Development of ICT Instructional Materials Based on Needs ldentified by Malaysia Secondary School Teachers
Development of ICT Instructional Materials Based
on Needs ldentified by Malaysia Secondary
School Teachers
Nor Azilah Ngah and Mona Masood
Center for Instructional Technology and Multimedia
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
azilah@usm.mv msmona@usm.mv
Abstract
For the last few years school teachers in Malaysia have access to ICT tools in their schools. However, these tools are used mostly for record keeping and word processing purposes. An in-depth
study to identiff the problems of using ICT in the classroom is currently being done to elicit information concerning the needs of secondary school teachers in the Northem regipn of Malaysia.
This research-in-progress paper discusses the needs analysis phase ofthe study. The teachers
were asked to identify their needs in becoming competent users of ICT in the classroom; the result from this study will be used to create specific topics that will be made accessible on-line to be
shared by teachers in Malaysia. The ultimate aim of this study is to develop reusable instructional
material in the form of learning objects.
Keyword: Diffusion of Innovation, ICT, ICT Integration, Instructional Design, Leaming Objects,
Teacher Education
Introduction
Over the last twenty years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Malaysia has embarked on many
different projects on the use of ICT in the schools. Some of these projects include Computer Literacy, Computers in Education, Smart Schools, and the latest is the use of ICT for a program entitled, English for Teaching Mathematics and Science. According to a report on Malaysia's ICT
use in Education by UNESCO, in 2003, the MOE budgeted 30 per cent of its annlral budget (approximately MYR 4.2 billion) to connect 230 rural schools to the Internet 120 with ISDN lines,
100 with PSTN lines, and 10 with VSAT connection. It is expected that in 2003, almost all educational institutions will have at least one computer laboratory equipped with Pentium class PCs.
This is to say about 75 per cent to 90 per cent of schools and 100 per cent of unirrersities will
have access to the Intemet through either dial-up, broadband, leased line or cable.broadband connection. The use of ICT in Malaysia is
fueled by the government's initiatives
such as the Malaysian Superhighway
Corridor (MSC) and Vision 2020 which
emphasizes the use of ICT as the main
impetus in bringing Malaysia into the
digital and global2l" century.
Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or
in prinl is copyrighted by the Informing Science Instifute.
Permission to make digital or paper copy ofpart or all ofthese
works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit
or commercial advantage AND that copies l) bear this notice
in firll and 2) give the firll citation on the fint page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To
copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or
to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment
of a fee. Contact Publisher@InformingScience.org to request
redistribution permission.
(
,f
Salford, UK
- June 25-28
'lrlt'uDevelopment of ICT lnstructional Materials
Research Background
The Problem
Since 1996 we have conducted yearly surveys on the use oftechnology for teaching and learning
amongst in-service teachers pursuing their bachelor's degree at Universiti Sains MalaysiA OSM).
These in-service teachers are basically teachers with 3-5 years of teaching experience in the primary schools. The teachers who participated in these surveys were those enrolled in an irrtroductory course in educational technology at our centre. The results ofthese surveys have shown us
that although accessibility is no longer an issue for most primary school teachers in our studies;
computers are only being used as a glorified typewriter (Masood & Ngah, 2003; Ngah, 1998,
1999,2000;Ngah & Masood, 2004; Ngah & Samsudin,1997). While ICT has reached most of
the schools in Malaysia, there are numerous problems with the diffusion of computer technology
as part of teaching and learning at the school system in Malaysia.
Since accessibility and availability of ICT is no longer a problem, why are teachers not using the
ICT in their classrooms? Currently there is no data available on what the teachers are doing with
the ICT available in their classrooms. Since our previous surveys are limited to in-service teachers pursuing their degree at Universiti Sains Malaysia, we feel that the time has come for a more
in-depth study on the use of computers for teaching and leaming amongst secondary school
teachers in Malaysia. It should be mentioned that problems with technology usage by teachers are
not limited to developing countries like Malaysia. According to Laffey (2004), current in-service
teachers are not adequately prepared for teaching technology implying an inadequacy in the
technology training of teachers. Shuldman's (2004) study on the current state of technology
integration revealed that creating a better understanding of how technology can be applied in
normal classrooms may be part of the solution to the problem of technology integration.
Reynolds, Treharne and Tripp (2003) concluded that more research is needed to improve the
expectations and efficiency of ICT provision and deployment. The Ministry of Education in Malaysia has several objectives for the infusion of ICT in Education. These include proper preparation of sufficient and up-to-date tested ICT infrastructure and equipment, the dissemination of
ICT curriculum and assessment and the emphasis of integration of ICT in teaching and leaming,
upgrading the knowledge and skills of ICT for students and teachers and last but not least the upgrading of the maintenance and management of ICT equipment in all educational institutlons. We
feel that these objectives can only be achieved with an understanding ofteachers' perception and
willingness to use the technology in teaching and learning. Therefore, it is imperative that this
research project be conducted as a baseline data for a needs assessment for future planning and
implementation of ICT into the classrooms. According to Willis, Thompson, and Sadera (1999),
among od1s1 things, research in technology and teacher education needs further investigation in
the area of instructional design, diffirsion of innovation, and development and dissemination of
resources and tools for using tecbnology effectively.
Our experience in the field has led us to believe that barriers to the use of computers by teachers
have an intrinsic component that needs further exploration. Some of the intrinsic elemenb suggested by Ertrner, Addison, Lane, Ross, and Woods (1999) are: belief in teaching, belief about
computers, classroom practices, and the unwillingness to change. Abrami (in Reynolds, Treharne
& Tripp, 2003) stresses that the value, expectation to succee4 and the acceptable costs in using
technology for leaming are key to effective use of technology in schools. For this study, Roger's
(1995) five perceived attributes of innovations, namely relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, triability, and observability will be used as the framework for the study of diffirsion
of innovation in the research. In addition to the above, our past experience has shown us that
234Ngah & Masood
perceived support oR use of technology (both technical and administrative) is angther important
factor that may contribute to the successful diffirsion of ICT into the classroom.
To be a global player in ICT, Malaysian schools, i.e. Malaysian schools teachers, need to have
comparable standards of ICT usage with that of other fully developed countries. Currently there
are no standards and competencies for pre-service and in-service training ofteachers in ICT to
adhere to. Benchmarking the cunent usage with the standards in US, for example, will show the
gap that needs to be filled to attain similar standard. Identification of skills needed by our teachers
will focus orrr resource on creating reusable learning objects on these critical skills
on Needs ldentified by Malaysia Secondary
School Teachers
Nor Azilah Ngah and Mona Masood
Center for Instructional Technology and Multimedia
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
azilah@usm.mv msmona@usm.mv
Abstract
For the last few years school teachers in Malaysia have access to ICT tools in their schools. However, these tools are used mostly for record keeping and word processing purposes. An in-depth
study to identiff the problems of using ICT in the classroom is currently being done to elicit information concerning the needs of secondary school teachers in the Northem regipn of Malaysia.
This research-in-progress paper discusses the needs analysis phase ofthe study. The teachers
were asked to identify their needs in becoming competent users of ICT in the classroom; the result from this study will be used to create specific topics that will be made accessible on-line to be
shared by teachers in Malaysia. The ultimate aim of this study is to develop reusable instructional
material in the form of learning objects.
Keyword: Diffusion of Innovation, ICT, ICT Integration, Instructional Design, Leaming Objects,
Teacher Education
Introduction
Over the last twenty years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Malaysia has embarked on many
different projects on the use of ICT in the schools. Some of these projects include Computer Literacy, Computers in Education, Smart Schools, and the latest is the use of ICT for a program entitled, English for Teaching Mathematics and Science. According to a report on Malaysia's ICT
use in Education by UNESCO, in 2003, the MOE budgeted 30 per cent of its annlral budget (approximately MYR 4.2 billion) to connect 230 rural schools to the Internet 120 with ISDN lines,
100 with PSTN lines, and 10 with VSAT connection. It is expected that in 2003, almost all educational institutions will have at least one computer laboratory equipped with Pentium class PCs.
This is to say about 75 per cent to 90 per cent of schools and 100 per cent of unirrersities will
have access to the Intemet through either dial-up, broadband, leased line or cable.broadband connection. The use of ICT in Malaysia is
fueled by the government's initiatives
such as the Malaysian Superhighway
Corridor (MSC) and Vision 2020 which
emphasizes the use of ICT as the main
impetus in bringing Malaysia into the
digital and global2l" century.
Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or
in prinl is copyrighted by the Informing Science Instifute.
Permission to make digital or paper copy ofpart or all ofthese
works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit
or commercial advantage AND that copies l) bear this notice
in firll and 2) give the firll citation on the fint page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To
copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or
to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment
of a fee. Contact Publisher@InformingScience.org to request
redistribution permission.
(
,f
Salford, UK
- June 25-28
'lrlt'uDevelopment of ICT lnstructional Materials
Research Background
The Problem
Since 1996 we have conducted yearly surveys on the use oftechnology for teaching and learning
amongst in-service teachers pursuing their bachelor's degree at Universiti Sains MalaysiA OSM).
These in-service teachers are basically teachers with 3-5 years of teaching experience in the primary schools. The teachers who participated in these surveys were those enrolled in an irrtroductory course in educational technology at our centre. The results ofthese surveys have shown us
that although accessibility is no longer an issue for most primary school teachers in our studies;
computers are only being used as a glorified typewriter (Masood & Ngah, 2003; Ngah, 1998,
1999,2000;Ngah & Masood, 2004; Ngah & Samsudin,1997). While ICT has reached most of
the schools in Malaysia, there are numerous problems with the diffusion of computer technology
as part of teaching and learning at the school system in Malaysia.
Since accessibility and availability of ICT is no longer a problem, why are teachers not using the
ICT in their classrooms? Currently there is no data available on what the teachers are doing with
the ICT available in their classrooms. Since our previous surveys are limited to in-service teachers pursuing their degree at Universiti Sains Malaysia, we feel that the time has come for a more
in-depth study on the use of computers for teaching and leaming amongst secondary school
teachers in Malaysia. It should be mentioned that problems with technology usage by teachers are
not limited to developing countries like Malaysia. According to Laffey (2004), current in-service
teachers are not adequately prepared for teaching technology implying an inadequacy in the
technology training of teachers. Shuldman's (2004) study on the current state of technology
integration revealed that creating a better understanding of how technology can be applied in
normal classrooms may be part of the solution to the problem of technology integration.
Reynolds, Treharne and Tripp (2003) concluded that more research is needed to improve the
expectations and efficiency of ICT provision and deployment. The Ministry of Education in Malaysia has several objectives for the infusion of ICT in Education. These include proper preparation of sufficient and up-to-date tested ICT infrastructure and equipment, the dissemination of
ICT curriculum and assessment and the emphasis of integration of ICT in teaching and leaming,
upgrading the knowledge and skills of ICT for students and teachers and last but not least the upgrading of the maintenance and management of ICT equipment in all educational institutlons. We
feel that these objectives can only be achieved with an understanding ofteachers' perception and
willingness to use the technology in teaching and learning. Therefore, it is imperative that this
research project be conducted as a baseline data for a needs assessment for future planning and
implementation of ICT into the classrooms. According to Willis, Thompson, and Sadera (1999),
among od1s1 things, research in technology and teacher education needs further investigation in
the area of instructional design, diffirsion of innovation, and development and dissemination of
resources and tools for using tecbnology effectively.
Our experience in the field has led us to believe that barriers to the use of computers by teachers
have an intrinsic component that needs further exploration. Some of the intrinsic elemenb suggested by Ertrner, Addison, Lane, Ross, and Woods (1999) are: belief in teaching, belief about
computers, classroom practices, and the unwillingness to change. Abrami (in Reynolds, Treharne
& Tripp, 2003) stresses that the value, expectation to succee4 and the acceptable costs in using
technology for leaming are key to effective use of technology in schools. For this study, Roger's
(1995) five perceived attributes of innovations, namely relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, triability, and observability will be used as the framework for the study of diffirsion
of innovation in the research. In addition to the above, our past experience has shown us that
234Ngah & Masood
perceived support oR use of technology (both technical and administrative) is angther important
factor that may contribute to the successful diffirsion of ICT into the classroom.
To be a global player in ICT, Malaysian schools, i.e. Malaysian schools teachers, need to have
comparable standards of ICT usage with that of other fully developed countries. Currently there
are no standards and competencies for pre-service and in-service training ofteachers in ICT to
adhere to. Benchmarking the cunent usage with the standards in US, for example, will show the
gap that needs to be filled to attain similar standard. Identification of skills needed by our teachers
will focus orrr resource on creating reusable learning objects on these critical skills
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