Readiness of public primary schools for uptake and integration of laptop computers in Homa Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the readiness of public primary schools for uptake and integration of laptop computers for teaching and learning in Homa Bay County, Kenya.This followed the rise in use of web 2.0 technologies and the commitment of the Government of Kenya to give laptop computers to all standard one pupils in Kenya by 2014.The objectives of the study were to: investigate the availability of institutional ICT infrastructures in schools for laptop computer uptake, examine the adequacy of teachers‟ computer capacity in readiness for laptop computers integration, determine teachers‟ awareness of the digital content to be integrated in laptop computer uses, establish the attitude of the teachers towards the uptake and integration of laptop computer, and analyze the contribution of independent variables of the study to uptake and integration. The study was premised on systems theory. A mixed method cross sectional survey design was used for the study. Data was collected through questionnaires, observation checklists, interview schedules and document analysis. The study population was 8261 consisting of 845 public primary schools, 6529 teachers, 845 head teachers and 42 Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs). The population was stratified into six sub-counties and then simple random sampling technique was used to come up with proportional sample sizes in each of the six sub-counties of Homa Bay. A sample size of 85 schools, 362 teachers, 85 head teachers, 56 teachers in schools with Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) devices and 9 CSOs were used for the study. 12 sample teachers and 6 head teachers were also interviewed. Both content and construct validity were ascertained by the subject experts, while the internal consistency reliability alpha (α) values obtained were: 0.725, 0.962, 0.9535 and 0.709 for CSO questionnaires, teachers‟ questionnaires, head teachers‟ questionnaires and observation checklists respectively. Descriptive data for objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 were analyzed by use of percentages, mean scores and frequencies while inferential statistics for objective 5 was analyzed using multiple regression analysis with the support of SPSS version 20 at p≤ 0.05.Interview data were organized into major themes and reported in quotes and percentages alongside the findings from quantitative data. The study findings showed that the average readiness for institutional ICT infrastructures in all sampled schools stood at 29.8% which the study interpreted to mean inadequacy for uptake of laptop computers. However, 74.8% sample schools had sources of power, 90.0% had power sockets and 79.9% had storage facilities that were funded by the government. The average institutional ICT infrastructures were also inequitably distributed in the six subcounties. The findings showed low teacher computer capacity for teachers (2.10) and head teachers (2.48) who did not attend DLP training but was higher for teachers (3.42) who were DLP trained and for the teachers (3.68) who were already teaching using DLP devices in schools that had received the DLP devices. Majority of the sampled teachers (22.9%) were aware of the general digital content such as video, audio, images, texts and graphics but were not adequately proficient in manipulation skills such as drawing (6.8%), simulation (1.7%) and basic arithmetic (6.2%).Sample teachers had positive attitude on usefulness (3.61) of laptop computers for teaching and learning, but indicated that laptop computers were not easy to use (3.11). The multiple regression analysis showed that teachers‟ attitude both statistically (0.04, p≤ 0.05) and positively contributed (8.0 %) to uptake and integration of laptop computers. It was recommended that DLP be anchored in a country‟s ICT policy framework and extended to other levels of education in Kenya.