Nigerian Inservice Teachers' Self-Assessment in Core Technology Competences and Their Professional Development Needs in ICT
Source: Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, Volume 26, No. 1
(Fall 2009).
It is no longer a question whether or not technology should be used in the classroom. The emphasis is ensuring that teachers use technology effectively to create new opportunities for students to learn and raise their achievement. The use of technology in the classroom requires teachers to be knowledgeable and competent in ICTs and to integrate them into the curriculum, align them with student learning goals, and use them to engage learners in a quest for meaningful academic development.
This study was a survey designed to engage postgraduate inservice teachers from selected universities in the south-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria in selfassessment of core technology competence.
There were 238 participants, including 108 male and 130 female teachers, who responded to a 61-item Likert-type questionnaire. The study was also designed to determine the professional development needs of the inservice teachers and their preferred mode of professional development.
Results revealed that the majority of the inservice teachers lacked competencies in core technology areas, and they all asserted that they need extensive professional development in 17 skill areas in ICT and training in 10 competency areas. The inservice teachers preferred attendance at conferences/seminars, university courses, and mentoring as the major modes of training in ICT skills.