offering a framework on essential factors for ICT integration in education in developing situations. This framework incorporates both theoretical considerations and themes that emerged from preliminary fieldwork and the context discovery phases of the project. Keywords: Representational use, Generative use, Pedagogical beliefs, and Technoogical knowledge.