Teacher Educators’ Attitude towards the Pedagogical use of ICTs: A Study from Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

At present teacher education in Pakistan is in a transitional phase. The Government of Pakistan has developed ten professional standards for teachers’ recruitment and training (NPSTP, 2009). Two subjects ‘Computer literacy’ and ‘ICTs in Education’ have been introduced in the new curriculum to equip prospective teachers with Standard # 7 of NPSTP 2009 (i.e., ‘Effective Communication and Proficient Use of Information and Communication Technologies’) and to enhance contemporary technological skills required by a 21st-century educator. This quantitative descriptive study was aimed to investigate teacher educators’ attitudes towards the pedagogical use of ICTs in the teaching and learning process. For this quantitative study, five research questions, one descriptive and four inferential were formulated. A questionnaire was used for data collection. The sample of the study of 133 teacher educators’ was conveniently selected from different teacher training institutions of Karachi. The descriptive analysis of the attitude scale illustrates the moderate level of positive attitude towards the use of ICTs among teacher educators of Karachi TTIs. The analysis of
inferential questions (null hypotheses) illustrates that there is no significant difference in attitudes of teacher educators concerning gender, age, and experience, and this finding is aligned to recent studies conducted by Mustafina (2016) and Tweed (2013). Consequently, from the findings of this study, it may be concluded that demographical variables (i.e., gender, age, and experience) are not the determinants of teacher educators’ attitudes towards the use of ICTs. The findings of the study suggest that supportive conditions and hands-on training on the pedagogical use of ICTs should be conducted in TTIs.