THE INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY INTO SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN SAUDI ARABIA: FACTORS AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract

There are a number of factors that influence technology implementation in the classroom including teachers' concerns; barriers; and intrinsic incentives. These factors give classroom teachers a chance to make a shift in their thinking and practice to help them properly integrate technology across the curriculum. This study was designed to assess: 1. Teachers' concerns toward technology integration into curriculum, 2. If there are significant differences in stages of concern among teachers with different gender and school programs, 3. Barriers that teachers face when integrating technology into curriculum, and 4. Whether teachers are internally motivated to integrate technology into their teaching. A total of 274 classroom teachers were selected from 15 public schools of varying programs, gender, and grade levels across one School District located at Medina, Saudi Arabia. This study was descriptive in nature and its data were collected using the Stages of Concern Questionnaire along with an addendum questionnaire. Both were administered manually. The data were quantitatively analyzed using the SPSS and FTN95 computer software applications. The study found that classroom teachers are highly motivated to the potential that technology brings into the teaching and learning process. Despite their motivations, the study found that these teachers are burdened with eight significant barriers to technology integration. These barriers were descendingly ranked according to percentages of teachers who were in accord with the barriers as follows: (a) insufficient in-service training, (b) large number of students in the computer lab and learning resources center, (c) poor in-service training, (d) insufficient pre-service training, (e) broken-down technology equipment, (f) lack of teacher time, (g) lack of technology equipment, and (h) old technology equipment. Interpretation of the Stages of Concern profiles for the total sample, gender, and school program showed that teachers' concerns were most intense in the areas of awareness, informational, and personal concerns. According to the multivariate analysis of variance results, female self concerns were found to be significantly more intense than the male ones, and higher awareness concerns were found to be significant for Tatweer program teachers relative to other colleagues employed in the Alraeda and Regular programs.