ABSTRACT
After independence, the Namibian government wished to exploit the new opportunities
created by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Therefore, the
government embarked upon developing national policies and strategies for integrating ICTs
into the education curriculum. The need for ICT integration and application in the entire
educational system has become a national policy in Namibia. In order to contribute to
Namibia becoming a Knowledge-based Economy, the Colleges of Education are expected to
integrate ICTs across the curriculum, aimed at achieving Level 4 in terms of use, knowledge
and expected teaching competency.
The research study investigated the teacher educators and students’ perceptions on the use
and integration of ICT in teaching and learning opportunities at all four Colleges of
Education in Namibia. To achieve this goal, six research questions were formulated in order
to facilitate a better understanding of perceptions of teacher educators and student teachers.
This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods of collective data and these
were interviews, observations, document analysis and questionnaires. A total of 81
teacher educators and 199 student teachers from all four Colleges of Education
participated in this study. The study used purposive sampling to choose teacher educators
who were teaching Integrated Media and Technology (IMTE) at the Colleges of
Education while cluster sampling was used in selecting a group of teacher educators who
were not teaching IMTE. The students were also selected through cluster sampling which
was based on class groups.
The main findings of the study were that the majority of teacher educators expressed
interest and willingness to integrate ICT in their teaching and learning situations.
Participants also perceived ICT to be useful in their teaching and learning despite the
difficult circumstances with the lack of ICT equipment, hardware and educational
software. Findings have, however, revealed that much of the ICT integration was taking
place in IMTE and to a lesser extent in ETP, Mathematics and Natural Sciences while in
other subjects little or nothing was taking place. Most of the ICT integration activities
encouraged drill and practice kind of skills and mostly used common software such as
Word Processing, PowerPoint, Excel and Spreadsheet.
Successful implementation of the use and integration of ICT, however, will also depend
on the management of Colleges of Education accepting and recognising factors and issues
as identified in this study as barriers to the integration of ICT. Further, participants
agreed that professional development opportunities in ICT integration would result in
more teacher educators becoming comfortable in its use and integration; hence speeding
up the rate of adoption. Finally, the current available ICT infrastructure at the Colleges of
Education and lack of knowledge among the teacher educators in e-learning approaches
makes it extremely difficult to create e-learning opportunities. Based on the findings of
the study, the study made recommendations directed at the student teachers and teacher
educators, the management at the Colleges of Education and recommendations for further
research in order to improve the current ICT integration practices at the Colleges of
Education.
IIPINGE, S (2021). The Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In The Preparation Of Teachers At Colleges Of Education In Namibia. Afribary. Retrieved from https://track.afribary.com/works/the-integration-of-information-and-communication-technologies-icts-in-the-preparation-of-teachers-at-colleges-of-education-in-namibia
IIPINGE, SAKARIA "The Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In The Preparation Of Teachers At Colleges Of Education In Namibia" Afribary. Afribary, 27 Apr. 2021, https://track.afribary.com/works/the-integration-of-information-and-communication-technologies-icts-in-the-preparation-of-teachers-at-colleges-of-education-in-namibia. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
IIPINGE, SAKARIA . "The Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In The Preparation Of Teachers At Colleges Of Education In Namibia". Afribary, Afribary, 27 Apr. 2021. Web. 27 Nov. 2024. < https://track.afribary.com/works/the-integration-of-information-and-communication-technologies-icts-in-the-preparation-of-teachers-at-colleges-of-education-in-namibia >.
IIPINGE, SAKARIA . "The Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In The Preparation Of Teachers At Colleges Of Education In Namibia" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 27, 2024. https://track.afribary.com/works/the-integration-of-information-and-communication-technologies-icts-in-the-preparation-of-teachers-at-colleges-of-education-in-namibia