Resultados esperados de la reforma

The SurveyP-12 collected the following data between October 2013 and February 2014. Qualtrics Survey Software© recorded 134 completed anonymous responses. The majority of the respondents were well- educated, experienced and mature educators. The majority fell within the age-range of digital immigrants (born before 1970) and, according to Prensky (2001), might be expected to have less developed ICT skills than colleagues or students born after 1970. However, the demographic data did not support that

contention. Table 40, Table 41 and Table 42 show the gender, age, education level and teaching experience of the SurveyP-12 respondents.

Table 40: Gender and age of IST survey respondents

Male Female 20-29 years 30-39 years 40-49 years 50+ years

45% 55% 11% 28% 23% 38%

Table 41: Highest education level completed

High School Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree Ed.D. Ph.D.

3% 32% 49% 3% 13%

Table 42: Years of teaching experience

Less than

1 year 1-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years

More than 15 years

6% 12% 25% 15% 43%

The majority of the respondents had a home office and maintained their software. That only 70% had a smart phone was of interest given the growing popularity of the device across all age groups. There was a fairly equal distribution of information and communication usage with a high propensity of voice-over- Internet-protocol (VOIP i.e. Skype) usage. These ICT allow an expatriate to cost effectively maintain their global contacts. The low incidence of avatars and virtual world participants may be due to the low number of younger-aged respondents. Virtual involvement across all age groups may be any area that increases as the use of multimedia ICT coursework increases. This would be an interesting area to monitor in relation to emerging technologies. Table 43 indicates the percentage of respondents’ affirmative answers sorted from highest to lowest.

Table 43: Personal ICT use

Personal ICT Use Yes %

I have a home office 96%

To access news, entertainment and/or shopping 94% To access my university accounts from off-campus 85% To use Skype/desktop videoconferencing 84%

I have a social media account 83%

My software up-to-date 81%

I have a smart phone 70%

My hardware is up-to-date 69%

173 Multi-nationalism is also a factor in the international learning environment. Where native English speakers were once in demand, preferences for native language and multi-lingual speakers are now common. The respondent’s native language was requested in lieu of their home country as most countries have heterogeneous populations making it difficult to equate any country with a specific ethnic background. English speakers made up 64% and Mandarin Chinese speakers 17%. In all the respondents represented seventeen of nineteen global languages families. Figure 10 indicates the language family breakout.

Figure 10: Chart of native language families represented

Figure 11 is a chart of the respondents teaching locations in during the five years previous to the survey.

Figure 11: Chart of teaching location in the five years previous to survey

Teaching experience according to facility type was questioned. Describing preparatory schools by association with the students’ intended post-secondary schooling provided an additional prompt to help the teacher choose the appropriate response. Table 44 shows respondents’ teaching experience for the five years prior to this survey.

25% 8% 2% 64% 1% Africa/SEAsia Europe/NWS Asia India N/Meso America S/Central America 55% 17% 10% 18% Africa/SEAsia Europe/NWS Asia India N/Meso America

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Table 44: Teaching facilities in the five years prior to survey

Teaching Facilities and Curriculums Yes % Private Int’l Schools - preparing for foreign universities 42% Public/private academy with specialty curriculum 31% Government Schools - preparing for domestic universities 26% Private domestic Schools - preparing for domestic/foreign

universities 21%

Government Int’l Schools - preparing for foreign universities 15% Vocational Schools/Programs - preparing for careers 6%

Growth in international education increases the demand for international teachers and, in turn, offers them opportunities to move vertically and horizontally within foreign education systems: options that might not be possibly in more regimented domestic systems. The following two tables represent this flexibility by providing a breakdown of their teacher certifications and the curriculum they have taught. Table 45 provides a breakdown of the five general certifications areas common to international teaching. Chinese National certification was listed separately from other Native or National/State certifications. In PRC national schools, non-native teachers may supplemented PRC teachers in certain fields, most commonly English and occasionally STEM subjects. But a PRC teaching certification was required to be a teacher-of-record in a domestic Chinese school. Conversely, international schools in China, employed PRC certified teachers in specific curricular areas such as Asian languages and some STEM teaching.

Table 45: Teachers’ certifications

National Teacher Certification Type Yes %

Native National/State 45%

English ex. TEFL, ESL 40%

Curriculum ex. AP, IB, IGCSE 22%

Chinese National 12%

Vocational ex. TAFE, VET, CATE 3%

None 3%

It has been observed that English study and ICT skills also go hand-in-hand and that deep language learning is enhanced by mastery of such skills (Chauhan et al., 2013, p. 406; Xueqin, 2011, p. 5). ICT are of

considerable importance for university students entering STEM, where digital icons, symbols and non- verbal cues can supplement written English and enhance student learning. It is noteworthy that 100% of the respondents have experience in teaching English-language curriculum and 52% have experience in STEM subjects. The two categories with the greatest number of respondents were also the two areas of high priority to Western academics: English language and STEM. In Table 46, the respondents’ experience across the seven faculty groups provides an interesting insight.

Table 46: Teachers’ experience by faculty group

Arts Admin/ Support Asian Language English Language Research & Data Social Science STEM 10% 7% 5% 100% 3% 33% 52%

175 For those teachers that have ICT classroom access, how they use ICT is of primary interest. Research

indicates that instructors only advance ICT use when they believe the ICT is applicable to the curriculum and that they are proficient in the required ICT skills. As Kumar (2008, p. 558) states in order to provide an ICT enhanced education, the teachers must be well trained about ICT tools. There are also studies showing that teachers’ ICT capability is an important issue in order to integrate it into curriculum (Pope & Golub, 2000; Albirini, 2006). If the students’ ICT skills reflect the instructors ICT skills then it could be expected that these skills would remain consistent over the P-12 years. However,Table 47 indicates the opposite may be true. The use of ICT escalates in the higher grades with university level holding at approximately the same level as the final high school years. Another speculation is that ICT availability is greater in the middle and senior years’ programs.

Table 47: Professional ICT use

Professional ICT Use Elementary Middle Senior HE/Adults

Present new knowledge 23% 31% 63% 64%

Communicate with students 23% 28% 57% 58%

Drills and practice 18% 19% 37% 39%

Formal assessments 16% 21% 34% 39%

I do not use computers 2% 1% 3% 1%

Table 47 also indicates that presenting new knowledge is the most common ICT use and is followed closely by communicating with students. However, there is a considerable drop in ICT use for drills, practice and formal assessments. Again, this may indicate what ICT is available for classroom use. For example, a single whiteboard or overhead projector is adequate to present new knowledge and handheld devices can be used for basic communication. But, to effectively conduct drills, practice or formal assessments using ICT, each student should have individual hardware access, such as in a computer lab. Emerging technology such as cloud computing may provide P-12 educators with cost-effective options such as bring-your-own-device (BYOD). Such initiatives may require prohibitive investments in development of delivery systems,

curriculum creation, planning and teacher training. At the time of this survey, many teachers remained dependent on the stationary PC systems provided in the traditional classroom environment.

For international teachers PD focused on ICT may not be a priority and could result in outdated or inadequate ICT skills for those teachers with long international postings. Table 48 lists four ways in which these respondents received ICT training. The 26% of teachers who have earned formal ICT training almost offset the 24% of teachers who have no ICT training.

Table 48: ICT training acquisition

How ICT Skills were Acquired Yes %

Learned ICT on-the-job 72%

ICT professional development course 41% Earned certification separate from work 26%

176 Table 49 indicates the respondents’ past experience, current use and overall preference of OS. This

indicates that Windows OS continues to dominate in both teacher experience and present use. This may be due to Windows OS affordability and the range of applications used for both business and education purposes. As the first system introduced into many developing countries Windows OS allowed

administrators access to local Internet providers and financial institutions. The percent of educators who have experience with Apple OS (62%) is approximately the same as those who prefer Windows OS (61%). It is interesting that the number of teachers who prefer Apple OS is actually a bit lower than the number who currently uses the OS. This could be due to inadequate training; a lack of proprietary software or other reasons as Apple OS is marketed as an academically-friendly system and actively promotes its 1-2-1 laptop programs in international schools. The overall cost of Apple OS and its peripheral systems may prohibit its use in schools in developing countries.

Table 49: Operating systems experience, use and preference

Operating System I have used I am using I prefer

Android 31% 16% 8%

Apple 62% 47% 42%

Linux 14% 5% 3%

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