The research participants were given the opportunity to express their thoughts on what needed to be done to improve the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning at the school. The extracts below illuminate their perspectives regarding further development of ICT integration at Manuao College.
Sarona: We need a bigger room and enough resources and we need teachers to have enough knowledge for the computers..
Sina: What needs to be done is that teachers need to be brought in who are trained in using computers, and to have computers that are working well and in sufficient quantities…
I think that there should be periods set aside where teachers and their subject classes can go use the computers... to practice… instead of just writing…
Mareta: Well there should be enough time for the students to access the technology, as I told you they have 4 hours a week on it… 4 periods, but to me we really need more time upstairs for the students as well as the teachers… for me as the teacher, if I wanted my students to use the computers for something, I should understand how to do it first… but there is no use going in and I don’t know and the students are asking me what to do… so we need more time for the teachers to use the computers because most of the teachers don’t have much experience with it… so we need more hours…
The teachers need to know how to use the computers before they give work to the students that involves computers. So for me I think there should be a day set aside in the week for the teachers to do their training - for me, I learn really fast if there is someone who is teaching me…
Fomai: And. Workshops...there should be training...to support teachers in their use of the technology...because it’s only the teachers that went to the training provided by the Ministry that know… but training is needed especially how to treat the computers… and appropriate use as well (laughs)… because there are a lot of programs that the teachers don’t know how to use…
Finau: There should be training for teachers so that if one leaves, another can take their place easily... another thing is the treatment of equipment in the lab...everyone should know how to treat them...and there should be a fund for maintenance of the equipment in the lab… and the lab itself should be improved…should have air conditioning… there should be those things to keep the equipment…
About 20 computers in one room… so that they can use it in pairs… and if there are more than 2 students to a computer...that’s really not enough…
…and that’s one of the main ideas… is to make it possible for any subject class to go use the lab for their own subject…so they can do their own typing for their own Internal Assessments and all that…
Well... that’s the other use...to get other students and teachers to use the lab themselves… they can use the projector….for their classes… they can go and do things like learn to type.
Timoteo: Further workshops and training are needed to improve teachers’ knowledge and skills in the use of these ICTs. Because only a few teachers have knowledge regarding this…as there is a teacher who specializes in Computer Studies...but all teachers should know how to use all programs in the computers…for their preparation, but also for the students’ sake. That needs to improve. In addition, students need to have ability in the area…and the other thing is the maintenance of the equipment, we should have air conditioning to keep the machines in good condition, so they will last a while…
...it shouldn’t be just computer studies where computers are used… it should be any subject...but I know the number one difficulty is the insufficient numbers of computers…
Moana: Well, with students, the teacher who is supervising must be aware and diligent to supervise the students when they are using the computers. They should have a look at all the material that students bring inside and keep an eye on the students and assess how the students are using the computers; they should have rules for the computer lab
Vaega: At the moment during every option, the class is divided and some students remain in the room for reading or remedial work and the rest go to the computer room, then the next Computer Studies period they switch so that they both have the opportunity to use the computers every week.
Well I think there should be rooms allocated for the computers… rooms that are set aside specially for the computers. There should also be enough teachers sufficiently skilled to teach the subject, as well as to take care of the maintenance of the computers. The Ministry of Education should have a weekly visit of the computer rooms to discuss any problems and to check if all is going well. Then our role will be to help and assist in whatever way possible. There should be teachers to teach the subject and people to maintain the equipment, in order that the work is not stopped when machines break down so there is no disruption to the classes…by unpaid power bills or non-working machines…so there is no disruption to the education of the young people.
SUMMARY
This chapter described the data gathered from in-depth interviews with the participants in the study. After the coding process, the different data segments were gathered into themes according to their content. As described in this chapter, the identified themes within the research data are: teacher understanding of MESC ICT policy and rationale; ICT and the student’s learning process; ICT and teachers’ work; ICT training for teachers; obstacles to effective use of ICTs to enhance teaching and learning and teacher suggestions to overcome those obstacles. The next chapter will present an analysis and interpretation of the research data.