ABSTRACT

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become the fundamental pillars of the modern society today. They have brought along a lot of changes, many of them deep-seated, in almost all the aspects of societal functions and services. Just like any other field, the field of education has been greatly influenced by advancement in technology. Ultimately this has led to changes in teaching, learning and research. Despite the potential that ICTs have in enabling and enhancing a teaching and learning environment, various other factors intervene. One of these factors is that of educational stakeholders’ regard towards the integration of technology in teaching and learning. Arguably the most influential stakeholders are the teachers and their perceptions towards the use of e-media in teaching. This study focuses on the perception of Chemistry teachers towards use of electronic media for teaching students in Nairobi secondary schools. The study has been necessitated by the revelations that performance of Chemistry in secondary schools in Nairobi County failed to raise an average grade of C in KCSE. Specifically, the study aimed to answer four questions; (1) how does teachers’ experience influence the perception of Teachers of chemistry towards use of e–media for instruction? (2) How do gender differences influence the perception of Teachers of chemistry towards use of e-media for instruction? (3) How does teachers’ level of training influence the perception of Teachers of chemistry towards use of e-media for instruction? and (4) Which e- media is/are available for use in secondary schools and how frequently are they used for instructions? The study’s conceptual framework was also constructed to demonstrate the researcher’s own understanding of the problem. The study used the descriptive research design to obtain answers for the research questions. The study location was Nairobi County. The study targeted public secondary schools’ chemistry teachers in Nairobi County. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select schools that participated in the study from all the national, county and district secondary schools in Nairobi County. A proportion of 10% from each category of school in the sampling frame  was found to be representative enough, therefore one national, three county and two sub-county schools made up a total of 6 schools which were randomly chosen as study centers. 23 chemistry teachers were randomly selected as respondents. Primary data was collected through semi- structured questionnaires. From the analysis, 45% of the teachers, which represented the majority proportion, were of the opinion that teaching experience influenced their perception towards the use of e-media to a great extent. A further scrutiny of the results revealed that the more experienced the teachers, the less likely they were willing to adopt the use of electronic media to teach chemistry lessons. The survey established that the male teachers responded more positively towards the use of technology in teaching than their female counterparts. All trained teachers of chemistry can use the stated technology in their classes and effectively obtain optimum output regardless of the period they have been in the teaching profession. It therefore follows that the government and all other educational stakeholders should formulate policies that will ensure all schools in the country acquire at least basic electronic media devices to complement the teachers’ efforts in class.

CHAPTER ONE

            Introduction

The areas of focus in this chapter include: background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, delimitation and limitation of the study, assumptions of the study, theoretical and conceptual framework, and definitions of operational terms.

            Background to the study

Within a very short period of time, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become the fundamental pillars of the modern society today as we know it. At the same time, ICTs have brought along a lot of changes, many of them deep-seated, in almost all the aspects of societal functions and services. So much so are these changes that, presently, many nations have now come to regard understanding and mastering the basic concepts and skills of ICT as part of the nucleus of education alongside literacy and numeracy (Syed, 2011).

However according to existing literature there is an apparent misconception of the term ICTs. The common misconception is that ICTs generally relates solely to computers and computer related activities. Despite the fact that computers and computer related activities play a significant role in the contemporary information management systems; this misconception is fortunately not the case. As Syed (2011) puts it there are other technologies and/or systems which comprise the phenomenon that is ICTs.

ICTs cover other things like telecommunication equipment and services, internet services, information technology equipment and services, libraries and documentation centers, media and broadcasting, commercial information providers, information services that are based on a

network as well as other services related to information and communication (Kumari & Chahal, 2015). Similarly, UNESCO regards ICT as a combination of ‘Informatics Technology’ with other related technology especially communication technology (UNESCO, 2002). It therefore becomes important to introduce the different types of ICT products available and which have relevance in teaching and learning in an institutional or schooling set-up. These products are in abundance and range from; television lessons, radio lessons, e-mail, teleconferencing, audio conferencing, voice response systems, CD-ROMS as well as audio cassettes (Onasanya, 2014). Collectively they can be termed as electronic media (e-media).

Just like any other field, the field of education has been greatly influenced by advancement in technology. Ultimately this has led to changes in teaching, learning and research (Syed, 2011). Subsequently, a great pool of literature has documented the potential of ICTs to enhance teaching and learning for teachers and students respectively (Birgen, 2013; Keiyoro, 2010; Lau & Sim, 2008; Onasanya, 2014; Russell, Bebell, O’Dwyer, & O’Connor, 2003). Despite the potential that ICTs have in enabling and enhancing a teaching and learning environment, various other factors intervene. One of these factors is that of educational stakeholders’ regard towards the integration of technology in teaching and learning. Arguably the most influential stakeholders are the teachers and their perceptions towards the use of e-media in teaching.

Perception refers to a person’s way of regarding, understanding or interpreting something. How teachers perceive the role of media in classroom teaching does to a great extent determine the level and degree of its usage. Teachers create an impression which appears lucrative or otherwise depending on specific functions that the teachers attach to the use of media in classrooms.

Teachers’ views towards media are associated with what they feel media can do in the teaching- learning process, however, evidence has it that what teachers allude to as their reasons for not using media are not true (Field, 2005).Over the years, many research studies have articulated various external blocs for the utilization of media during classroom teaching and learning processes. The major ones reported include budget difficulty in obtaining materials, lack of classroom media facilities and limited trained electronic media personnel (Teo, 2008).

We must note however, that perception can be influenced by the personality and characteristics of the perceiver, together with the features of the object perceived. Unfortunately, in any perception study, one is not sure when distinguishing which has more control over the other (Van, 2005). Fung and Hong (2005) reported that a 30 minute sound film entitled “Winsconsin makes its law” was made available for a minimal rental fee and in sufficient quantities. They later found that it was used by more teachers in Winsconsin elementary schools than any other film. Yet it was not used by the majority of teachers teaching that topic in Winsconsin. Apparently, they concluded that the reasons of cost, unavailability or inappropriateness did not apply. If constraints have reduced, why are audio-visual media not used more fully? An answer may well lay within this broad topic of how media are “perceived” by the teacher, and how they take part in their thinking and organizational planning in class (Smith, 2010). The author has suggested that there are psychological issues in teachers’ perception of media. Field (2005) has found significant personality differences between acceptors and rejecters of new media. Other researchers have noted that some teachers appeared to perceive media as threatening and perhaps inhuman.

Williams (2007) tested fifteen questions in an effort to determine teachers’ perceptions relative  to education media. Among his findings were that teachers perceive educational media as being readily available and that they perceive formal training in the area of audiovisual instruction as being unnecessary. Teo (2008) has grouped the roles of media into two. In the first instance media are used as instructional aides, here media are used exclusively to enhance or enrich the teacher’s presentation. Media used in this way are basically one-way transmitters quite incapable of interpreting any messages that the learner may require. Secondly, media are used as instructional systems. They are used to promote individualization of instruction in both conventional and non-conventional settings.

According to Wallace (2004) the duty of technological media is to work hand in hand with the teacher through enhancement of his or her effectiveness in the classroom. Educational media are both tools for teaching and avenues for learning, and their function is to serve these two processes by enhancing clarity in communication, diversity in method, and forcefulness in appeal. Except for the teacher, these media will in turn determine more than anything else the quality of our educational effort. By integrating e-media during regular classroom instruction, teachers demonstrate to their students the innovative ways of learning (UNESCO, 2002). Hence, the educational system plays a pivotal role in the society for it is considered as “the force that, when functioning properly, promotes literacy or, when failing, allows illiteracy” (UNESCO, 2002, p3). Educational institutions are, therefore, strapped with the burden to provide and use new ICTs to help prepare learners for the pivotal roles they are going to play in the knowledge and digital economy. This can only be possible if teachers are literate in ICTs and use them for instruction.

Armed with this awareness, individual countries are encouraging, and being involved in, the integration processes of their schools. For instance, the USA, European countries, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines have run successful initiatives on ICTs integration in education. Some have even created competency standards for technology use.

However, integrating ICTs is still a complex educational change process. The extent of ICTs application in many countries and schools is still extremely varied and, in some cases, very limited. In many parts of Africa, for instance, there is limited basic infrastructure to enable the use of ICTs to even provide basic access to digital information. In this regard, Teo (2008) aptly states that before moving to electronic networks, Africa must first get reliable basic infrastructure, like electricity supply, which still widely lacks. Moreover, in this part of the world (except in South Africa), the delays in the realization of the structures required to guarantee the availability of ICTs have been made worse by the apparent lack of skills on their installation and use. Therefore, Africa lags behind in ICTs revolution, except for some financial and international business nodes that are, again, directly linked to global networks, in many cases bypassing African economies and societies (Teo, 2008). However, several international agencies are, in the 21^stcentury, addressing this issue (UNESCO, 2002). African governments and non-governmental and corporate organizations have also initiated projects targeting digital inclusion and ICTs use.

In the year 2010, Kenya launched the National Vision 2030.This is a plan that aims to transform the country into a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by the year 2030. The plans social pillar includes the education sector with a vision that reads ‘globally competitive quality education, training and research for sustainable development’ (Birgen, 2013). True to  the  vision, the  Centre for Mathematics,  Science and  Technology  addressed the

goal to raise the quality and relevance of the Kenya’s education by launching the training of

mathematics and science teachers on the integration of ICT in teaching and learning (Birgen, 2013). The action was laudable and seemed to heed the notion that chemistry as a discipline necessitates visual depictions and active participation of the learners in teaching and learning not only in distance learning means but also in face-to-face classes. The Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology education (CEMASTEA) conducted a study to understand the process of selection of science subjects (i.e., biology, chemistry and physics) at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and factors influencing the selection in one of the counties in Kenya. The study involved principals of selected schools in the county, careers’ masters and mistresses in the schools as well as science teachers and Form Three students. A total of 23 principals, 23 careers masters/mistress, 70 science teachers and 1081 Form Three students participated in the study. Data were collected from teachers and students through questionnaires and one-one interviews with principals and careers masters/mistress. The findings of the study showed that all the students who participated in this study take chemistry, 85% take biology and only 38% take physics. These findings were consistent with the statistics available from the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) on the candidature in these subjects.