Options
E-mail literacy as a focus for improving teachers' attitudes towards IT : a Singapore case study
Author
Toh, Cindy Ai Lin
Supervisor
Richards, Cameron
Abstract
This problem-solving project sought to investigate the challenge of integrating IT into Singapore schools through the training of teachers in school. It also examined the attitudes of teachers towards IT and the factors that contributed to the motivation of teachers towards the use of IT for work and personal development. The main focus of the project was on teachers' email literacy as a focus for improving teachers' confidence and attitudes towards the use of IT in a primary school.
Many primary schools in Singapore might face the problem of meeting the quota of integrating 30% of IT-based lessons (as stipulated by the IT Masterplan for schools, by the year 2002). Problems such as lack of teaching time, teachers' attitude towards IT-based lessons, lack of teacher confidence and insufficient assistance for carrying out IT-based lessons, seem to plague many primary schools in Singapore.
When I was tasked to take over the IT department in the year 2000. I faced similar problems to those in other primary schools. However, my problem was bigger than many other schools. Firstly, my school had a very big population (2040 pupils and 85 teachers), which made it more difficult to plan for the allocation of rooms and IT-based lessons. Secondly, the teachers did not like to carry out IT-based lessons as it was too cumbersome to prepare and many of the computers in the computer laboratories were not functioning properly. This placed a lot of stress on the older teachers. Furthermore, the school has quite a large number (about 39.7%) of older teachers (aged 45 and above), who feel that IT lessons do not help them to reach the objectives of their lessons and they find it a waste of time. Thirdly, my school is a convent school and there are no male teachers or students. I feel that gender do play a part as I find that male teachers tend to be better at grasping IT skills and they are more willing to try out new things with the teachers. On the other hand, female teachers are often less technically inclined and are less confident in trying out new things with the computers.
I felt that I had a great battle to prepare for, as my principal stressed during a steering committee meeting that the IT department was an area of concern for the school in the year 2000. Therefore, priority would be given to the IT department for the implementation of projects, events and workshops. I had to encourage the use of IT-related resources in the school and encourage teachers to use IT to enhance their lessons.
In order to find out the 'gap' of my problem, teachers' needs survey, teacher surveys, email surveys and interviews were carried out throughout the year. Most interviews were informal and the data collected from the surveys helped me come up with a more effective action plan to solve the problem. I also tracked the usage of laptops in class, usage of computer labs and did some classroom observations. I was also able to track the number of 'hits' to the school's educational portal with data provided by the company (Postkid) hosting the site for my school. I also made some personal observations in the school and with the help of reflective tools such as the Spidergram, P-S-O-R and Personal Learning Contract. Using these, I was able to track my personal learning development. The analysis of the data collected and review of literature helped me consider many interesting solutions to my problem, which i used and tested during the project.
With its instructional design emphasis, this project used the qualitative action research methodology. Furthermore, since this project focuses on a problem common to many Singapore schools, I hope that the findings and solutions used in this project to solve the IT staff development problem in my school, could be adapted and used by other schools, according to their needs.
Many primary schools in Singapore might face the problem of meeting the quota of integrating 30% of IT-based lessons (as stipulated by the IT Masterplan for schools, by the year 2002). Problems such as lack of teaching time, teachers' attitude towards IT-based lessons, lack of teacher confidence and insufficient assistance for carrying out IT-based lessons, seem to plague many primary schools in Singapore.
When I was tasked to take over the IT department in the year 2000. I faced similar problems to those in other primary schools. However, my problem was bigger than many other schools. Firstly, my school had a very big population (2040 pupils and 85 teachers), which made it more difficult to plan for the allocation of rooms and IT-based lessons. Secondly, the teachers did not like to carry out IT-based lessons as it was too cumbersome to prepare and many of the computers in the computer laboratories were not functioning properly. This placed a lot of stress on the older teachers. Furthermore, the school has quite a large number (about 39.7%) of older teachers (aged 45 and above), who feel that IT lessons do not help them to reach the objectives of their lessons and they find it a waste of time. Thirdly, my school is a convent school and there are no male teachers or students. I feel that gender do play a part as I find that male teachers tend to be better at grasping IT skills and they are more willing to try out new things with the teachers. On the other hand, female teachers are often less technically inclined and are less confident in trying out new things with the computers.
I felt that I had a great battle to prepare for, as my principal stressed during a steering committee meeting that the IT department was an area of concern for the school in the year 2000. Therefore, priority would be given to the IT department for the implementation of projects, events and workshops. I had to encourage the use of IT-related resources in the school and encourage teachers to use IT to enhance their lessons.
In order to find out the 'gap' of my problem, teachers' needs survey, teacher surveys, email surveys and interviews were carried out throughout the year. Most interviews were informal and the data collected from the surveys helped me come up with a more effective action plan to solve the problem. I also tracked the usage of laptops in class, usage of computer labs and did some classroom observations. I was also able to track the number of 'hits' to the school's educational portal with data provided by the company (Postkid) hosting the site for my school. I also made some personal observations in the school and with the help of reflective tools such as the Spidergram, P-S-O-R and Personal Learning Contract. Using these, I was able to track my personal learning development. The analysis of the data collected and review of literature helped me consider many interesting solutions to my problem, which i used and tested during the project.
With its instructional design emphasis, this project used the qualitative action research methodology. Furthermore, since this project focuses on a problem common to many Singapore schools, I hope that the findings and solutions used in this project to solve the IT staff development problem in my school, could be adapted and used by other schools, according to their needs.
Date Issued
2002
Call Number
HE7551 Toh
Date Submitted
2002