Barriers to ICT Integration

In any organisation, effective leadership is the key for driving innovation, direction and outcomes. In the education sector, this can be more challenging for leaders due to the constraints on their time and domains of expertise (Hadjithoma-Garstka, 2011). Predominantly, the "principal is accountable for educational development" within a school, but what this entails is vast and can difficult to define (Peterson, 2014, p. 302). In terms of successful information and communication technology (ICT) integration much of the research suggests that principals must interact regularly with their teaching staff, provide professional development (PD) opportunities, and lead the implementation of ICT from the top (Tondeur, Keer, Brack & Valcke, 2008; Peterson, 2014; Hadjithoma-Garstka, 2011). Furthermore, principals must engage in adequate and relevant training to build their expertise in the domain of ICT, as this is essential for successful integration of ICTs in schools, and most crucially in developing and disseminating a whole school vision for what this looks like (Tondeur, et.al. 2008; Hadjithoma-Garstka, 2011).

In my context, as a secondary school educator, I consider time as the key issue and the main barrier to effective ICT integration. This includes time for subject specific teacher professional development, time for sharing of ideas, practice in using ICTs, and collaborative reflection on such practice. Much research has demonstrated that time is a challenge that must be addressed as a crucial factor in achieving successful ICT integration outcomes in education (Flanagan & Jacobsen, 2003; Mihai & Neiuwenhuis 2015; Petersen, 2014; Tondeur. et. al., 2008). Educators are consistently challenged when it comes to embedding ICT in meaningful ways, specifically due to their lack of confidence and training to do so, and find it difficult to determine where to access PD relevant to address their needs (Hunter, 2015; Sergis, Zervas, & Sampson 2014). Whilst models such as TPACK and SAMR, which I have utilised for whole school PD in recent years are helpful, it comes back to a lack of time to explore, reflect and develop personal learning strategies for success.

In my role as the eLearning coordinator, allocated one day per week, I manage all the ICT challenges at school. My role includes developing and delivering whole school, subject specific and individual PD, facilitating feedback and data collection in support of the executive leadership team, running a number of ICT initiatives to the primary feeder schools and planning and promoting ICT use across our educational community through various initiatives such as coding challenges, student workshops and the school technology club. Many teachers in my school have similar roles in areas outside of the classroom-teaching load.

Evidently, relevant and timely professional development, for both teachers and executive leaders is key in building their self-efficacy for utilising ICTs effectively, however, time to engage in such is an ongoing challenge that educators and leaders face (Flanagan & Jacobsen, 2003; Hadjithoma-Garstka, 2011; Sergis, Zervas, & Sampson 2014). Although I attempt to meet the needs of our teachers by differentiating PD, resources and providing classroom support, I can only stretch my time so far to accommodate them. This is an important challenge as where support for ICT integration is lacking, teachers more often than not are discouraged and tend to give up, as it adds to their already full workload (Ghaviferk & Rosdy, 2015; Hadjithoma-Garstka, 2011; Mihai & Neiuwenhuis, 2015). Flanagan and Jacobsen agree that "support for ongoing, timely professional development that focuses on teaching and learning and includes many opportunities to use ICT" is crucial to ensure effective ICT integration (2003, p. 131).

Whilst technology has significantly affected learning in our world, the reality is that with an array of mandatory obligations heaped onto educators daily, as well as their teaching loads, it makes it difficult to resolve the issue without an overhaul of the current schooling system, and support not just for teachers, but principals too.

As Flanagan and Jacobsen contend, "Teachers must have opportunities to study, observe, reflect, and discuss their practice, including their use of ICT, in order to develop a sound pedagogy that incorporates technology" (2003, p. 130). This statement exemplifies the needs of the educators and leaders at in my current context.

References:

Flanagan, L., & Jacobsen, M. (2003). Technology leadership for the twenty-first century principal. Journal of educational administration, 41(2), 124-142. doi:10.1108/09578230310464648

Ghaviferk, S, & Rosdy, W.A.W. (2015). Teaching and learning with technology: Effectiveness of ICT integration in schools. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 1(2), 175-191.

Hadjithoma‐Garstka, C. (2011). The role of the principal's leadership style in the implementation of ICT policy. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(2), 311-326. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01014.x

Hunter, J. (2015). Technology integration and high possibility classrooms: Building from TPACK: Routledge.

Mihai, M. & Nieuwenhuis, J. (2015). Management challenges in an information communication technology (ICT) network in rural schools. South African Journal of Education, 1(4), 1-10. doi:10.15700/saje.v35n4a1203

Petersen, A.-L. (2014). Teachers' Perceptions of Principals' ICT Leadership. Contemporary Educational Technology, 5(4), 302-315.

Sergis, S., Zervas, P., & Sampson, D. G. (2014). A Holistic Approach for Managing School ICT Competence Profiles towards Supporting School ICT Uptake. International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence (IJDLDC), 5(4), 33-46. doi:10.4018/ijdldc.2014100103

Tondeur, J., Forkosh-Baruch, A., Prestridge, S., Albion, P., & Edirisinghe, S. (2016). Responding to challenges in teacher professional development for ICT integration in education. Educational Technology and Society, 19(3), 110-120.