Secondary school teachers and learners attitudes towards information and communications technology instructional use in Sibasa Circuit, Vhembe District, Limpopo

Abstract

The main goal of this quantitative, descriptive, explorative survey was to explore and describe secondary school teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards ICT (information and communication technology) instructional use in Sibasa circuit, Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa, using the Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM 2) framework. ICT use in education continued to be a contentious topic globally following the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for bringing this issue on board was the recognition that the use of ICTs for teaching and learning can improve the overall standard of teaching and learning. In this study, four hundred (400) participants from the four Proof of Concept (PoC) secondary schools with ICT connectivity for teaching and learning in the Sibasa Circuit of Vhembe-East District were purposively sampled to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The study revealed that both teachers and learners understand what ICT is and both teachers and learners had a favourable attitude towards utilising ICTs to assist teaching and learning as they are using them on a daily basis for lesson preparations, accessing digital libraries as well as online learning resources. However, the quality and the quantity of ICT equipment in schools are hindering the obstructing factors in the adoption of ICTs for instructional purposes. The Department of Basic Education should increase the provision of ICT tools such as data projectors, whiteboards, and laptops and strong internet connection to schools to support effective teaching and learning .It is also recommended that the provincial Department of Basic Education should increase the extent of training for teachers and learners on how to use ICTs to support teaching and learning.